That's true WRT to RU. Also DPRK up to a point. But RU has enough capability to really mess up the world as we know it, so it was always a non-starter to engage them directly.

Depends.

1. Regime change is still possible.

2. Even if the current regime continues in spirit, they may temper their ambitions for survival reasons. Or economic/domestic political reasons.

3. Assuming we get after enough of their nuclear-related infrastructure, they would be set back decades. Also they'll still be subject to sanctions, which would limit their access to technology, hardware, and money.

There's absolutely no way they just bounce right back from this, the damage is done.

Now if they give up the nuclear (weapons) program there will likely be treats for good behavior... better economic prospects and it's also likley that we would allow them to rebuild their *conventional* military forces just for self-defense and regional stability. It's a rough neighborhood, and IR was not the aggressor in every past regional conflict.

It's actually in our interest too for there not be a regional power imbalance. In the mid-term though all of the regional actors look stable, I don't see Iraq doing a repeat of 1980 any time soon.