Originally Posted by Oregon Elephant

That's the difference between a war and an occupation, remember Iraq had an organized military, with troops, armoured vehicals, and tanks, and look what we did to that. A war with Iran would go very well for the US (militarily speaking), an occupation on the other hand, would be disasterous. If we are going to strike first, we are going to go all out, take out as many military structures as possible, and although much of our infantry is in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Air Force and Navy is much more free to carry out tactical strikes.