LETTER: Rethinking U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East

U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East must come to grips with reality.

There has been talk recently about withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. What Americans must accept is the fact that if troops are withdrawn from the Middle East — whether Afghanistan or Iraq or Syria — al-Qaida and ISIS will rise up again and take over large parts of the Middle East. They then will parlay that position into creating terrorist acts in the United States and other Western countries.

We cannot leave the Middle East without this happening. Therefore, my prediction is we will leave troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria for the foreseeable future even though at reduced levels.