After 18 years of conflict, Congress needs to rein in the forever wars

https://taskandpurpose.com/congress-aumf-oped?utm_campaign=RebelAlerts&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RebelAlerts-taskandpurpose&utm_source=Task+%26+Purpose+Daily&utm_campaign=784d40b995-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_04_08_07_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_67edd998fe-784d40b [login to see] 3&mc_cid=784d40b995&mc_eid=3dfadc0ff1
MY COMMENT:

Thank for your service, and for all you do for all of us in your current capacity. However, you should know as well as I that when our political and military goals are the same (e.g., WWII, First Gulf War, Grenada, Panama), we excel. When they are different (e.g., Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan) we fall short. We still have troops in Germany, Japan and Italy over 73 years after the end of WWII, should we bring them home, too? What's the difference between our successful & unsuccessful conflicts? Commitment; military, political, social, economic, emotional. After WWII we sponsored the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild the countries we defeated, which are now among the most prosperous & peaceful in the world. What's different now? Why isn't there a Middle East Marshall Plan? Mainly because there is no buy-in from Arab states. Many wealthy Arab states don't allow lawful immigration and they won't even take Muslim refugees from the conflicted areas. How then can we expect them to come together to rebuild neighboring countries so that they, too can enjoy the fruits of true peace & prosperity. We can't do it for them. If all we ever do is provide fish, there will never be fishermen. Conjuring coalitions to fight seems a breeze compared with finding coalitions for peace. Perhaps there's no profit in it? If we pull out we create a deadly security & leadership vacuum; another Caliphate. We must find a global strategy that's best for us but that doesn't also risk chaos.