But simply stating over and again that our goal here is to degrade and destroy ISIL, as various politicians in both parties have done and are doing, is really nothing but a public exercise in political d!ck-swinging. The folks in the Beltway media might swoon over such macho-sounding yet empty rhetoric, but the rest of us out here in the hinterlands are scratching our heads and saying, "WTF?"

So, what's our immediate goal here -- to facilitate Iraqi and Kurdish efforts to reconquer the northwestern part of the country and retake the city of Mosul? Reduce ISIL's presence in Iraq to a manageable level? What is it?

To be sure, we could do any of that, because the IS contingents are loosely formed, not unlike the Boer Commandos of the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa at the turn of the 20th century. And there's probably 12,000 IS fighters, at most.

But that said, I've seen nothing in ISIL's behavior thus far which would lead me to believe that they'd be stupid and suicidal enough to stand up out in the open in a land where there's little natural cover, and proceed to slug it out mano a mano with opposing forces that are superior in both numbers and firepower. In our dreams! They'd be wiped out in short order.

No, once they see what's being arrayed against them, they'll likely abandon most of their gains in Iraq and just scatter with the winds, and filter back across the border into Syria to regroup. These people have proved to be quite patient, and they're very adept at playing the long game.

So then what are we going to do? Are we going to pack up again and go home? Re-engage the effort to nation-build in Iraq? Chase ISIL into Syria, despite the inherent risks involved in charting that particular course? All of the above? What is it?

We got sucked into the Mesopotamian vortex once, thanks to the cartoonish ignorance, callous disregard and general incompetence of the prior administration, which focused like a laser beam upon the political optics of raising that "Mission Accomplished" banner over an aircraft carrier on prime-time TV, and gave hardly a thought to what came afterward when the klieg lights were shut down and the cameras moved on. We only just finally extricated ourselves from that morass a few years ago.

It would be the height of folly to replicate that experience -- this time with our eyes wide open. The Obama administration needs to articulate clear and readily obtainable objectives, and also have in place a well-defined and achievable exit strategy, before I would be comfortable in fully supporting any re-intervention in Iraq, even on a limited scale.