[Scott from the Left Coast]

It is that kind of hubris that results in the destruction of societies (in this case our own). We are going conquer and hold a population exceeding one billion and spanning 7,000 miles (millions of square miles) east to west with a total land force (U.S. and Israel combined) of some 900,000 soldiers?

Our hands are entirely full right now with Iraq and Afghanistan, and neither is finished yet to the point where forces can be drawn down. If we lost the assistance of the Gulf States, Pakistan, and, yes even the Saudi bastards (who are still pumping oil), and they actively opposed us we would not be able to maintain our current position let alone take on a new war against Egypt, Syria, Iran, Algeria, Libya, Jordan, Indonesia and those former "allies" at the same time. And hello, what side do you think that France, Germany, Russia and China would be on?

[Salem]

"Our hands are entirely full right now ...."

Good tactical and force review. Thing is history has a tendency to go all higgley-piggley at the most inopportune times. I read current events as vulnerable to just such an untidy scenario.

Which I can say to is: YIKES!