[joelx]

Syria was a different situation, and I would actually have recommended an even more dramatic intervention early on there.

In Syria there was a very weak government and strong revolutionary forces. A few ground troops could have helped topple al-Assad. There are risks to this strategy though since the Russians were providing military aid to him... could have risked turning into a proxy war like Vietnam or a quagmire like Afghanistan. At the start of the Syrian war, sending in troops may have worked. I would send in troops now to Venezuela before Maduro finishes his purges and solidification of power.