The 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history reminds us that we still have enemies who wish all Americans dead. America’s actions on the world stage affect us. Now more than ever, we must determine how America should interact with Middle Eastern countries.
We invaded Afghanistan because reports indicated that Al-Qaeda was harboring terrorists and training fighters there. Now, 10 years later, we still are in Afghanistan, but I don’t think Al-Qaeda is.
We now are fighting the Taliban, which, I admit, is a bad group, but not the correct target. We appear to be fighting the Taliban because the Afghan people don’t seem to be able to put together a sufficiently trained army to defend themselves.
Now is the time for us to leave. I cannot see the value of losing another American life for a cause that no longer is ours and for a country that doesn’t appreciate our efforts — especially since Afghanistan reportedly is negotiating with Iran.
This is the longest war in American history and it should have been over many years ago. But just like Vietnam, our politicians will not allow our troops to chase the enemy into Pakistan, which likely is protecting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Many readers may not remember Vietnam, during which the American military won every battle yet the United States lost the war because our troops were not allowed to invade North Vietnam or go into Cambodia to stop the supplies going to the Viet Cong. Our present politicians obviously have not studied their history. We are repeating it.
The administration is supporting the Palestinians and insisting that Israel return the land that they won in 1967 when the Arabs attacked Israel and lost. Israel kept this territory as a buffer in case of another assault. Israel is an important ally in a sea of hatred toward America. By supporting the Palestinian position, the administration has set back the possibility of peace and is encouraging a dangerous position for Israel and all Americans.
Israel gave up the Gaza strip as a concession to the U.N., hoping to achieve peace. Instead, Israel is bombarded by Hamas missiles. If the Palestinian border returns to pre-1967, how many more missiles will rain down on Israel?
How can our other allies feel secure when they see that America is backing down to the Arabs and placing Israel in an indefensible position? Over the years, our nation has risen to the position of the world leader and every country looks up to us. However, we are losing the respect of the world community because of our handling of the contention in the Middle East.
Where else is the administration taking us — or not taking us? Why did we give military support to the Libyan rebels, but not to the people in Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and Iran, who also are fighting for democracy? Hezbollah basically has taken over the Lebanese government by dominating the government’s cabinet.
Our foreign policy is a disaster of the first order because we have an administration and advisors made up of civic organizers, who do not understand how the real world functions.
By not supporting the Iranian people when they tried to overthrow the government, we are cowering from a confrontation and emboldening Iran and its nuclear weapons program, which only is a short time away from start up. This might force Israel to attack Iran to protect itself and the consequences could be disastrous. We need strong world leadership, not supplication to Arabs leaders.

Calderone is a conservative who lives in Midway. He is a professional salesperson and for 30 years has written articles for trade publications in various fields.