The United States has somewhere around 130,000 military personnel in Iraq, and some more (I don't keep exact track) in Afghanistan. It also has other military personnel based around the world. All this is costing us hundreds of billions of Dollars every year - money we don't have, but instead must borrow. At the same time, our borders are porous and illegal aliens are flooding into the country. One of the reasons given for not gaining control of our borders is that we lack the manpower to do it.Washington and Jefferson warned us about the dangers inherent in having permanent foreign alliances and in interfering with the affairs of foreign states. As the events in the Middle East have clearly shown, they were right. So, what should we do now? We should bring our military forces home - and not just from the Middle East, but from all over the globe. Sooner would be better than later.
Would Iraq fall into a bitter, savage civil war? Probably. Would Afghanistan fall under the control of Muslim extremists? Probably. Would Israel and its hostile neighbors continue on with their intermittent wars? Probably. Would North Korea invade its prosperous southern cousins? They might. Is it the duty of the United States Government to prevent any of that happening? No, it is not. The duties of the United States Government are spelled out in the United States Constitution, and you will not find "Guardian of World Peace," or "World's Policeman," in there.
We could then use our military for what it's proper business should be: the defense of the United States and the enforcement of our rights on (and over) the High Seas. I'm pretty sure 100,000 troops on the Mexican border, 50,000 troops on the Canadian border, the Navy patrolling our coasts and the Air Force patrolling our airspace, with orders to defend the United States and to stop the ongoing invasion by illegal aliens, would suffice. The National Guard should return to its historic role as a force used during local emergencies and declared wars.
We should accept the fact that Pax Americana is a failure. We should say to the troubled world, "We meant well, but it didn't work out. We're now going to stick to our own knitting. Good luck to you all; you're going to need it."
Back to my home place.