It’s January, 2015 and President Obama has officially declared all wars are over and recalled all unnecessary troops back to the U.S. It’s been 14 years. Iraq and Afghanistan. Now there’s gonna be an endless stream of evaluations of what was wrong, what was right, why we did what we did… Endless. Not that there hasn’t been more than enough discussion along the way – more than enough. But, hindsight is 20/20, YES?

So guess what? It’s my turn to jump in too, but, in that most unbiased, non-partisan, non-judgmental, very inquisitive way. Bet you haven’t seen that before, huh…

First, I want to acknowledge just a few things. The middle east has been a region in turmoil for as long as I can remember. The divisions between countries, religions, governments seems to be never-ending. So, why is it that we think we can fix it?

There’s the suggestion that these wars have been for naught. But, I do want to point out that our troops did make some progress. They taught, trained and ventured to empower the armed forces of several countries. The US gave/gives money and support to these countries as well.

The infrastructures of Iraq and Afghanistan are much advanced… They’ve at least been modernized. Each country now has an army to keep order within their borders. So, at what point do they go it on their own? This is where I land…

Admittedly, I’m not an expert on the middle east. I have, however, worked along side other journalists who considered themselves middle east experts; They covered the middle east and I can’t say they have any better answers. The best they could do is learn the culture, the people and the factions… and try to keep track of them…

The only question I still have is why Iran has not been a focus like Iraq and Afghanistan. I think Iran is just as dangerous to the world order as the other two… Pakistan too.

I once interviewed the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. at their embassy in Washington, D.C. It was at a time when Pakistan was suspect in the watch to contain weapons of mass destruction. I asked… he denied. I left that interview thinking, “There’s no way they aren’t doing something contrary to international community standards.”

That was more than a decade ago. The good news is that, nothing came of the suspicion and Pakistan fell off the most wanted list for WMD’s. But what about Iran? I keep feeling like they’re skating under the radar.

I heard someone comment on a show recently that both the president and the supreme leader of Iran are masquerading as democratic leaders. Based on former President Ahmadinejad, I tend to agree. New President Hassan Rouhani… Stay tuned…

Realistically, my thought is that Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Iraq and Iran should all be watched closely and equally. Israel seems to be the only country not in perpetual civil war. The insurgents and terrorists are able to move about without being noticed in many cases. That wouldn’t happen in the U.S…

In that respect, the wars have not been productive. Having thousands of troops on the ground in Iraq didn’t stop terrorism. Switching course to more troops on the ground in Afghanistan didn’t stop terrorism. Now the plan is a dedicated offensive to find terrorists and extremists wherever they frequent using special forces and tactical missions. Much better plan…

The international community – and I say that because EVERY western country is under attack at this point – should pull together their most skilled troops as small, elite, mobile units to freely move about, just like the terrorists do. If they’re fluid and moving about, shouldn’t we be too? We can’t catch them if we’re on the ground in one spot and their on the move. What – did we think they were gonna come to us?

I’m sure the planning and the thought processes for the wars was not that simplistic, but… So, we’re on the right track now. Move about and find them where they live.

Now if we could just focus more on taking care of the people in our own country instead of attempting to bail-out every other country around the world, we wouldn’t have such staggering domestic numbers for unemployment and poverty. Think on that…