[vkou]

> the price to secure the straight military might look comparatively lower.

The price to secure the straight militarily is a full ground invasion of Iran.

This would be done against a country four times bigger (in population and size) than Iraq, with the kind of terrain that makes Afghanistan look easily accessible, done without the help of a coalition of fools, because this isn't 2003, and nobody in Europe is very eager to send their kids to die for a war that Trump's ego started. His 2025 attempts to 'ingrate' himself with Europe are paying dividends now.

Also, if you think the war is unpopular now (nobody but the 40% of the country that's MAGA-brained supports it - and those guys will support anything), imagine what the popularity would be like with a full mobilization and invasion.

The GOPniks aren't that eager to become a 31-seat party this November.

[spwa4]

... and if Iran keeps raising it will eventually become the only choice available, at which point we'll do it (and can I just say the truly horrible part: ... which was going to happen at some point anyway with the islamists in power)

[oblio]

How did you read the previous comment and decide that "insanity is the only option"?

The sane option would be to back down.

And no, not every adversarial regime can be taken down. The Soviet Union had to fall, nobody was going to invade it.