A few forays into Syria, in hot pursuit of terrorists and those Syrian regulars aiding them, would have shown our resolve. A few bombings of Syrian installations that support the regime would have further cemented the notion. Following that action, reaching out to elements within Syria that are not allied with Iran could have followed. Syria's regime's support is very shallow, and the ruling Allawis could be toppled with a minimal amount of US support.
Iran should have been a major focus of our efforts from 2003. Read Michael Ledeen and all his pleading for the Bush government to take action in Iran, from 9-11 to the present. He is not an internet Rambo, nor am I. I believed then that the Iranian mullahs can be brought down, but it would take an active policy to foment revolution and support those who would do the toppling. We should not go into Iran except to prevent them from having nukes under a mullah regime, and then only to destroy the programs that they have. We can defeat the Iranians if we wish, but at a much higher cost than Iraq, and at the cost of weakening our global reach in places such as east Asia. China is the biggest winner so far in this war on terror.
Don't be a Bush apologist all your life. He's done some good things, but not lately.
I try not to be but I think he is a man of integrity and courage and when others blithely start Monday morning quarterbacking and denigrating him I think it is because those on the outside aren't dealing with the same advice and information he has.
As I understand it he has always been one to pick those who seem to him to be the best persons to do the job, give it to them and then stay out of the way while they did it without micro managing them like LBJ and some others.
From the beginning he has said he would give the military what they asked for and he always followed the advice they gave. I am an admirer of Rumsfield and I am sure he listened to his Generals also. All the things you mention about Iran and Syria I wondered about at the time myself. Those happened under Rumsfield and he is now gone.
Bush has always acted on the best information and advice he could get. Did he get good information and advice, especially from the CIA and the State Department? I seriously doubt it. Yet, he hasn't thrown in the towel even though the enemy's best friends are right here in the USA, misrepresenting the facts, threatening to impeach him, and blocking many of the things he is trying to do.
Perhaps you are not an internet Rambo but there are many here on FR. I just try to keep things in perspective.