If neither side is capable of ending the violence now, then more limited, but feasible, goals should be adopted.
"They're all irresponsible, none of them is capable of ending this crisis," says Aristomenes Antonopoulos, a lawyer.
It should be against the rules of physics that a bullet worth the price of a few cigarettes is capable of ending such a life.
Tragically, when Israel was led in the early 1990s by visionary leadership (Rabin and Peres), the Palestinians did not sport a leader who was capable of ending the conflict.
But there is another reason why the health or otherwise of US-Russia relations should not be judged exclusively by their talks about Syria: to believe that the two countries are capable of ending the conflict in Syria is to believe that the cold war continues, and that every war is a proxy superpower war.
Someone at Chelsea must be able to see that, ought to have been capable of ending the whole unpleasant situation, yet it has been allowed to fester to the point where Carneiro has had to leave the club to consider her legal position.
And now, with an estimated 160,000 dead, millions displaced at home and abroad, outside powers backing both sides, and al-Qaida-linked jihadist groups gaining more control in the north and east, many Syrians believe that Assad alone is capable of ending the conflict.
But he too believes the Murrayfield men are capable of ending the match clutching the 1872 Cup.
Hull FC captain Gareth Ellis believes the side are capable of ending their eight-year wait for silverware.
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce says he does not know if his side are capable of ending their home form hoodoo.
McInnes believes that while Scotland have flaws, they are capable of ending their 22-year wait for a finals appearance in this campaign.
