I agree, @angelicdespot – Turkey (a full NATO member, with the largest standing army in NATO except the US) is a pretty powerful block against direct Soviet intervention into Iraq.

However, as we saw at Team Yankee boot camp, when it comes to alternate military history … where there’s a will there’s a way. 😀

If we’re using mid-1980s as a starting point, the Soviet Union actually shares THREE borders with Iran, the Caucasus, Turkmenistan SSR, and Afghanistan, since the Soviet war in Afghanistan was of course already ongoing at the time. Of course the 1980-88 Gulf War between Iran and Iraq was also already in full swing, and the Israelis and Syrians were pretty heavily involved in the Second Lebanese Civil War and the aftermath of 1982 Peace for Galilee.

Throw in the alternate history aspect, of course. 😀 Iran at the time was a US enemy (the fall of the Shah and the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the disaster of Op Eagle Claw were only 4-5 years past), which sort of made Saddam’s Iraq a US ally at the time (feels strange typing that). Assuming the Iran-Iraq War was still in progress, the Soviets could “soft-invade” Iran from the north, “intervening at their request” to help against the Iraqis.

The fundamentalist element in Iran and its opposition to 1980s Marxist-Leninism could be neutralized. Perhaps the US assassinates Khomeni, or the Soviets do and blame it on the US. With the Soviets in Iran, the Iraqis are doomed to lose, so the Americans have to come in to help the Iraqis to keep the Soviets out of the Persian Gulf.

As for Syria, we have a border with Iraq. Iraqi armored brigades were in action in Syria along the Golan Heights in 1973, and also mobilized to help in 1967 (I don’t think they saw action). So there’s no reason the reverse can’t happen, with Syria sending forces into Iraq (with Soviet support, perhaps in the form of VVS airmobile units).

Why Syria would intervene against Sunni-aligned Iraq, allied WITH Shi’a aligned Iran, is admittedly a tough sell, and the weakest point of this proposed scenario. Still, I feel it’s doable. As you say correctly, there’s the fact that Syria is a Soviet client state. We’ve had to knock the edge off Iranian fundamentalism to get the Soviet intervention to work. US support if Israel this close after 1982 Peace for Galilee might push Assad into turning against Hussein after he accepts US aid against the Iranians and the intervening Soviets.

In the end, this gives us USSR + Iran + Syria vs. US + Iraq – probably more than enough to facilitate some epic tank gaming! 😀

Now this would be a vast and messy war, but even very big Team Yankee scenarios only have a battalion or so on a side. So while we’re using Middle Eastern participants, as you suggest, scenarios could be drawn up where only US or Soviet forces are actually on the table, or Iraqis and Syrians, or really any smaller-scale tactical scenario the team feels is best.

Just some ideas. 😀