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And thanks to draconian rules of engagement put on our military, no foreign policy has been more restrained than that of the USA.

One can love the US, and still see this as nonsense.

Andorra and Slovenia do not have forces in 74 countries around the world.

Iceland and Bhutan are not currently fighting two or three or four or five wars.

People like Kristol were part of that restraint too.

Check your back issues. Whatever else Kristol and friends were, they weren't restrained.

[Olog-hai]

Andorra and Slovenia are not the United States any more than Iceland or Bhutan are. Red herring. Even worse for them, since Slovenia is part of the European Union and surrendered its sovereignty, Andorra is surrounded by two EU “big states”, Iceland cannot fend off the EU without the help of the USA if things come down to that, and Bhutan is bordered by Red China with whom they do not have diplomatic relations (and things would get hot for them if India got friendlier with China).

And what I mean with respect to Kristol is that he was typically not critical of having the rules of engagement that restrained US forces from absolute victory remain in place.