We should turn the game back on the enemies in the region. We could do this if we stopped worrying playing policeman between the various hate groups in Iraq and do the following:
1. Pull back to strong bases / strategic assets / Kurd zones.
2. Sell / give weapons to our "friends"
3. Cut off all unapproved supplies (including food) coming into the country (bomb everything coming across the boarder without our approval).
4. Train and supply anti-enemy forces to cross over into Iran (give them a task of their own medicine)
I saw you mentioned the idea of a Chinese partnership. I was wondering if the Chinese had any interest in supplying foot soldiers. An American / Chinese partnership could be interesting.
Please read again. I am sorry if there was a confusion. I stated that we need to create proxies to deal with China. Example would be closer relations with India, and Japan to counter China. China had been using proxies to cause headaches for the US especially her support for Iran in the Middle East.