Current Events > Can the US military beat Iran in a war?

(+) Yeah! (+)

If Irans military managed to last longer then a day I'd be generally surprised.

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Hmm

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UnfairRepresent posted...

We failed because we didn't interfere MORE? O_o

No, we failed because we didn't stay. You can't leave a place after blowing it up and expect all the different groups of people to play nice. We already interfered to the maximum. We didn't stay and take on the responsibility of stabilizing the country.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Challenge_2002?wprov=sfla1
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We could win but not without everyone losing

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metallica846 posted...

Yeah but 79 million people who can't shoot.

They would have no air force and no navy in one week. We wouldn't invade and would blockade the country from any supplies coming in. Basically medieval tactics would work best on a country like Iran. Siege the fuck out of the country and wait for terms.

Even if you ignore the political and economic ramifications of "Sieging " Iran

This still wouldn't work. even if somehow no one cared and we wiped out their navy and air force with no casualties ( which is impossible for the record )

Fighting a million men and more as the conflict continues on their turf would be long, costly and expensive

The US cant win that. billions of dollars spent as more and more troops come back in body bags for no gain would horrify the US population

A boots on the ground "siege" invasion of Iran would be costly and horrific

not "easy " and not a "win" in ANY practical terms

the more powerful hardware, navy and airforce only goes so far

And this ignores entirely the notion of terrorism that would follow

it's just such a bad and stupid idea

I honestly feel like anyone who feels America would "win" this has no real understanding of modern war, modern history or Iran in general

Hell your own statement of "medieval tactics would work" sums it up
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Antifar posted...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Challenge_2002?wprov=sfla1

I was waiting for someone to bring this up lol
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Iran's military and political leadership is significantly more professional, cohesive, and numerous than any other country we fight. We would probably win most, if not all, set-piece battles, but we could never, ever win the war. Iran is much more heavily populated than Iraq with terrain like Afghanistan. It would require hundreds of thousands of troops to occupy, and there are no sectarian divisions or credible opposition to exploit. They have lots of rockets and cyber warfare capabilities. Opposition to our forces would be cohesive, well-organized, and have thousands of miles worth of mountains to hide out in. Also there's a jungle outside Tehran, for those of you eager to relitigate Vietnam. There would even be Iranian proxies and allies causing trouble throughout the Middle East!
In short, in terms of casualties, both American and Iranian, it would make Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq seem quaint. We would never win, it would be a monstrous waste of lives and resources, and it would be an evil, aggressive, and unjustifiable endeavor. A crime against America and all humanity.

yes but it would bleed america dry and occupation would be a nightmare

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ElatedVenusaur posted...

Thank you

Damn even the sigless users agree with me

What does that tell you?

Yes America is more powerful, it had better toys and better trained boys

but in any practical term? No. we cant "win" against Iran and nothing we do would be easy

Christ for the past 9 years this is what conservatives were screaming at Hillary, including Trump

Now Trump rambles incoherently hpw powerful he is and you all forget basic facts? its mind boggling
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Wow, beat Iran easily? Like the US did Vietnam right? Oh wait...

It's nice to support your country, but come on now.


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Just tell Israel they can keep what they want

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I'm sure that if there's any sign of the US not winning by a landslide, Trump will order in Nukes.
Not cause he thinks it's the best tactic, but cause he wanna rub historical elbows with Truman for his own ego

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They said the same thing about Vietnam and we all know how that turned out

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Won't get to war. Congress won't approve it.

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We were just hit by rockets in Iraq

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sylverlolol posted...

Won't get to war. Congress won't approve it.

The US President is in charge of the military, he can order shit without formal declarations. And if you think Congress can really stop him, TR ordered his Great White Fleet to do its tour if gunboat diplomacy without Congress budgeting it. Congress gave up the money rather than leave the Navy stuck on the other side of the world.
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CloneTheHero posted...

their navy is comparable to ours

Bwahahahaha.

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Crazyman93 posted...

The US President is in charge of the military, he can order shit without formal declarations. And if you think Congress can really stop him, TR ordered his Great White Fleet to do its tour if gunboat diplomacy without Congress budgeting it. Congress gave up the money rather than leave the Navy stuck on the other side of the world.

My history ain't the strongest, but I'm pretty sure the Great White Fleet was before the War Powers Resolution of 1973 was a thing.

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America doesn't win wars in the middle east, they just enter holding patterns where a bunch of people are perpetually stationed in an area and trade deaths with insurgents while making everyone around us madder and madder for being such stupid assholes

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Yes we would win the initial conventional phase, but then comes the occupation. The Iranians are not your typical dysfunctional middle eastern nation, they actually have a pretty strong and cohesive national identity; something the Afghans and Iraqis lacked. They've also been training their military to fight us in a vicious guerrilla war in the event of an American occupation, should it come to an occupation it will be much bloodier than Iraq.

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If Iran tries any shit with the USA you best believe India and the Modi government are itching to fire rockets and stand by the USA's side.

Then you've got the Saudis who have feuded with the Shia Muslims of Iran for MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS.

Iran has 0 chance. China will not stand by Iran. They already have thousands of Muslims in modern day internment camps. Russia doesn't give a shit about Iran either. A weak Iran is in their best interest as well. Iran literally has no friends. Sunni Muslims hate Shia Muslims. The Saudi's have been wanting this for years.

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SpudForce posted...

Yes we would win the initial conventional phase, but then comes the occupation. The Iranians are not your typical dysfunctional middle eastern nation, they actually have a pretty strong and cohesive national identity; something the Afghans and Iraqis lacked. They've also been training their military to fight us in a vicious guerrilla war in the event of an American occupation, should it come to an occupation it will be much bloodier than Iraq.

So you're saying nuke them?

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CloneTheHero posted...

feel free to do youre homework. laughing like my post was asinine is so ironic. lol

US has freaking Aircraft Carriers with B2 bombers.

You really think Iran stands a chance with their frigates and shit? LMFAO.

You can say they stand a chance on the ground due to guerilla tactics and infrastructure/ballistic arsenal, but they CANNOT take the fight to the skies or the sea.

It's SUICIDE.

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Also, let me just say this: no one is going to seriously help us. Any invasion of Iran is going to be deeply unpopular, both domesticly and abroad, and no one is going to contribute anything other than an absolutely token amount. That includes Israel and Saudi Arabia(who, by the way, recently disavowed the strike of Soleimani and urged restraint. You know you've overplayed your hand against Iran when those two think you're going too far).
And we all realize that the Saudi military is a complete and utter joke which gets wrecked by the Houthis on the reg, in spite of U.S. support and a crippling blockade? Their forces would get slaughtered in basically any engagement with Iranians, whether those Iranians are regulars or guerillas. They're poorly trained and the leadership is completely unprofessional.

if we actually used the full force of our military(besides nukes) we would destroy them easily.

but we'd never use that much at once just for budget reasons

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We'd be on our own on this one. All our allies have pretty much on the record as not wanting any part of it.

US can blow Iran away.


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HagenEx posted...

US has freaking Aircraft Carriers with B2 bombers.

The B2 Spirit stealth bomber is not a carrier capable aircraft. Didn't even bother reading the rest of your probably just as ill informed post since it's clear in your opening statement you have no clue what you're talking about.
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ultimate reaver posted...

America doesn't win wars in the middle east, they just enter holding patterns where a bunch of people are perpetually stationed in an area and trade deaths with insurgents while making everyone around us madder and madder for being such stupid assholes

This isn't wrong.

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We would kick the shit out of them, really just a question of how many people we are willing to kill and what we wanna do with the aftermath.

The B2 have flied from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri to Afghanistan and back during Operation Enduring Freedom with some aerial refueling so it is possible for it to bomb in Iran as well, the problem is the logistic and cost for aerial refueling and that the B2 needs to be repainted after every mission for a high cost.


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about as well as they beat vietnam

Take the kids gloves off easily. Ask Japan. But as another said doubt we'd go that far. Hell nukes or other big bombs aside if we just showed up on their doorstep full force all men tanks jets ect we have at out disposal it wouldnt be much of a fight id bet. Once again doubt we'd go that far though

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CloneTheHero posted...

lmao. b2 bombers are long distance strategic air craft. THEYRE NOT ON CARRIERS

holy shit youre twisting words. i said they have a navy comparable to ours i didnt say we'd lose lol. it just wont be a walk in the park like some of you think it would be.

besides the first sentence in your post exposed your ignorance. run along now.

... b2 bombers on carriers lmao

Iran absolutely does not have a Navy comparable to ours. No single country on the planet has a Navy comparable to the US Navy.

CloneTheHero posted...

china has a better navy than we do. do your research. they nearly double our naval assests

No, just no. China does not have a better Navy than the US. You lost any semblance of credibility when you suggested Iran had a comparable Navy to the US. I mean, come on.

Esrac posted...

No, just no. China does not have a better Navy than the US. You lost any semblance of credibility when you suggested Iran had a comparable Navy to the US. I mean, come on.

He said.. 'Do your research'

Lol. Whats with these dudes who have no idea how powerful the US actually is?

Keith_Valentine posted...

He said.. 'Do your research'

Lol. Whats with these dudes who have no idea how powerful the US actually is?

Because shitting on america is the cool edgy thing to do. They love to tell us we aint number 1 (and outside military might I might agree) but the rest of the world seems to care about what we do so much its hard to not think we are.

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mooreandrew58 posted...

Because shitting on america is the cool edgy thing to do. They love to tell us we aint number 1 (and outside military might I might agree) but the rest of the world seems to care about what we do so much its hard to not think we are.

Agreed. We are falling behind in so many ways, but we will kick your fuckin ass. Sad but true. Makes me reflect on all these dudes on CE who were pissing themselves over war with Iran, absolutely terrified! And on day 1 of any serious conflict, completely ready to give up and turn on their own people. Totally convinced we would lose. If this generation had been around during ww2, Hitler would have won. Pussies smh

Back then guys were killing themselves because they got Rejected for military service. They wanted to fight for their country. Look at us now. Thank god there are still brave men and women who arent scared of their own shadow to keep us safe.

Keith_Valentine posted...

Agreed. We are falling behind in so many ways, but we will kick your fuckin ass. Sad but true. Makes me reflect on all these dudes on CE who were pissing themselves over war with Iran, absolutely terrified! And on day 1 of any serious conflict, completely ready to give up and turn on their own people. Totally convinced we would lose. If this generation had been around during ww2, Hitler would have won. Pussies smh

Back then guys were killing themselves because they got Rejected for military service. They wanted to fight for their country. Look at us now. Thank god there are still brave men and women who arent scared of their own shadow to keep us safe.

I wanted to join but i got talked out of it by family and now I have a job i canmake a career of. In the unlikely scenario the draft comes back and even more unlikely scenario I get drafted I aint dodging though. And god forbid but war comes to my homeland im fighting.

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mooreandrew58 posted...

I wanted to join but i got talked out of it by family and now I have a job i canmake a career of. In the unlikely scenario the draft comes back and even more unlikely scenario I get drafted I aint dodging though. And god forbid but war comes to my homeland im fighting.

Same. I got rejected. There are worse things than possibly dying to keep my family and friends safe. Like living life as a cowardly bitch. And if I survived, I could always walk around knowing I did my part and fought for something i believe in. I could die happy, hopefully with lots of children around who knew uncle KV was a fighter. :) I like kids

Keith_Valentine posted...

Same. I got rejected. There are worse things than possibly dying to keep my family and friends safe. Like living life as a cowardly bitch. And if I survived, I could always walk around knowing I did my part and fought for something i believe in. I could die happy, hopefully with lots of children around who knew uncle KV was a fighter. :) I like kids

I dont like kids.

Me i may be sort of a pacifist but I dont run from fights. Never have dont plan on starting anytime soon

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