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Pentagon Encircles Iran: Victory Would Take 3 Weeks
Russia Today ^ | May 2, 2012

Posted on 05/02/2012 7:50:41 AM PDT by Strategy

As the US beefs up its military presence in the Persian Gulf region, Pentagon strategists estimate that they would need less than a month to defeat Iranian forces should a military conflict take place.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) believes it can destroy or significantly degrade Iran's conventional armed forces in about three weeks using air and sea strikes, a defense source told The Washington Post.

"We plan for any eventuality we can and provide options to the president," Army Lt. Col. T.G. Taylor, a spokesman at CENTCOM told the newspaper. "We take our guidance from the secretary of defense and from our civilian bosses in [Washington] DC. So any kind of guidance they give us, that's what we go off of [sic]."

(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2012; campaign; dontfallforit; election2012; iran; islam; israel; middleeast; obamacampaign; wagthedog; wartalk
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To: Strategy

Wasn’t the same said about Vietnam, North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan (all with some variation, but with similar meaning)?


21 posted on 05/02/2012 8:14:17 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Buying Drain-O requires photo I.D... so should voting!)
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To: RC2

Our victory would be to get away from needing to deal with any of these camel jockeys.

We can become energy independent through our own vast gas and oil reserves. That is not what nobama wants, but FUBO.

Let the rest of the world deal with muslims, if they threaten us, give em a mighty sting to warn of worst to come of they persist. These 8th Cemtury idiots are not nearly as gungho as were the Japanese and even they took the hint in 45.


22 posted on 05/02/2012 8:14:40 AM PDT by X-spurt (Its time for ON YOUR FEET or on your knees)
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To: GonzoGOP
Depends on what you call victory.

Your post was excellent, from start to finish.

It is one thing to simply knock out Iran's nuclear facilities from the air. Bit if the US wants to "defeat" Iran, that means more widespread destruction, and troops on the ground.

And from that, I guarantee will come "nation-building". Of course, the current administration will call it something different, but we'll be back to building roads, bridges, schools, etc.

And then our troops will be sniped at, and bombs will start exploding in market squares and along convoy routes. We've seen all that before. It will end badly.

As General MacArthur said, never get involved in an Asian land war.

23 posted on 05/02/2012 8:15:26 AM PDT by Leaning Right (Why am I carrying this lantern? you ask. I am looking for the next Reagan.)
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To: Strategy
"Pentagon strategists estimate that they would need less than a month to defeat Iranian forces"


24 posted on 05/02/2012 8:16:03 AM PDT by Iron Munro (If Repub's paid as much attention to Rush Limbaugh as the Dem's do, we wouldn't be in this mess)
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To: ScottinVA

We did destroy and conquer Iraq and Afghanistan in three weeks or less.

Then we got into nation-building...


25 posted on 05/02/2012 8:16:52 AM PDT by Future Snake Eater (CrossFit.com)
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To: Strategerist
We're certainly not physically invading the Iranian mainland on the ground and overthrowing the government. That's not what the article discusses, and we're not actually capable of doing so, anyway.

Which means we would not accomplish what the article supposes. Without getting on the ground and schwacking them directly, "victory" will not occur.

Besides, the unwieldy ROE slapped on our side would prevent it.

26 posted on 05/02/2012 8:17:20 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Buying Drain-O requires photo I.D... so should voting!)
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To: pfflier

——and most detrimental, a religious base rooted in the seventh century.——

Islam is horrible, but not because it was founded in the 7th century. After all, Christianity was founded in the first.

Chronology and truth/goodness are unrelated.


27 posted on 05/02/2012 8:18:44 AM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas (Viva Christo Rey!)
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To: Andrei Bulba
I believe political subjugation has been the more common historical model.

True. I can think of several examples:
Ancient Rome
British Empire
Spanish Empire
Nazi Germany
Imperial Japan

But, you see, we're not really an Imperial power. We don't really take a "colonial" approach to the world.

Here, we value freedom, not subjugation. I don't want to subjugate anyone -- I just want to be free from the thought that they want to pick a fight with us.

28 posted on 05/02/2012 8:21:04 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Like Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin has become simply a stick with which to beat Whites.)
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To: Future Snake Eater

Iran has heard this noise for years and has equipped itself with underground bunkers.

Their backers in China and Russia would never stand for our attacking them anyway, and would be pouring aid in there.


29 posted on 05/02/2012 8:21:43 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Buying Drain-O requires photo I.D... so should voting!)
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To: Strategy

Military dominance by itself is useless against a radicalized population, in fact it would likely increase future conflict.

Total war means society against society to see which collective government will prevail.

The only useful goal of any conflict is to get the enemy to stop fighting. Iran, stop fighting?

Conquest always either dies from indigestion or survives from assimilation. I’m not seeing any Planet Hollywoods in downtown Tehran.

Did we hire Baghdad Bob?

Tactics should never lead strategy. (pardon my pun, Strategy)


30 posted on 05/02/2012 8:21:56 AM PDT by gandalftb (The art of diplomacy says "nice doggie", until you find a bigger rock.)
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To: BitWielder1

Our “nation building” in Iraq was more to prevent Iran from easily overrunning Iraq after we trashed their military quite effeciently.

We should offer Iraq some aid in rebuilding, sign a mutual defense treaty with them, leave and dare Iran to do anything.

The one thing I admire about Teddy Roosevelt was his “talk softly and carry a big stick” foreign policy.


31 posted on 05/02/2012 8:22:48 AM PDT by X-spurt (Its time for ON YOUR FEET or on your knees)
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To: Strategerist; headstamp 2; Gilbo_3
RE :”We're certainly not physically invading the Iranian mainland on the ground and overthrowing the government. That's not what the article discusses, and we're not actually capable of doing so, anyway.

This has all the signs of nothing more than a Diplomatic bluff but if say a Romney was POTUS and he started talking like he was serious about it we would have to critically ask what the end-game would be because that certainly was never talked about seriously in the 2002/2003 run-up to Iraq.

Brushing the Iraq defenses a-side was childs play. It was the nightmare that followed that was not thought out seriously.

32 posted on 05/02/2012 8:24:12 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Romney is a liberal. Just watch him closely try to screw us.)
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To: Strategy

Yup, and this time the ‘rats wouldn’t question the president if at that point he claimed major combat operations were over.


33 posted on 05/02/2012 8:24:12 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: Strategy

We should NOT invade Iran unless our strategy is something along the lines of “invade, blow $#!+ up, leave, lather, rinse, repeat.”


34 posted on 05/02/2012 8:25:26 AM PDT by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (We apologise for the fault in this tagline. Those responsible have been sacked.)
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To: Leaning Right

“As General MacArthur said, never get involved in an Asian land war.”

I thought it was Vizzini that said that...


35 posted on 05/02/2012 8:31:28 AM PDT by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (We apologise for the fault in this tagline. Those responsible have been sacked.)
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To: ZirconEncrustedTweezers

It’s silly to discuss invading Iran, because it can’t, and won’t, happen.

Iran’s population is more than either Japan or Germany’s population in 1945, and over twice that of Afghanistan.

The land area is over twice that of Afghanistan.


36 posted on 05/02/2012 8:33:20 AM PDT by Strategerist
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To: ZirconEncrustedTweezers

37 posted on 05/02/2012 8:37:01 AM PDT by SparkyBass
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To: Strategerist

I guess I should have chosen a different word for it. I was thinking more along the lines of destroying infrastructure without much in the way of feet on the ground.

The theory of “strategic bombing” has been discredited over time, but even if such a strategy doesn’t result in the overthrow of an unfriendly regime from within it would eventually weaken the regime to the point where it is no longer a threat.


38 posted on 05/02/2012 8:38:45 AM PDT by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (We apologise for the fault in this tagline. Those responsible have been sacked.)
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To: SparkyBass

Never bet against a Kenyan Marxist when death is on the line! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha *thud*


39 posted on 05/02/2012 8:39:53 AM PDT by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (We apologise for the fault in this tagline. Those responsible have been sacked.)
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To: Andrei Bulba

“The flaw in this three weeks plan is that it leaves the Ayotollahs in charge (unless Iranians rise up from within). This is not a nation building plan, it’s a plan to reduce Iran’s military so they stop making trouble.
We did not win in Germany and Japan by defeating them and leaving. We wrote the Japanese constitution. I believe political subjugation has been the more common historical model.”

A very clear and cogent analysis of past events.

The only way to “rebuild” Islamic nations — after first defeating them militarily — is to make the -removal- of Islam from those nations priority one.

Just as we “de-Nazified” Germany after World War II, if the West has any hope for survival in the current worldwide struggle, we must de-Islamicize Moslem nations, once and for all.

Otherwise, the West will lose.


40 posted on 05/02/2012 8:43:28 AM PDT by Road Glide
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