".....as long as the hard connect is never made....."
Joes, the connection is there for me in a very personal way. During the last three years of the Clinton administration my son had seven deployments to Turkey (Northern no-fly zone) and Saudi Arabia (Southern no-fly zone). These flights were to keep Saddam under control. A very scary time...especially when Clinton launched his four day war,Desert Fox.
Shortly after 9/11, Osama Bin Laden said one of his "reasons" for the attack was to get the infidels (US) out of Saudi Arabia because it is home to the Muslim holy place of Mecca. Very soon thereafter we removed our base from Saudi and prepared to stop the nonsense once and for all in Iraq.
We removed our bases from Saudi Arabia because the Saudi's requested that we remove them.
How many of our planes were shot down?
Shortly after 9/11, Osama Bin Laden said one of his "reasons" for the attack was to get the infidels (US) out of Saudi Arabia because it is home to the Muslim holy place of Mecca. Very soon thereafter we removed our base from Saudi and prepared to stop the nonsense once and for all in Iraq.
By what logic do you interpret that scenario as one of strategic wisdom rather than moral timidity?