what do the generals say?

A frequent refrain from many politicians, when asked what to do about a vexing foreign problem, is to do what the generals recommend.  Well, listen to two of them.
The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert Neller, said this yesterday:

“If we went there[to fight ISIL], is there any doubt in your mind, if we got a force together on the Syrian border and we drove into Raqqa, we would beat them into the ground like tent pegs?” Neller asked, again to shouts of “oorah.”

“So we’re in Raqqa and they’re all dead or captured or killed or wounded, and we’re standing in Raqqa and we’re like, ‘Now what?’ So before we go do that I think its fair we ask our political leadership ... when we’re done, what’s next?”

“Rebuilding, sir,” a Marine shouted from the audience.
“I don’t want to rebuild anything in Syria,” Neller answered. “I’ve been to this movie once before. It was called Iraq. I’ve been to this movie and it didn’t end the way we wanted it to end.”

Retired General David Petraeus warned against sending U.S. ground troops into the fight.

Earlier in the interview, Petraeus urged against keeping American boots on the ground as "not sustainable."

"I would not at this point," Petraeus said. "Again, you need to have a hold force that has legitimacy in the eyes of people that has to be Sunni Arab forces."
Asked whether it should be American forces, Petraeus said, "it should not be."

Wise and valid points, in my view.