(03-08-2026, 08:48 AM)Vermilion Wrote: Iran specifically has called for the death of Israel since their “revolution” in the 70’s.
This isn’t something that started in 2005.
It started with the mullahs and hopefully ends with them.
Why did that revolution happen? An overreaction to western influence on the country. We helped install the Shah after all.
Maybe they said it since the 70's, but in reality from the 70's-2005(ish), they weren't a regional power. Remember they had a brutal war with Iraq in the 80's, and Saddam still had a substantial military up into the early 2000's. So their priorities were closer to home.
The overthrow of Saddam, and the collapse of Iraq created a power vacuum where Iran could now project influence. Unintended consequences.
Almost like that has happened every time we have a great enemy in the Middle East.
We helped Saddam for years, we backed the Mujahideen to oust the USSR from Afghanistan (which later created roots for Al Qaeda, and our roots with Iran go back post WWII.
The absolute arrogance to think we are somehow breaking the cycle now is really stunning. Our military is the most powerful the world has ever seen, it's logistics and speeds is beyond impressive for carrying out battlefield objectives. But if you want to change the course of history, you have to win hearts and minds. You can't on one hand say you're doing this to free the Iranian people while at the same time causing more civilian casualties, hitting their water supply, and reigning oil ash on one of the most populated cities on earth.
Iran's government was an dictatorship led by religious extremism. Not even a lot of the pro Palestinian people in the west are weeping for the leaders of Iran. I think people are skeptical the way to win over the Iranian people is to show the same sort of brutality, towards the people.
More likely, the federal state of Iran breaks up into more "manageable" (for the west) pockets of different ethnic groups fighting internally for power. Israel likes neighbors like that. Only problem is, you don't need a nation state to be a problem regionally. Just look at ISIS and the Houthis.
Sad part is, the US has zero interest in the region. We get like 10% of our oil from there. We're taking out loans to fund this for other foreign countries.