TEHRAN

THE NUMBERS TELL it all.

If Iran can raise about a million troops immediately, and many more once a foreign army has entered its territory, should the United States wish to launch a full invasion, it would require at least 3 million soldiers, on a ratio of three attackers to one defender; and 2.5 million to then occupy the country on a ratio of one soldier per twenty five people.

“This does not take into account the possibility of millions of civilians being armed, and martyrdom being the currency of resistance,” insists Napoleon Westmoreland, a veteran of numerous guerilla campaigns over the years. “If you think Vietnam and Afghanistan were a mess, this could be catastrophic. And remember, there’s a war going on next door between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Nobody seems to have noticed that. And the Pakistanis, they do have nuclear weapons. If both wars joined up … heaven help us.”