As for the nine points....
1. ISIS only began after we left and was not really apparent until 2013-2014. At what point should he have noticed and done something about it?
2. Could Mubarak have stayed in power even if we supported him? Anyway, is Egypt in a worse position today than under Mubarak?
3. Are you arguing that Khaddayi wholesale slaughtering of the rebels would have been a better outcome?
4. Why didn't Republicans authorize use of force? Anyway, it was a very complex situation--hit Assad forces too hard you get regime collapse and fertile ground for radical forces; don't hit hard enough it looks weak anyway.
5. What is Russia getting out of this Middle East involvement? Nothing I can see.
6. Time will tell if that agreement was good or not. But right now Iran is complying,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/ ... ce8a5a6839
7. So has this affected our strategic interests? Ok we did not fight a war over Ukraine. Are you saying we should have done so? We did quickly move forces to th Baltic States to indicate that Putin was not to go further. And he hasn't.
8. This is too vague. Again how have our interests been threatened? We did come up with a trade deal to bind Asian countries other than China (which I don't particularly like but if we're worried about Chinese expansionism it helps to counter that).
9. Again too vague. What allies and for what? Can you point to a concrete situation where an ally has sought US help, was denied and had to turn elsewhere?
1. ISIS only began after we left and was not really apparent until 2013-2014. At what point should he have noticed and done something about it?
2. Could Mubarak have stayed in power even if we supported him? Anyway, is Egypt in a worse position today than under Mubarak?
3. Are you arguing that Khaddayi wholesale slaughtering of the rebels would have been a better outcome?
4. Why didn't Republicans authorize use of force? Anyway, it was a very complex situation--hit Assad forces too hard you get regime collapse and fertile ground for radical forces; don't hit hard enough it looks weak anyway.
5. What is Russia getting out of this Middle East involvement? Nothing I can see.
6. Time will tell if that agreement was good or not. But right now Iran is complying,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/ ... ce8a5a6839
7. So has this affected our strategic interests? Ok we did not fight a war over Ukraine. Are you saying we should have done so? We did quickly move forces to th Baltic States to indicate that Putin was not to go further. And he hasn't.
8. This is too vague. Again how have our interests been threatened? We did come up with a trade deal to bind Asian countries other than China (which I don't particularly like but if we're worried about Chinese expansionism it helps to counter that).
9. Again too vague. What allies and for what? Can you point to a concrete situation where an ally has sought US help, was denied and had to turn elsewhere?