The Syrian conflict pits Hezbollah and Iran against Al-Qaeda, which is a result for the west.
Very many of the world's moslem nutters are there now. Killing each other. Including over 600 from the West. So British jihadists are there instead of here, which has to be good.
One good option would be to seal the country off and supply no more arms or fuel. Then they would eventually be reduced to throwing stones at each other. Already the number of armoured vehicles and combat aircraft is significantly depleted.
It will be very interesting to see the nature of Obama's strike. Will he attempt to decapitate the regime, go for C4ISTAR, take out the threats to Israel which means scuds and chemical weapons stores or will he just go after military assets on the ground? Or some combination. He is forced in a corner by his "red line" speech and has no option but to act.