National safety
Regarding “Trump makes his first visit to GIs in Iraq” (Nation/World, Thursday): It is a wellestablished military principle that it is far better to take death and destruction to the enemy’s homeland than it is to have it brought to yours. None of us wants to have any more of our brave military exposed to the horrors of war in a country thousands of miles away. Nor do we wish to waste our resources on a confrontation that can be expected to continue indefinitely.
However, with the advent of more sophisticated and powerful weapons and delivery systems, we become more vulnerable to small bands of extremists being able to bring those weapons to our homeland. Osama bin Laden was able to plan and prepare for the 9/11 attacks while hiding out in caves in Afghanistan. Were we to withdraw our influence and military power from the Middle East countries, we would be affording those terrorists free rein to develop weapons and tactics better able to penetrate our homeland defenses. By interdicting those efforts, we are taking the most prudent actions available to limit the activities of the radical elements that are focused on bringing death and destruction to our homeland.
Our military presence in the Middle East is not intended to be the “policeman for the world” but rather to establish our defense at a place of our choosing, not one chosen by our enemies. R.J. Reese, Kingwood