We should have supported Assad in Syria, allowed him to crush the rebellion of the islamic extremists (ISIS is among them), or manipulated the situation so it was an even stale mate, but in retrospect I advocate the former. We also should have never went into Iraq and removed Saddam. As bad as he was this wouldn't have happened had he still been ruling Iraq. We have no one to blame but ourselves, we trained them, and in the critical moments they threw down their weapons and ran, and they also abandoned tanks and other vehicles and the enemy took control of them, making the counter offensive even tougher for those in the Iraqi army that have finally decided to fit. They need to learn... "it's better to die on your feet, than live on your knees..."