2x6, is it possible that everybody knows what you're saying is true - but won't admit it in an election year? History is replete with examples of the good guys getting punished for sitting back and watching the bad guys get stronger.
How about the slave trade and 3/5ths compromises at the Constitutional Convention? If the founding fathers had had the foresight to tackle the issue early on, maybe we could have avoided the carnage of the Civil War.
If we can transform the Middle East now, what future, greater carnage might we avoid?