Don't want to get drawn into a political discussion but lets get something straight here. The war has been over for some time now.
And yes, the Americans and British won, that is why they are still there.
What is going on now is a civil war between Shia and Sunni over control of the country.
All quite correct, and it is also true that an exit strategy was not especially considered. Dubya is paying for this now.
However, if it is considered that Iran is somehow a threat, keeping in mind the propensity of 'leaders' in that area of the world to huff and puff themselves into importance, it should be clearly understood that the US will act, and rather quickly.
It won't take local 'bases' in the area either, the USA has a very long reach from within its shores directly...no local bases required.
I really do pity the Iranians if they try to be too clever.
Lets see...how long does it take to fly from North Dakota to Iran...
