Iran's air defenses.

Originally Posted by Quillan

I'm quite certain that if it came to a head up conflict between the Iranian air force and any major western power's air force, the Iranians would lose. That's not really the problem to my way of thinking; it's rather a lack of political will on the part of the people or the government.

To date, I think we (the US) have had around 5000 soldiers killed in Iraq. The media makes a huge deal about the numbers, and many civilians think that's way too many. Contrast that with just 65 years ago, the combined US/English/Canadian dead in just one day was nearly that much during the Normandy landings. Then, it was expected. Today, it's unacceptable. The popular opinion seems to be that we should be able to wipe them out of the sky without a single loss, and I think that's frankly unrealistic.

Don't forget the ~100 000 injured (some with extremely serious head injuries that require treatment as long as they live) and the other coalition dead & injured. Also I think it's kinda unfair to not notice the soldiers who have completed their tour, once, twice or even three times. Plenty of those guys around, and I don't think they will be going back there. One should not see their input as nothing, right?

The comparisons to WW 2 seem a bit out of place IMHO, or is this yet another ploy to try to make this debacle seem somehow less bloody then it already is?