Is there any way that the combined crises of the 1979-80 Iranian Revolution and Hostage Crisis, plus the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, have precipitated a fullscale superpower clash, also involving the new Iranian islamic govt, in the Middle East, with say the 82nd Airborne being dropped into northern Afghanistan to fight the Soviets, or US carrier battlegroups pounding the hell out of the Iranians ? Has this scenario been discussed already ? How would the US have fared without a specialised regional command as exists today with USCENCOM (remember, the Rapid Deployment Force, as Central Command's precursor, only came into existence in embryonic form in 1980) ?