I agree with SampanViking, deft and PanAsian that there is a high likeliness of a strategy to lure out terrorists from their strong hold and destroy them in open area. This should be by far the most effective strategy in my opinion.
This strategy is proven by history not long ago in the Chinese civil war from 1946 to 1949 "围点打援,争取在运动中歼灭敌人"/"encircle enemy's strong hold and destroy the enemy's reinforcement on the move". The point is to reduce the enemy's number. This strategy is meant for a time when neither side has a clear numerical superiority, so the focus is to gradually reduce enemy number by attrition so in the near future the strategic balance could be turned. The difference of attritions in Chinese civil war and other major wars (such as Soviet vs. Germany in WWII) is that, the Chinese communist had no industrial base and did not have major population bases (although having vast rural area, but willing to abandon it any time to avoid manpower loss), much weaker than the Soviets, this weakness resembles the Syrian state.
The good news is that this strategy worked very well, the Chinese communist started with around 2 million troops against the government force of 4.6 million in 1946, in 1949 the balance became 4 against 1.5.
I wish to see this strategy works in Syria and we are able to see the turn of the tide sooner.
