# If you've enjoyed Iraq, you'll love Iran **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 17, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141 "2005-01-17T02:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/61 "2005-01-17T17:38:56Z")
> [@Kolak of Twilo](#): > > I’m not sure I follow you. Putting troops in Bosnia was ostensibly being done to stop genocidal behavior. > > I’m suggesting that W. & Co. may be motivated by some fundamenatlist Christian ideas about what the book of Revelations in the New Testament says about the end of the world. Those folks sincerely believe it will invovle a large battle in the region where Iraq and Iran are. If you were to believe, like many of those folks do, that Bush is Prez at this time in history because God wants it that way, it isn’t too long before this idea would occur to you. > > Or then again, it could just be that Bush is simply a king-sized jackass who wants to conquer the world. Okay, sorry. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/62 "2005-01-17T18:02:43Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > …If we go into Iran, we _will_ find those weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, chemical, and biological. I have to say I don’t doubt you for one second about this. And I can only second the idea about not being hasty in our military adventures. I only wish I had a sense those people making these decision in Washington felt that way. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/63 "2005-01-17T18:08:47Z")
> [@ShadiRoxan](#): > > Basically America was just trying to help back the British who were upset with Mossadegh for nationalizing the oil industry and kicking the British out. The Shah at the time was an easily swayed idiot who signed a paper with no legal bearing to overthrow the democratically elected president. Basically Iran was looking at communism. > > Any one who doesn’t know any history of Iran beyond the hostage crisis should read the book _All the Shah’s Men_. I believe it’s by Stephen Kinzer or something like that. It gives a good perspective on what Iranian people faced throughout the years, way before 1979 or even 1953. I found excellent articles on Pahlavi and Mossadegh on Wikipdia, with plenty of useful links. It sounds to me like there’s been a longstanding feud between urban reformers and the traditional agricultural powers and the mullahs … which you can still see going on in Iran. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/64 "2005-01-17T23:51:22Z")
I asked about this possibility [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=293715) a few weeks ago. The reason I saw it as a very real possibility is we would be staged to attack from Afghanistan in the west and Iraq in the East. As far as Syria, MHO is we leave Isreal and a somewhat-moderate Jordan to keep them in check. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/65 "2005-01-18T00:06:09Z")
I’m pissed by this news. We have an office pool on which country Bush was going to invade next and I’ve got ten bucks riding on North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/66 "2005-01-18T00:16:19Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > I’m pissed by this news. We have an office pool on which country Bush was going to invade next and I’ve got ten bucks riding on North Korea. In yet another thread (I think GD) we got to discussing which country would handle NK while we were in the ME. From what I remember the general consensus was that China, Russia and Japan would handle them until we could get there. (I could be remembering that wrong, though) ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/67 "2005-01-18T00:28:31Z")
FWIW, the Pentagon calls the Hersh piece [a load of hogwash](http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050117-1987.html). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/68 "2005-01-18T00:34:21Z")
Well, that certainly settles that! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/69 "2005-01-18T01:03:26Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, that certainly settles that! Yes, who ever heard of the Pentagon keeping secrets from the American people! ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/70 "2005-01-18T01:08:26Z")
If/when we do start some sort of “pre-emptive strike” in Iran, I think I know how Rummie will spin it for the media: "We had the intelligence all along. What happened was a simple clerical error. \*\* Ira_n_, Ira_q_\*\*. It’s a simple mix up and we’ve traced it to the source. A temp in the Pentagon secretarial pool just hit the Q instead of the N. Look, we knew Saddam was a bad guy and the intel looked right. Do we regret that error? Of course. Should she have used Spell Checker? Absolutely. Do we consider our attack on Iraq to be a mistake? Of course not. The war’s gone well, just like we’ve told you all along and so now it’s time to move on to the right target. Which is not to say we attacked the _wrong_ target before, just not the **correct** _right_ target. You see the difference? Now we _know_. There _are_ WMD in Iran and we’re going to find them this time." We figure, 6 months tops and then the Iranians will be cheering us into Tehran, just like they did in Kabul." ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/71 "2005-01-18T01:09:26Z")
Hey, I just report! Don’t shoot the messenger! ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/72 "2005-01-18T01:11:28Z")
> [@photopat](#): > > If/when we do start some sort of “pre-emptive strike” in Iran, I think I know how Rummie will spin it for the media: > > "We had the intelligence all along. What happened was a simple clerical error. \*\* Ira_n_, Ira_q_\*\*. It’s a simple mix up and we’ve traced it to the source. A temp in the Pentagon secretarial pool just hit the Q instead of the N. > > Look, we knew Saddam was a bad guy and the intel looked right. > > Do we regret that error? Of course. Should she have used Spell Checker? Absolutely. Do we consider our attack on Iraq to be a mistake? Of course not. The war’s gone well, just like we’ve told you all along and so now it’s time to move on to the right target. > > Which is not to say we attacked the _wrong_ target before, just not the **correct** _right_ target. You see the difference? Now we _know_. There _are_ WMD in Iran and we’re going to find them this time." We figure, 6 months tops and then the Iranians will be cheering us into Tehran, just like they did in Kabul." What’s really scary is just how Rumsfeldian that sounds. Hey **Leaper** , think fast _BANG_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/73 "2005-01-18T01:21:31Z")
I am doing my best to fight off the malicious urge to send **Harborwolf** a singing telegram… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/74 "2005-01-18T01:40:47Z")
You had it almost perfect. Just needs one little edit: “We had the intelligence all along. What happened was a simple clerical error. Iran, Iraq. It’s a simple mix up and we’ve traced it to the source. A temp in the Pentagon secretarial pool, **hired during the Clinton administration** , just hit the Q instead of the N.” ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/75 "2005-01-18T01:42:46Z")
Put me in the ‘knock out some bases that we think are producing chemical etc agents’ camp. But toss this out there… There have certainly been some speeches bitching that Iran is attempting to influence Iraq now that it’s all crazy-destabilized and such. This could simply be a means of payback for that in a sort of ‘knock it off or you’ll get something to REALLY worry about’ way. Alternately, we could bomb some bases and they could come into Iraq from the east in an attempt to seize some territory and oil fields for themselves. Could the US forces in Iraq fight the insurgency and an invading army at once? You make the call. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/76 "2005-01-18T02:29:48Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Put me in the ‘knock out some bases that we think are producing chemical etc agents’ camp. This sort of action would encourage the Iranians to work hard at destabilizing Iraq. It’d also encourage them to up their support of _active_ non-governmental anti-US groups, what some would call terrorists. If we start bombing Iran, we’d better be ready to conquer the country too. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/77 "2005-01-18T03:06:00Z")
Bush will certainly get his “blood will flow like rivers”. The final battle between good and evil. Armegeddon. The hard part is deciding who is evil. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/78 "2005-01-18T03:16:22Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Yeah, but can President Bush authorize a draft all on his lonesome. If he can’t, then there are a whole bunch o’ congress critters that love their jobs very much. What was the re-election rate of Representatives and Senators in 1970 or 1972, when things had obviously gone horribly awry in Vietnam? You can apparently sell a lot by implying those who oppose you are traitors. That said, I’ll need more evidence before I believe the U.S. is going to start a war that so far it hasn’t actually done anything to start. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/79 "2005-01-18T03:18:49Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Bush will certainly get his “blood will flow like rivers”. > > The final battle between good and evil. > > Armegeddon. > > The hard part is deciding who is evil. And I still say this seems to be exactly what he and his friends want. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141/80 "2005-01-18T03:32:29Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > …we could bomb some bases and they could come into Iraq from the east in an attempt to seize some territory and oil fields for themselves. Could the US forces in Iraq fight the insurgency and an invading army at once? You make the call. Of course we could, we would just need more soldiers. This is just the strategy that would get us in a situation where we **have to** reinstate the draft to save our necks. It also lets lil’ Georgie and his pals bring “freedom” to this region of the world, take over all the oil fields and prove those nasty mean Old Europeans wrong. BLECH! But I still think they will do it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youve-enjoyed-iraq-youll-love-iran/285141.md?page=5)