Basically, we left it helpless.

If Iran can fly all over Iraq at will, we only have ourselves to blame for that.

Iran has been flying arms (among other routes) to Syria to support Damascus, Hezbollah, and Hamas since even before our invasion of Iraq - lengthy look at the issue: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/04/world/fg-hezbollah4 . The fact is that what Paul Ryan suggested here would constitute an act of war.

When the label "terrorist" is thrown around, it is often referring to this proxy war that Iran and the United States are fighting through Hamas and Israel. It's a bigger story than Iran's nuclear weapons program, in my opinion.

I suppose the interesting thing, which has largely been under-analyzed, will be whether when Syria emerges out of the 5-10-year bloody civil war that is unfolding as a nation with continued regional ambition or rather as a nation looking for an end to the proxy conflict. This revolution will have very interesting fall-out for Hezbollah and Hamas, and I'm not all certain that it will be good. The old saying after all was that the road to peace in Jerusalem goes through Damascus.

Either way, Ryan/Romney do not have any diplomatic experience at this point and no academic expertise in any of these subject matters. They are not qualified to conduct foreign policy and no crash-course in political campaign on foreign policy is going to change that reality.

Russia and the European nuclear industry are in on this. I think the Russians like trolling Iran along because it makes them feel "powerful" and feel like a counter to the US. In Russia, the public thinks that the Kremlin is total wussies when dealing with the US. They perceive that we walk all over them. So, Putin gets rewarded by his people for playing this game.

And kids get blown up by small bombs and grenades.

And then when Lyan started blowing the dog whistle about Assad murdering his own people I thought, "Uh oh, where have we heard that before." These repukes are itching to start another war.

You said it well, Ellisonz:
I think most of us already know that this is not possible without putting "American troops on the ground."

Biden was at his debate best here, forcing Ryan to reveal
the warhawk element in his so-called "plan" for Syria.

That really sealed it for me.

...it just sort of comes out naturally as part of his schtick.

In fact, he rather seems to be trying to avoid it - hopefully the media will press him.

...Paul Ryan wants to send more and more Americans to fight an endless war in Afghanistan.