The United States went to war in Afghanistan and then Iraq when my daughter was a one-year-old. She graduated this year. She completed her first semester of College. Owns a car, has a job. And we’re still over there.
Her entire life we’ve been engaged in the forever war in the Middle East. A series of engagements which evolved from finding bad guys who attacked us at home to planting seeds of ‘Democracy’ to…a line item in the budget. There’s an asterisk next to it. Says something about stability.
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I’m a big fan of projecting power. I’m not a fan of endless “engagements” in hostile places labeled “peacekeeper.” I think we pay the UN to do that (at which they suck). But that’s not our job.
When prompted we should have an objective. Kick in a few doors and break some glass. Do what you came to do and get out. Leave a “don’t make us come back, love Uncle Sam” post-it-note® on the ‘fridge’ and bring the troops home. “Need anything, call.” Maybe add a “Happy to help if you agree to stop killing our citizens.”
Keep it simple. Strictly physical.
Most of the world is an ugly place, and not all the bad guys dress nice and lie to your face at the UN Bar and Grill. But they all need to understand one thing. We don’t mind a conversation. Making deals is great. And yes, you can talk trash about us all you like. We don’t care. We don’t want to run your shitty country. That’s your problem. But the US can and will project power to protect its allies and interests if you make it our problem. Period. That doesn’t mean boots on the ground anywhere forever and ever.
Trump Ran For Office on This
ISIS asked for it. They were openly evil and belligerent. Mr. Obama nancy-pants his way around this and ISIS grew. Trump came along and said we’re gonna beat their asses back to “Brooklyn” then come home and have a nice cold beer. He committed to it. America’s military did it. And now he is keeping his promise.
Plenty of people think that’s a mistake. Leaving Syria and keeping your promises. But Trump is Trump. He doesn’t care.
General Mattis decided he didn’t want to play in that sandbox and left. He’s not alone. We should expect more. Guys and Gals who thought Mr. Trump was going to support the Neocon’s permanent war-footing in the Middle East. Not so much. Thank them and let them go. They can make a small fortune airing their grievances in the next brilliant page-turner by a former Trump Insider.
Trump doesn’t care. Neither should you.
Senator Rand Paul Says Thanks
Senator Rand Paul is another guy in DC who doesn’t bend-the-knee. He’s got reasons to dislike Mr. Trump. But he took time to praise the man for something that is rare in DC politics.
“I’m very proud of the president. This is exactly what he promised,”…“And I think the people agree with him actually. I think people believe we’ve been at war too long in too many places, and we do need to turn attention to problems we have at home here: roads, bridges, schools.”
For my part, I think we tried a lot of things since the first Gulf War. We learned a lot, good and bad. But there needs to be another way — one that no one will bother looking for if we keep feeding our kids and our tax dollars into a permanent Middle-Eastern war machine.
Where Peace is Never an Option.
And no, I’m not expecting peace in the Middle East. It’s never had it and never will. And yes, we have interests and allies over there and forever shall, most likely. Every now and again we may need to kick in some doors and break some glass. Congress should approve a specific mission. The president should be free to execute it with their oversight. But the idea that we need to move in and spend twenty years on the sofa has to end.
Trump chose to end it, at least in Syria and Afghanistan. Will it be like Obama’s abrupt pull-out from Iraq? The one that leads to the formation of ISIS? There appears to be some activity behind the scenes to ensure that when it does rise again, and it will try, the people from the region who have an interest in stability will deal with it.
For our part, we’ll keep our boots shined just in case we need them and ponder whether the never-Trumpers can find a Federal Judge to declare the President doesn’t have authority to bring troops home.
I won’t be surprised if they are looking. I’d not be surprised if they found one.
Until then, they have earned a break from the forever-war and so have their friends and families.
"I’m very proud of the President. This is exactly what he promised … I think people believe that we’ve been at war too long and too many places and that we do need to turn attention to problems we have at home,” Sen. @RandPaul says of Trump’s decision to pull troops from Syria. pic.twitter.com/oDrFrCzzf8
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) December 23, 2018
Related: The Federalist – Why Trump made the right decision on troops in Syria
