Well, I don't know...
They can't be sure we won't hit them. As the BBC said Saddam dicked around with the UN for nearly a year before the SHTF.
And, as I said above those guys dearly love mind fucking the Infidels. They could be doing it for the sheer joy of seeing us twist in the wind. Lying and deception is not a character issue in their culture.
Both sides in Syria hate us, so screw them. As I read somewhere, "Let Allah sort it out"