>>48586
What, and you think China and Russia's aren't?
You outright glossed over the fact that "ripe for the taking" still means you have to rebuild it, and if you think Russia selling off brand MickyDs and gasoline will carry them through that...
You even brought up "every other middle eastern war for the last couple decades" and I start to wonder if you realize what happened the last time Russia had to fight an ongoing insurgency, too.

>like every other middle eastern war for the last couple decades
>ultimately lost by the Western side
You mean all of them that are... still... on going...?
From Syria to India almost, most of them end in shitty stalemates after like a few hundred, to a few thousand deaths, from grabasstic exchanges like these.
The only one fresh on your mind is still Afghanistan.