In article ,
A Man Beaten by Jacks wrote:

On Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:48:59 -0800, croupe wrote:

I don't have the exact numbers, but I think that Iraq had somewhere
around 11M troops the first time around and that seemed to work out OK
for us.

By "I think" you mean "I just pulled this number out of my ass and I have
no ****ing clue what the real number is," right?

He might have, but the number is the one bounced around a lot. For
instance:
http://www.iraqwatch.org/perspective...cap-120301.pdf

Iraq army was a mile wide but an inch deep, especially by the time
GWI started. While they had the elite units, most were conscript Shiite
and Kurds who weren't exactly strong supporters of SH even before they
were tossed out on the front lines with few provisions. Thus, they
folded like cheap lawn furniture at the first opportunity.
SH kept the good guys and those units made up people who might
actually support him nearby more to keep them around for after GWI and
help him squash any rabble rousers afterward because he knew the
politics were such that he was personally safe.
Now, whether or not Iran would have the same problems, I don't know.