Once more unto the breach...

So despite our lamentable track record in our recent dealings with the Middle East, here we are again. We're going to carry out air strikes on ISIS, ISIL or whatever we're calling them today.  And does anybody really believe it will end there?  I think the expression is "mission creep" - air strikes in Iraq will lead to air strikes in Syria which will lead to limited troop intervention which will lead to...  I hope I'm wrong but that's what I foresee.  And the tragedy is that at the end of the day, chances are that the problem will still be there - maybe even more acute.  What else could we do?  Our real misfortune is that we're already on the rollercoaster and we can't get off.  We are doomed to follow the path that to a great extent we ourselves have helped to create. What's that saying about chickens coming home to roost?