Originally Posted by
Joe Bauers
Seems like a lot of people think that the Iranian government is like other governments. They are jihadist, you can't negotiate or come to terms with jihadist as their motivation is to exterminate you.
The problem of Iran having ballistic missiles, drones and nuclear weapons will never be eliminated until the source is eliminated.
The underlying sticking point is their stated commitment exterminate IL. It is well established that at least some folks in the regime actually mean it. For the US (and other countries to a lesser degrees) there are vast political, geopolitical, and moral problems with that.
Originally Posted by
Joe Bauers
Iran is a great candidate for nation building, they have a population that is one of the most educated in the world. Imagine Iran as a liberal democracy, it would transform the ME.
I'm not optimistic, because IRGC is now so deeply integrated into most aspects of society. But if that could happen, yes game changer for sure.
For our purposes a Regime 2.0 that has learned some very painful lessons, and has significantly fewer resources to export trouble would probably be an acceptable end-state. They would have to be monitored carefully, DON'T trust but do verify.
Safe to say, we don't have any appetite for nation building, at least not the physical kind that requires BoG.