We must continue fighting both wars

Reader Anthony Nelson decries Obama's "failure" to pull American troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. He calls this a failure, I suppose, in the belief that simply retreating from the situation, like we did in Somalia, will bring us greater peace and prove less expensive in the long run. It wasn't the most foolish nonsense I have read from a liberal, but it was typical of how depressingly uncommitted these people can be in matters of national security.

Yes, it is certainly true that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been expensive and are of uncertain outcome. Unfortunately, the world has no choice but to confront the violent backwardness. The great lesson we should all have learned from 9/11 (and the attacks on London, Madrid and Bali) is that we cannot count on the dysfunctional people of the Middle East to keep their dysfunctions in the Middle East.

Bush, you may recall, was not projecting aggression against anyone up to 9/11, but to his great credit he understood the wider implications of that terrorist act. Eight years on, most liberals are still spouting feel-good multiculturalist rubbish. They are as oblivious to what's going on as a barn full of cows listening to a poetry recital. Having them in charge of national security is like having Pee Wee Herman as your principal ally in a street fight with drug dealers. God help us all.

Keyvan Rafii

Schaumburg