MAD MISSION CREEP

The nation's top military leader [Gen.Martin Dempsey] told Congress Thursday that the United States would consider dispatching a modest number of American forces to fight with Iraqi troops as they engage in more complex missions in the campaign against Islamic State militants.
....

Joining him at the witness table was Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who said the coalition was making progress in the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, but the American people must prepare for a long and difficult struggle. 
....

Hagel maintained that the U.S. personnel will not be involved in ground combat.

Tell me another, Mr Secretary.

The US should be out of the Middle East altogether, except for strictly humanitarian purposes to aid the vast numbers of refugees who have lost their homes or been driven out into surrounding territory. I do not speak of humanitarian purposes as broadly as the Obama administration interprets the phrase to include members of the US military, arms, and other types of military aid. The US has made the situation worse rather than better each time we intervene, and it's way past time for us to allow the countries in the Middle East to work out their own destinies.

With regard to humanitarian aid, our efforts fall woefully short, considering our part in contributing to the chaos of death and destruction that now exists.

HUMANITARIAN AID NOT MISSILES TO SYRIA

Syrian President Bashar Assad is a cruel despot, but the US should not involve itself militarily in Syria's civil war. The tangled alliances and relationships in the Middle East change quickly, beyond our abilities to follow or understand, but the civil war is not simply a struggle between the good guys vs. the bad guys.

More than a dozen key Syrian rebel groups said Wednesday that they reject the authority of the Western-backed opposition coalition, as U.N. inspectors returned to the country to continue their probe into chemical weapons attacks.

In a joint statement, 13 rebel groups including a powerful al-Qaida-linked faction but also more mainstream forces slammed the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition, saying it no longer represents their interests.
....

The rebel groups' statement was titled "Communique No. 1," a term used before in Arab countries following military coups that suggests the creation of a new leadership body.

A video released on the Internet showed Abdel-Aziz Salameh, political chief of the Liwaa al-Tawheed brigade that is particularly strong in the city of Aleppo, reading the statement.
....

The signatories called on all military and civilian forces "to unite under a clear Islamic framework based on Shariah law, which should be the sole source of legislation"— an apparent reference to the al-Qaida faction's aspirations to create an Islamic state in Syria.

Our efforts should be directed toward humanitarian relief of the Syrian people, who are suffering greatly, rather than sending missiles that will surely serve to inflict further suffering.  The plight of the 1 million Syrian refugees who fled to surrounding countries is, in many cases, desperate, and we must focus our attention on giving aid to relieve suffering.