Fishrrman's contribution to the thread for today -
My, how attitudes have changed in this forum over the last few months.
When I first posted the prediction that Mr. Trump's "air war" would fail, and that troops would be required, just about everyone else in this forum posted against the idea.
Then something called "reality" set in.
So here's my "why does the management even let him post this?™" prediction for the day:
The USA-iran war is not going to end until nuclear weapons have been used.
Either by one side, or the other.
Or... by both.
(I'm not providing a time frame -- that's up to you)
C'mon, knock me down!
I'm easy!
But in a REAL "war with islam" (which is where we are heading), if you don't do it to them first, they WILL eventually do it to you.
No rules.
No scruples.
No morals.
No principles.
Only... survival.
The only war that was given credit for having been won by bombing was WWII, and those nukes came on the heels of extensive actions throughout the Pacific and incendiary bombings that higher numbers of casualties.
In all other wars (and in WWII), bombing may have disrupted logistics and supply and damaged the ability of a country to wage war (which it did in the Pacific in WWII also), but it alone did not win the war.
Boots on the ground have been the price of victory.
It's either that or there will be a nuke involved somehow. If the whiz kids can come up with a low yield nuke on a bunker buster, to follow some conventional ones to clear the way, perhaps that can be made to look like the bombing set off a stash of nuclear material that was refined to weapons grade, causing a spontaneous ('accidental', of course), uncontrolled chain reaction, at least to a press that doesn't really know how such things work. Heck, that could even be the reason for the delay. It would give the other nuclear powers the option of embracing the fable instead of feeling like they have to either back down from a full scale war or respond in kind.
While that might do the trick, it would have to be kept very quiet and would be accompanied by extensive conventional bombing to look like part of such a campaign to keep the narrative from being picked apart right away.
Otherwise, someone trustworthy is going to have to put their feet in Iran to effect regime change, and I'm not sure anyone there can be trusted.
