I tend to agree that the Iranians would fight a lot harder during the ground war than the Iraqis did. A lot of them are fed up with the Mullahs, but they're still extremely nationalistic and unified in a way the colonial hodge-podge of Iraq has never been. They were occupied after WWII, but never really became a colony. Iraq, in contrast, only became an entity as a result of British colonial schemes. Before that it was just the location of a series of failed empires. The Persians have always considered themselves a cut above the Arabs, and I've never seen anything which would disprove that conclusion. The current situation calls more for back room tactics and clever wetwork--both of which require a whole lot more neurons than the current administration can rub together. It may be best for them to simply do nothing and let the next administration deal with it.
We had our chance to eliminate the Iranian revolutionaries in 1979. We had absolutely just cause for total war. You cannot take embassy staff hostage and kill guards. You can kick them out, but you are absolutely forbidden from attacking them in that fashion. To do so gives the aggrieved nation casus belli. But Carter dropped the ball and it's far too late to try to oust them now, especially with the completely FUBAR situation in Iraq.
