JordanT: Okay, I’ll give you that one (UNSR 1441). I wasn’t a huge fan of the Iraq War to begin with, and felt that our energies should have focused on Afghanistan, but, now that we’re there, we need to finish this. I have three friends there, including one in Baghdad proper, and the tide has turned (or at least shifted) in-country and that makes what looks like a losing venture less than two years ago possibly winnable.

While I am not for nation-building (other than our own, of course) or empire building (including our own), I do think having a significant presence in that part of the world matters. I think you can juxtapose Russia and Iran and their respective regional ambitions and then look at what, if anything, is in place to check those ambitions. If the US brings the Iraq War to a successful close (and by that I mean autonomous self-government and possibly one that isn’t purely democratic), then Iran has internal issues with their own populace (who will look to Iraq as a possible alternative) that will preclude them from pursuing an openly self-aggrandizing mission in the area.

In contrast, there is no force or group of committed partners in Europe, and that includes NATO, that will do the same regarding Russia. And Putin’s goals are clearly stated and easily understood: He is aggressively putting Russia back into the empire business.

I concur completely on the Europeans. These countries, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and Spain, are all rich first-world nations and they can carry their own burden. I remember when I was stationed in Germany (1984), the Germans to the north (close to the Red Army and Warsaw Pact forces) loved Americans because of the proximity of the Russians, East Germans and other ComBloc forces and the Germans in the south (well away from them) treated us an army of occupation. Matter of perspective, I suppose.