“Saddam Hussein had invaded Iran in September [22] 1980, in a disastrous miscalculation that the Islamist regime, which had overthrown the pro-U.S. shah of Iran, would be too weak to stand up to the Iraqi military. It turned out to be one of the longest conflicts of the twentieth century, with no victor emerging when the war ended eight years later.”
– Deepak Tripathi, Overcoming the Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan, Page 65