Various tribes and ethnic groups have been fighting each other in the Middle East for 5000 years. Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Medes, Egyptians, Sumerians, Philistines, Israelites, Turks, Macedonians, Arabs, Romans and other ethnic groups and peoples have pillaged, killed, destroyed and ruled territory from present day Iran to Turkey to Arabia, to Egypt.
The Romans, various Crusade groups, Ottoman Turks, the British Empire, the French, and the United States have all tried to pacify this region without success. Alliances are constantly shifting and even the Muslim religion that dominates the region is fragmented by competing beliefs (Sunni vs Shia) and religious leaders with their own agenda.
Since WWII the US foreign policy and military establishment has been fixated on the US policing various regions of the world from east Asia through the Middle East with little success. Despite the exercise of US economic power, diplomatic influence, and military power China fell to communism, Korea was divided, Vietnam fell to communism, Iran fell to extreme Islamists, Afghanistan remains a battleground of competing tribes, Iraq is a battleground between Shiites and Sunnis, Saudi Arabia financed the 9/11 attacks on the US, Yemen is the same battleground it was under British rule. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are competing for power in the region. The Kurds and other ethnic and religious groups battle for land and influence. Then there is the presence of the Jewish state of Israel which has been a contributor to tensions in the region since its creation in 1948.
What do we have to show for the blood of our soldiers, the blood of the natives of these lands, and the trillions of dollars invested in allying with one side or another in these regional conflicts. Is the United States homeland safer as a result of our manipulations, interventions, sanctions, and displays of military force or have we simply become hated by people who would not care about us if we had not butted into their lives?
Trump realizes the nation is not benefiting from endless wars and the United States can no longer protect ethnic and religious groups from the consequences of strife in their homelands. Just as the European powers wisely chose not to become involved in the US Civil War, it is time for the US to step back from choosing winners in regional conflicts. Let the Europeans secure their fossil fuel supply in the Middle East. Let India, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines deal with Chinese expansionism. Let Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia contain Iranian expansion.
Pull out of the Middle East and let the people of the region settle their issues.
Very good post! Thank you.