War is always an unpredictable endeavor, and the factors dealing with Iran are particularly complex.

First, Iran is a huge piece of geography, more than twice as large as Texas. The logistic issues involved in fighting a land battle are immense. Perhaps we might say that all our offense would be airborne. But the targets would widespread and variable in quality. We would have less control over non-combatant causalities.

The major concern about the war, however, has to do with the influence Iran has outside its borders. Iran is currently conducting proxy warfare through their support of the Houthis in Yemen. Iran’s influence in Iraq continues. They support the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Even in Afghanistan, Iran has a presence whose strength we can’t assess.

Thus, the chief, undefined risk of war with Iran is the potential for untoward events that could evolve outside Iran itself.