The U.S. is currently trying to finalize a ten-year military aid package to Israel valued at approximately $40 billion. Despite pulling its military out of Iraq in 2011, the U.S. has been bombing the country for the past year and one-half and has sent in special forces to the country. (One was just killed in a combat death). The U.S. has an enormous military facility in Bahrain and another one in Qatar. The U.S. is supporting the Saudi's war in Yemen and is actively involved in the effort to cobble together a ceasefire in Syria. The U.S. just entered into a major nuclear arms agreement with Iran. The Middle East comes up in the presidential campaign whenever anyone talks about "foreign policy." Unlike almost everywhere else in the world, that particular patch of the world gets much more coverage and is generally viewed to be a central part of American foreign policy by pretty much everyone. It is easier for an American consuming only American media to follow middle eastern politics than it is to follow the politics of Mexico or Canada, the U.S. next door neighbors.
And yet a certain foreign policy gurus keep claiming that the U.S. is "abandoning" the Middle East all because the U.S. is not killing as much Middle Easterners as the gurus want. The claims of abandonment are not just foolish, they are ghoulish. Anything other than entering into a bunch more misbegotten military adventures is viewed as neglect. Only blood sacrifice will satisfy the gods of military interventionism.
And yet a certain foreign policy gurus keep claiming that the U.S. is "abandoning" the Middle East all because the U.S. is not killing as much Middle Easterners as the gurus want. The claims of abandonment are not just foolish, they are ghoulish. Anything other than entering into a bunch more misbegotten military adventures is viewed as neglect. Only blood sacrifice will satisfy the gods of military interventionism.
