@edgarblythe,
Mutually destructive?? Iran is not capable of destroying the US.
The only reason why Iraq was a problem was because we stuck around and tried to do nation building. If we had just quietly murdered Saddam when we captured him and then pulled out as soon as he was dead, the war would have been a huge success.
At any rate, what kind of war are we even talking about? Air strikes? Massive land invasion?
Regardless, as long as we pull out as soon as we're done killing people and smashing things, and we don't bother with any "nation building" nonsense, the war will very likely be a great success.