As for the U.S., Obama promises no boots on the ground, unless there's a damn good reason to do so. And, as the American people have figured out (see recent polls), there will be a "damn good reason" to do so.
Since Obama is not stupid, he must know that it won't take much to make the U.S. change its mind about BOTG (boots on the ground). All it will take is a U.S. aircraft shot down by ISIS or Syrian missile, or when U.S. military members are taken prisoner and threatened with beheading, or when some major act of ISIS terrorism occurs inside "The Homeland" -- or that can be blamed on ISIS Central, even if done by free-lancing jihadis. You can bet that in such circumstances, there will be BOTG very quickly, whether those of active-duty soldiers or large numbers of special forces operators.
4. THE TRUE TARGET IN SYRIA
The bombs raining down on Syria from the air are aimed at ISIS facilities and troops, but the actual goal is regime change in Damascus. (And, after that, maybe Iran.)
Surely, Syria's leader, Bashar al-Assad, can see the handwriting on the wall, that he's next in the U.S. crosshairs, so why is he being so relatively quiet as his country's sovereignty is violated every day by U.S. bombers and missiles?
It seems clear, at least to me, that some accommodation with Assad -- perhaps with tacit promises of weapon and cash -- was reached before the U.S. bombing campaign began. In its most simplistic tactical form, that deal might have been something like this: "You stay out of our way -- we will let you know in which regions of Syria we will be operating on that day -- and you can continue to rule." Assad perhaps figured: "I need to regroup and grow stronger, so if the U.S. wants to be my air force for a year or two, I'll take it. In the interim, I can try convincing the U.S. that I'm their best hope in the region, even if they say they abhor my methods of control. That might mean that I would effectively be in the same camp as Israel, but 'politics makes for strange bedfellows' and 'the enemy of my enemy is my (temporary) friend'."
In addition, Assad is playing the nuclear card as further insurance the U.S. will not overthrow him: He's revealed four heretofore secret chemical facilities which, if ISIS were to get ahold of, could ignite a firestorm of death and mass destruction all over the region and beyond.
5. ISIS STRATEGY
ISIS, at the moment, seems content to be the leading jihadi force in the Middle East region, even though its spokesmen like to poke a verbal stick in the eye of the "Great Satan" by promising attacks eventually on the American homeland.
The eventual goal of ISIS is to establish the modern equivalent of the 7th-century caliphate for all Muslims, and perhaps re-create the Islamic Empire over much of the rest of the world.
One key to doing this is to enrage the United States and its Western allies enough to draw them into the maelstrom that is the Middle East. Just as Osama bin Laden did with the attacks of 9/11. The naive, angry U.S. snaps up the bait and invades another Muslim land.
Right now, ISIS is reaping the whirlwind from the air. Lots of damage, losing some momentum and so on, but bearable. What is likely to transpire: ISIS at some point ordering its troops to melt into the villages and urban settings for awhile, while it sharpens its guerrilla tactics and uses its social-network smarts to help round up thousands of new recruits. I would expect terrorist bombings in the capitals of Europe and in those Arab countries (Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, etc.) supporting the U.S.-led war.
Since it's difficult to root out ISIS fighters from the air, eventually the U.S. and its allies will feel obliged to put boots on the ground, and the mousetrap will snap shut.
6. "UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES"
Wars look so contained and tidy on the map charts when they are started. It doesn't take long before all hell breaks loose and there's no way to put the bloody genie of war back in the bottle. And then the unintended consequences start, and battle plans have to be rethought as the casualties and slaughters commence.
There will be plenty of surprises as the new Syria/Iraq war unravels. But even now, we can anticipate some, such as factions switching sides, high-tech weaponry winding up in ISIS and other jihadi hands, new fighters coming onto the field, alliances breaking apart, key nation-state actors in Europe starting to change their minds, Putin's Russia causing mischief, anti-war protests worldwide starting to grow in size, free-lance terrorists bombing inside the U.S. and its coalition partners, the broadcasting of videos of U.S. coalition tortures, etc.
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