Since the first shots were fired in the Iraq war the Phalanx has been in a bind. While we support the war on terror, the war on Iraq is far more complicated. There is no question that Saddam Hussein was a threat, he did indeed possess biological and chemical weapons and most certainly played a role in giving aid and comfort to terrorists, but so too has Iran and Syria. Yet we have no plans to invade Iran or even the volatile North Korea. Indeed, the Middle East is only strategically important because of the prominence of oil. If the US wasn’t dependent on foreign oil supplies then our need to intervene in Middle Eastern affairs would be greatly diminished.

More and more, Americans are embracing an isolationist foreign policy. According to a Pew Research poll, an increasing number of Americans feel the US should head the words of our first president and avoid foreign entanglements (though we are fairly certain they didn’t quote Washington). Anti-Americanism is at an all time high around the world, and while this is no reason, in and of itself, to alter our foreign policy, we should also be mindful of the fact that the US no longer needs to play the role it played during the Cold War.

Why must the US expend resources to defend the likes of Western Europe and South Korea or even Japan, regions of the world where hostility toward the US has increased? Are not these countries capable of their own defense? Certainly they are. America should focus on defense of its internal security, the prevention of hostile foreigners from entering this country and the expansion of trade. Through free trade, we enhance our prosperity as well as the prosperity of our trade partners. The US should consider playing a less prominent role as a fixture in policing foreign conflicts. Should we abandon the war on terror then? No, absolutely not, but our heavy reliance on overt military action rather than covert responses placed a heavy strain on our resources.

Indeed, America’s war on terror should resemble Israel’s Operation Wrath of God where the Israeli Secret Service (the Mossad) secretly hunted down the terrorists and masterminds behind the Munich Massacre in 1972. Adopting such a low profile also deprives terrorists of a recruiting tool as they can’t point to US military operations when seeking new terror enlistees. With the current administration’s apparent paralysis, with regard to articulating its position on Iraq and the war on terror, its no surprise that a growing number of Americans embrace isolation, but in a sense, some degree of isolation would be advantageous.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4447128.stm