Kim C, it sounds like you think that the only two options we have available to us are to use military force, or do nothing. I get the impression that a lot of people in this country think the same way.
The point is that there are many other options that we can utilize before we ever think about using military force. Military force is the approach with the greatest potential for causing the problem to get worse, rather than better. So it should be the last option we consider.