>>/54314/
cont.
On the other hand if actions against the regime's military seems promising the US will start a hostile intervention, overt or covert, usually depends on how internationally acceptable the enemy regime is. If they are recognized and other states have relations with them, seen as legitimate, the US will try to avoid the blowback and act from the position of plausible deniability. But if the enemy does something outrageous or the US can pin on them something (eg. human rights violation), the state becomes a pariah, then no obstacle for the US to act openly.
Note: circumstances change and depending the US can launch hostile interventions, then stop them and only run routinely hostile activities, then if circumstances allow then start another hostile intervention, etc. Routine activities and interventions can run parallel.
The chief goal of the interventions can be the overthrow of the enemy regime, but often it's forcing them to withdraw from a satellite (a client) of theirs, or a region they occupy, or stop a war against a US client, or such.