Lately, the North Korean nuclear crisis has received a lot of attention from the US and the military option is not even ruled out. However, before thinking of new wars, the country should address another issue of its foreign policy that is the failure of the US strategy in the Middle East, says the country's media.
In an article for The National Interest, former military and senior investigator for the Defense Priorities analytical center, Daniel L. Davis, believes the situation in the Middle East is misunderstood by US officials.
Thus, the amount of US troops stationed in Afghan territory is enough to prevent the downfall of the government and nothing more, while Washington continues to seek to end terrorism in the region. By maintaining its military presence there, the Trump administration simply extends the same useless policy that has been in place since 2001.
As for another country in the region, Iraq, US Secretary of State James Mattis said that although the international coalition had successfully liberated all Iraqi regions from the terrorist group Daesh, banned in Russia and elsewhere, newly liberated areas remain vulnerable.
For this reason, US forces continue to remain in their territory.
On the other hand, US General Joseph Votel said his troops would stay in Syria "for an indefinite period" to prevent a resurgence of terrorist clusters and help local Kurdish and Arab militias to establish control over the territory.
However, columnist Daniel L. Davis expressed some skepticism on the subject.
"Having experience in providing training service to an Iraqi border battalion, I can say that training in Syrian-run militias has no possibility of preventing any 'resurgence', let alone 'establishing control,'" he said.
The columnist added that the military presence in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan will never bring stability to the region nor will it enhance US security.
The best way to preserve the vitality of the US Armed Forces is to end the long failed missions, the author concludes.
In addition, it presents a series of measures that Washington should take to end these failures that require a lot of money and take numerous human lives.
First, Davis proposes to withdraw from Afghanistan. According to the military, "the US must warn Kabul about the cessation of the military operation within a specified time," for example, about 24 months. In this way, the Afghan government would have plenty of time to prepare for and take responsibility for national security.
Second, the author suggests that the White House should order the Pentagon to withdraw all US troops and all of the US military from Syria within 90 days.
Finally, the columnist considers it vital that the president of the United States request the preparation of a plan for the withdrawal of his Armed Forces from Iraq during six months.
Once these steps are finalized, the analyst is in charge of refuting the dominant idea that the withdrawal of US troops would "create a vacuum" and that a country opposed to the United States would arise that would "fill it" endangering national security from the USA".
In the first place, it is hard to imagine that any country is willing to take the vacant post, writes Davis. In addition, it is clear that chaos is not a newly established state in the Middle East. On the contrary, such chaos existed during the Reagan era and will exist in the future, while military presence does not improve the situation, according to the author.
In conclusion, the analyst emphasizes that US military activity in the Middle East is a failed mission and says the country's authorities must realize this and end the destructive policy of the past two decades.
Otherwise, the United States' financial resources and military potential will be depleted until one day the country will not be able to "face the real threats."
Claudio Manani (Editor- NewsPaper Educatch)
