Bob Kagan

As was logical given their focus on hemispheric dominance and homeland security, they deliberately downgraded the Middle East as a region of American concern.

They just said it wasn't that important to us anymore.

And Donald Trump has spent the entire war saying it's not our oil, we don't need the oil, et cetera, et cetera.

So what are we...

So what are we doing it for?

Now, a lot of it is about defense of Israel.

There's no question that Iran posed a direct existential threat to Israel, not to us.

And we have committed to defending Israel.

But again, not because it's in our national security interest to do so, as I point out in the essay and as everybody knows.

Most of the leading American officials at the time thought it was not in our interest to support the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

George Marshall, no less a figure.

Dean Hatterson thought it was a bad idea because it was going to make enemies of an entire Arab world.

Have what basically 25 countries mad at us in order to make one country happy, etc.

But we did it.

For moral reasons.

And it was part of our America accepting sort of a global responsibility to sort of protect liberalism and the rights of human beings, God forbid.

So that is why we were there.

And now if we're not interested in Europe and here's Trump.

literally pulling us out of NATO.

And if we're not interested in our Asian allies, what are we doing it for?