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On Monday\u2019s broadcast of the Fox Business Network\u2019s \u201cMornings with Maria,\u201d Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) said that he thinks there will be \u201cAmerican special operators on the ground\u201d in Iran and \u201cI don\u2019t think this is going to end like Venezuela, where you just have a new leader that wants to be at least cooperative with the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fallon said, [relevant remarks begin around 1:45] \u201c[A]s far as the mullahs and what\u2019s left of the Iranian regime, can you trust them? Absolutely not. It\u2019s got to be a President Reagan trust but verify. I don\u2019t think this is going to end like Venezuela, where you just have a new leader that wants to be at least cooperative with the United States. That would be great, but this is \u2014 they\u2019re dedicated theocrats that \u2014 they were willing, just recently, to kill 32,000 of their own citizens\u2026just to stay in power. I think they\u2019d be perfectly fine with remaining in power, even if their economy was devastated and they want back to, like say, an Afghanistan, Taliban regime. They\u2019d be fine with that. So, I personally think it\u2019s going to be boots, at least special ops, American special operators on the ground, with allied \u2014 allies in the region and air cover, and we\u2019ve got to \u2014 we have to change the [tack] of the Tehran government or we can\u2019t leave. We can\u2019t leave until the job is done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guest host Cheryl Casone then asked, \u201cSo, you do believe that we\u2019re going to have some boots on the ground?\u201d<\/p>\n
Fallon answered, \u201cI just don\u2019t see any other way. Iran is 93 million people, it\u2019s five times the size of Iraq, it\u2019s larger in size than Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany combined. It\u2019s massive, 93 million people. When we invaded Iraq, they had a population of 25 million people. But here\u2019s the thing that\u2019s in our favor: 80% of the people in Iran hate this regime. So, once an action like that is taken, I do believe that people are going to rise up and the IRGC is going to melt away, and then we can see some kind of moderate faction coming out, and then, eventually, taking over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Follow <\/em>Ian\u00a0Hanchett on Twitter\u00a0@IanHanchett<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n