I have some questions regarding wars in the Middle East.

Just wanted to get an idea of what people think. It would be nice if you would just state your opinion and leave out knee jerk reactions and snark.

First, I truly hate war. I've seen it close up and personally. Been on the receiving end of some Reagan and Poppy's best endeavors. Old timers here have read my story in the past.

The questions I would put out for consideration would ask you about not so much your philosophical stand on waging war but some very real world considerations.

It seems to me that what has passed for foreign policy in the ME for the latter part of the 20th century and into this one has been the use of policy to commit us to aggressive protection of the interests of the Five Sisters. In this century, Big Oil retains its grip on government. What it is beginning to lose is the ability to tamp down the unhappiness of those on the receiving end of American foreign policy in oil rich nations.

The so-called War on Terrorism is a direct result of a couple of international debacles, the Cold War and Big Oil policy. In both cases, we created bin Laden as a check for the Soviets and to maintain a presence where the oil could be found.

Reality is that we are doing precious little to reduce oil dependency. Our throw-away, plastic convenience culture ensures that consumption remains high. Germ phobic and fearful of any number of crap we will blister pack and individual serving size package our way to being buried in container flotsam and jetsam. As long as we collectively make no meaningful demand that things change precipitously, it will not. That leaves us with the wars still maintaining a foothold in the ME to ensure that we can hold our big economy together with crepe paper, baling wire, and nutty putty.

Then there was the very real attacks on 9/11 and various other attempts and successes before and after. I guess I'm looking at the nexus between the economy and security. No matter which way I turn this elephant, I see these two things. An monster of an economy dependent on oil consumption and teetering on the precipice. And then there is the issue of the very real fact that our foreign policy has poked and prodded peoples of the very nations we depend on for fuel for the economy to undertake a war using religion, one of the very tools we used to keep them busy fighting each other, against us. While the wars for most American may be for the sake of preserving our economy (RW religious fundamentalists and dominionists aside), Al Qaeda and the Taleban have successfully tapped into a vein of virulent fundamentalism in the Islamic traditions to galvanize support for fighting the West on political grievances.

Now, should we pull out of the ME on all fronts tomorrow, do you think these attacks will stop? If so, why do you think so? If they would not and one is successfully carried out on the scale of the events of 9/11, what would your reaction be? Are you comfortable with leaving ME nations to resolve their own internal issues, even the ones you don't like (e.g., women's issues, etc.)? How much of an economic impact would you think withdrawal would have on this nation? What does staying in our own yard mean to you?

something we seem to scoot past all the time. Looks like we are still scooting.

I've been thinking about this since I happened upon your OP earlier, but it's just too busy this morning to give you a real answer. Yet...

I suspect this is true for others as well?

I hope others are giving this thought. I don't think the answer is as easy as just pulling out troops. This ball of wax has a lot of garbage stuck in it. Ending the wars is most desirable, but I can't for the life of me think of how it can be done without a lot of other issues, including some beyond our control, being resolved.