[GingisK]

We should arm both side and let them kill each other.

[Zhang Fei]

[We should arm both side and let them kill each other.]

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They’re not morons. They won’t fight each other until no one is left. 1% die. 99% join the winning side. That reasoning is why we participated in WWII. Because Nazi Europe or Communist Europe would have been unstoppable.

The Middle East is both a smaller and a bigger problem. It’s smaller because it doesn’t have Europe’s highly-productive economies. It’s bigger because with 50% of the world’s oil, it can spike oil prices to $200 a barrel, and tank our economy. It’s also bigger because since WWII, both nuclear weapons and the long range missiles with which to deliver them to our cities are now a reality.

Having said that, the cost of staying engaged in the Middle East is peanuts compared to WWII. We spent roughly 50% of economic production every year for 4 years fighting in Asia and Europe. That’s 2 years of economic output spent fighting WWII. The Mideast + Afghanistan costs about $50b a year. That’s 0.25% of a year’s economic output. A pain in the rear end, but we won’t be having decorated vets roaming the country plugging War Bonds.

https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=2018-10/54219-oco_spending.pdf