Right or wrong, a mass invasion won't happen and even if it did it wouldn't solve the problem - as much as lashing out would undoubtedly make us feel better and as though we were doing something.
However, western, and I say that in the sense of the first world, nations are inherently centrist as a whole and governed by Centre/Centre Left administrations. The days of Maggie and Ronnie flexing muscle and intervening on a mass scale are long gone; we do, or at least claim to do limited intervention to solve the short term problems and that's about it. But in carrying out these short term interventions we lack the strategic nouse to look beyond the headlines to the third and fourth order effects that may be 5, 10, 20 years down the line. Even if our leaders had such strategic vision, their Centrist/Centre Left leanings would never sanction such a move. Despite everything that's going on, countries, populations are weary of fighting - even if it is the right and tempting thing to do.
And even if we did have the political will to do it, do we have the military capability to do it? I'd wager not, certainly not on the scale you would need to do it. The RAF on its own is full of weary individuals, many looking to get out, and kit that is either old and falling apart or is new and bought for a very specific kind of warfare. Large scale general war just isn't on the cards at the moment - especially with a Ministry of Defence run by a dogmatic Chancellor keen to cut us back to the minimum required for a defence force. Furthermore a mass invasion still doesn't solve the problem of the threat already at home. Like a sting or a bite, the toxin of extremism is already in our nation's system; energising it through war will only lead to more damage.
This is a problem that needs to be treated with caution and intelligently; force alone will not solve this. We have to be smarter than the enemy and we have to think long term in our strategy. After all, this is a war of ideas and ideals and their strategy has been maturing since the 7th century; you don't get much more long term in your thinking than that and dropping a few bombs isn't going to solve this long term. Indeed, it will simply play into Da'esh's hands; as far as they are concerned, the final battle has been prophesied and Dabiq is the location and this is all part of getting us on to the battlefield. If force needs to be applied so be it, but apply it meaningfully and as part of a considered strategy.
Last edited by Melchett01; 14th Nov 2015 at 22:16.