If this keeps going a huge number of American military bodies are going to be stuck in the middle east for years.
Its starting to look like the vietnam era, that slow steady escalation as the situation develops.
It just sucks you in, and bleeds you dry.
The next phase, if it follows the same pattern, is the creation of an Iraqi junta system that has US military kit and backup.
Its created so that US forces can partially decouple from the local security stuff and concentrate on other strategic issues.
I wonder which tribe they'll pick.