The reason I ask is the same one I had when President Obama was faced with this question. I honestly don't care. What happens in Syria doesn't have a damned thing to do with anyone in the US.
You need to go back and view some history from WW-I.
What you are saying above is almost word for word what was said about Poland in the Fall of 1939. How did that workout?
You don't want to get into history with me. I can assure you I am aware of it.
But let's get a little more recent. There is one naval base for the Russians in the entire Mediterranean Sea. It is in Syria. Imagine how we would react if our base at Rota Spain was threatened. We would do exactly what the Russians are. We would pull out all the stops to protect our base.
So we have a side in the conflict that can't afford to lose. But hey we are pulling out the WW I and II examples. Fine with me. This mess is actually closer to the Spanish Civil war than Poland which is an asinine example. Poland was the cause of the war. The example you are thinking of is Czech and the Sudaten Land.
Syria isn't trying to take over anything. They aren't fighting against patriots who hope to have a democratic form of government. They want themselves in charge. New dictator with the same old rules.
The Spanish civil war was a test of new weapons and tactics. The theories on air power and bombing were tested there on live victims. The techniques developed would serve the Germans well through about 1942.
The Russians can't back down. If they do they lose their only Naval base in the Med. they are not going to give up. So if we escalate where does it go next? You use the World War I example. Was the death of tens of millions a fair price to pay for the death of Arch Duke Ferdinand?
Make no mistake. An escalation in Syria leads to World War III. How do we win that? How do we survive it?
Using your Second World War analogy is sort of apt. We are the ones demanding Poland. We are the invaders starting the war. We are the people holding a gun to the head of the Yugoslavian Prime Minister demanding he surrender the nation. We are the baddies.
We armed the terrorists. We have advisors working with the terrorists right now. The Nazi's sent people in to Poland to stir up trouble and give them the excuse to go in.
We are the baddies.