ThunderHorse
Verified Military
Shinseki, for all his faults said that force plan was fucking stupid and that we needed a full mobilization plus coalition forces. Iran, a much different animal.
Shinseki, for all his faults said that force plan was fucking stupid and that we needed a full mobilization plus coalition forces. Iran, a much different animal.
.... it will be a lot harder for a lot of our allies.
On top of what you said, what about killing off Iran's political/religious elite and their families? It's kinda hard to derkha derkha and lead an islamic revolution when your holy figureheads and their families are atomized in their palaces.I don't think we would invade. God I hope we wouldn't. There is nothing at all that we need in that country, and I don't want to get into another civil war in someone else's country.
If someone were to ask me (no one has, and no one will) I'd suggest we bomb the crap out their Air Force, Navy, intelligence infrastructure, party HQ, missile force, atomic program, and every bit of the IRGC-QF (and anything similar) that we could find. I'd try to leave the economy, police, army, and major institutions intact so the country doesn't complete disintegrate. I'd also go hard after proxies in places like Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Venezuela, and Yemen (and anything we know about in the US) in order to mitigate their response. I'd try to set conditions for a regime change but I think that's going to be a lot less likely after things get kinetic.
If someone were to ask me (no one has, and no one will) I'd suggest we bomb the crap out their Air Force, Navy, intelligence infrastructure, party HQ, missile force, atomic program, and every bit of the IRGC-QF (and anything similar) that we could find. I'd try to leave the economy, police, army, and major institutions intact so the country doesn't complete disintegrate. I'd also go hard after proxies in places like Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Venezuela, and Yemen (and anything we know about in the US) in order to mitigate their response. I'd try to set conditions for a regime change but I think that's going to be a lot less likely after things get kinetic.
I mean we don't have to kill everyone. As much as the Mullahs like to play up the martyrdom card, not sure they want that for themselves and their immediate families. We don't have to kill everyone, just the guys with the biggest mouths and the key personnel that excel at spreading terrorism abroad.Martyrdom is very powerful, especially in that culture. I'd rather leave them in place and have to lead their country out of this mess. If we start whacking their leaders, even more-radical peeps will probably take their place, and the populace could be motivated to fight longer, and harder, out of vengeance.
Also, we saw in Iraq what happens when you remove everyone who knows how to run a country, from the country. Third-tier and under, with maybe some top-tier military targets.
Indeed. It would for instance be very bad news for the South Caucasus and some nations around the Caspian Sea, which are partialy severely dependent on energy supply from Iran and latter is generaly an important trade partner to other countries in the region. Could be very dramatic.
The oil production in Azerbaijan in 2019 will remain at the same level as last year and will average 800,000 barrels per day, the OPEC January report says.
The cartel’s report says that according to the Ministry of Energy, in 2018, Azerbaijan produced an average of 792,000 barrels of oil and condensate per day, which is 2 percent more than in 2017.
On the economic and social benefits account, once the pipeline becomes fully operational, Azerbaijan will be the main beneficiary of the sale of its oil in international markets, collecting (at prices of 2005) about $29 billion per year in oil revenues, while Georgia and Turkey, in the long run, will respectively collect transit fees of $600 million and $300 million per year on average during the lifetime of the project. Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, the countries the pipeline will traverse, as well as part owners in the fields, could collect more than $150 billion in revenue from oil, gas and transit fees from 2005 to 2024, according to estimates by BP.
The arrests come two months after two men were arrested in Azerbaijan, Iran’s northern neighbour, on suspicion of plotting to attack foreigners, including the Israeli ambassador and a rabbi, and after bomb plots in India, Thailand and Georgia that Israel blamed on Tehran.
In similar discussions in 2008 when things were heating up in Georgia and not even a day into the war, when I lost color on my face knowing perfectly well the Russians are about to stomp us,..
Uh, no. The West would not allow Iranian participation in developing the oil & gas fields led by BP.
საქართველი ხარ?
My point is.
If you insist on making a move, than it would be 'probably' better to do so before much greater and more wide spread damage is dealt.
Or don't do anything of the sort, at all.
Just my 2 cents.
Georgia due to it's strategic location has also been aiming to become a transmission hub for electricity to the entire region.
Chechens in Pankisi aren’t too keen on that! Or new hydroelectric plants anyway.
I know the recent rescinding of the visa requirement for Iranians there definitely raised some eyebrows.
მე ქართულ ენას ვსწავლობ. პატარა ვლაფარაკობ, მაგრამ ცუდად.
On top of what you said, what about killing off Iran's political/religious elite and their families? It's kinda hard to derkha derkha and lead an islamic revolution when your holy figureheads and their families are atomized in their palaces.
Martyrdom is very powerful, especially in that culture. I'd rather leave them in place and have to lead their country out of this mess. If we start whacking their leaders, even more-radical peeps will probably take their place, and the populace could be motivated to fight longer, and harder, out of vengeance.
If the change is internal, the people will take care of the elite and their families. No hand wringing, just body stackin'. We can help create those conditions doing just what Mara said: kill off the government's ability to project power and that allows the common man a chance at success.
Our SEAD/DEAD campaign with -22's and -35's would obilterate their air defenses and that's before we talk about standoff capabilities in the B-52's, B-2's, and our Navy in the Arabian Gulf. The UAE has arguably the best F-16's flying and the Saudi F-15's aren't shabby. Qatar is trash and I wouldn't consider them as part of any strategy. 72 hours and Iran's air defenses are sooty craters and smears in the desert. Local AAA/ SAM's would get eaten alive by SDB's and our Air Force has a LOT of experience deploying those against ISIS.
If we stay off the ground, our exposure is minimal.