War with Iran?

[Bengalzona]

(06-17-2019, 08:40 PM)Dill Wrote: What would you do if you were planning a US invasion? Short of nukes?

The topography looks rather like a vast, natural mountain fort around Teheran.  A bit more open from the east, where there is some desert.

I don't see a flat, open drive to the capital as was the case in Iraq. 

Kabul was also in the mountains, but those mountains weren't bristling with sophisticated AA defenses protected in caves.

The missiles would be my biggest concern, since they are guided and hard to shoot down, and could reach US ships in the Gulf, not to mention any regional allies aiding the US.

I would use diplomacy and try not to put troops on the ground. Outside of the deserts in the east, the whole country is pock full of natural ambush sites. The American public won't tolerate casualty lists two to three times larger than those from Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

Barring that, I would try to find some other country to persuade to invade them instead of us. This tactic worked really well for us in the Cold War. Unfortunately, we have already invaded two of Iran's seven neighbors.

Turkmenistan is sort of a write off. I wouldn't expect them to have much of a military. Likewise, I don't think the Armenians or Azerbijanis would be much help. What have we ever done for them, eh?

Turkey is like seriously mad at us now. They are like a rebellious child: flaunting Islamism and dating Putin on the side. I wouldn't expect much help from "our allies" at this point. Heck, I doubt if they would allow us to even fly through their airspace to support the mission.

Maybe we could persuade the Pakis to invade (we'd probably have to stop calling them "Pakis" first, though) and pay them with Saudi money. This would quite seriously be my second option. But, the Pakis aren't dumb. So they probably wouldn't do it. Besides, they are too busy worrying about India.

Russia no longer shares a land border, but they are just across the Caspian Sea. Putin wouldn't do it. He has trimmed down the Russian military into primarily a defense force. Besides, he is too busy trying to get us bogged down into it (using my own strategy against me.... that turd!!!).

So, removing the diplomacy option from the table because that's "not something real 'Mericans do anymore" and being unable to persuade the Pakis and Russians to do it for us, I guess we have to look at how it could be done with troops on the ground.

I doubt if the Iraqis would be cooperative with our efforts, seeing as such a large number of Shi'ites live there. In fact, they could really cause a great deal of problems if the border turn porous and/or if a nasty civil war breaks out between the Iraqi Sunnis and Shi'ites (which absolutely will happen if we move against Iran). I think you probably would need to jump off from Kuwait (if they would allow) and have Marines and Special Ops land to seize Bandar Mahshhr and Bandar Imam Khomeini so that you have port facilities and airports to support the invasion independently while the Navy blockades the Iranian coast. I think you would then need to drive north to seal off the border with Iraq. Bear in mind, this is mountainous terrain. Outside of the initial landing, tanks won't be a big help. It will be a slow-go. Once the border is secured, you then would need to hook east and move on Tehran. Acheiving that could be a good stopping point, if they were willing to talk and we were willing to listen. Barring that, you maybe start a campaing from Afghanistan (if they are willing) and roll up the open areas on the east side and the northeast. At this point, the country's borders would be secured and what remains of any resistance would be in the mountains. Outside of the fact that it would probably be costing billions of dollars and scores of lives every day, you would not have to move fast to root out the resistance. Just sit and wait them out. It would probably only take a couple of decades.