Syria is a mess. It has been a mess for almost seven years now. There are few people readily identifiable as "good guys," and the "bad guys" are both uniquely bad and yet very well entrenched in power. (Well, ISIS was entrenched in power, not so much anymore.)
ISIS is a good example of how to engage in the broader Levant. We had allies on the ground, especially Iraqi and Kurdish forces. Even Iran worked with us to help defeat ISIS. There was a manageable goal and a plan - attrition - to get there.
The Assad regime is much more entrenched than ISIS was. ISIS was effectively a bulwark against Shia/Alawite dominance in the region. It was never broadly popular for its own sake, as it embraced a medieval and restrictive form of Islam that turned off much of the population. It engaged or encouraged global terrorism. It had few to no friends who would be willing to admit as much.
The Assad regime is backed by Tehran and Moscow. There is a sizable population of Alawite and Shia Muslims who very much are invested in the survival of that regime. The problem is that those who oppose him are just as vehement in their opposition as those that support him are dedicated to his survival.
There is no political endgame that can satisfy everyone, or even lead to a fragile, uneasy peace.
Without a Clausewitzian solution - a political goal that is commensurate with the ability to acheive it - there is no military options that make sense. The broad coalition that struck Syria last night may or may not have achieved any tangible military goals. Maybe they knocked out some chemical weapons, maybe not. Doubtful since Very Stable Genius telegraphed that we were going to strike a few days in advance. This was a protest strike, not a punitive strike. There was no effort to take out Command and Control. It was as limited as possible.
Hopefully, at least, these strikes allowed Cheeto Benito a chance to ignore the Comey book, the Cohen situation, the Stormy weather and the other various and sundry scandals that are engulfing his presidency. Hopefully they protect Mueller and Rosenstein for a few more weeks.
But they did nothing to change what is happening in Syria, because there is no way to change what is happening in Syria that doesn't risk a broader war that America is simply uninterested in fighting.
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