We haven't fought a "great air force" since 1945.
The Iranian performance wouldn't be much better then the Iraqis could muster. Maybe worse. Air Forces in that region are substandard. Even the Turks, a NATO country, watching them fly and then watching our guys was like night and day. Its the reason little Israel has been able to dominate their many enemies. The Iranians could have been good had they stayed allies and used Yank equipment and doctrine, "remember they are the only ones we ever sold 14s to", but they didn't. And they aren't!
We have a huge, tho silent, air forces presence in the region. Most of all in Iraq. And very soon it will by Iraqi Pilots, trained by us, flying our airplanes, that the Iranians will have to worry about. That, and if you look at the Political/Military of US/Allied forces in the region and you see we have Iran flanked. And we control much of the regions transportation, choke points, waterways, and most importantly "water". Zip up a map of the region, see the disposition of forces and alliances, and you get a true picture of the Bush master plan against terror. Brilliant really. We split Iran from Syria and flanked them both.
Or if you want, throw a shoe or spittle out whatever everyone else is spitting out and be a good little drone. I'll tell you one thing. The Iranians can see what I'm talking about and thats why they have been such good neighbors, "overtly anyways", and why they are spending such a fortune on defense.
