Reagan went after the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada
Bush Sr. Went after Panama (when he chased Saddam out of Kuwait, he wisely stopped at the Iraqi border)
Bush Jr. did invade Iraq, but that was partially because it was in Cheney's personal financial interest for the USA to do so. "WMD" was a fiction that was easily debunked, despite the media's acquiescence. Rumsfeld and Cheney just fed Bush and the nation fals information about the difficulty of invading and holding Iraq. Rumsfeld even told the TV cameras, "maybe six days, maybe six weeks, certainly not six months." Oops.
Iran may only by 51% ethnic Persian, and it is true a large majority of the country despises the regime of the "Islamic Republic," but people do tend to band together if violently attacked (see the USA after 9/11). AND--they may not have nuclear bombs today, but if they feel their existence is threatened, who knows if they might not have them before we launch an attack? They may not vaporize Jerusalem, with its many Islamic holy sites, but if they nuke Tel Aviv, the two are so close together that Jerusalem might be uninhabitable for fifty years. Iran is a LOT closer to having WMD than Saddam ever was, and its economy is a basket case. They don't have a lot to lose IF they think an attack is imminent. It is the height of folly to give them that impression.
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