James I agree with your sentiments. The military should be allowed to "win". Syria is the real problem. Their leader, though more moderate than his father, is forced to allow things to occur in his country that no reasonable leader would allow. Today Syria harbors the majority of the Baathist party leaders not in American custody. The campaign of terror against the citizens of Iraq is being lead by these leaders through proxies from Syria. It is unfortunate that we can not bring the fight to these folks. There are just too many folks who could not stand the reality of that event. In any event do not be surprised when Iraq stabilizes itself in a couple of years and kicks the dog shit out of Syria for the part that it has played in the current upheaval.