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#22 "Iraq will look like a Sunday picnic by comparison".
Potentially, if we went in on the ground. I don't think that option is very likely at this stage. Stand off strikes using cruise missiles is very low risk for our forces. If we have to go a step further and launch airstrikes we will have to take down their much vaunted air defence system. And yes, the US military chiefs have described Syria as a "tough nut to crack".
Nonetheless, if it comes to it and we get engaged in an air war with them, perhaps to establish a no fly zone, I predict our forces (US Navy, USAF, RAF, RN, French forces, maybe others like the Turks) will hammer their air defences and air force into the ground within days. They may have some modern Russian kit, but can they use it properly (and its still a generation behind US gear anyway)? Without air power Assad's ground forces will struggle, especially if also under bombardment from us.
But we should seek to avoid getting dragged in on the ground if at all possible.
