The Real Threat All Along

I know there are some who say that our focus on the Middle East over the last decade-plus distracted us from dealing with the Asia and Pacific region as China's power rose.

But given that we tried to  turn our back on the Middle East to pivot to Asia only to see the Middle East--and Europe along with it as we reduced our forces there--explode as enemies watched us lose interest in the region, doesn't that kind of indicate that we weren't distracted by the Middle East as much as we were facing serious threats that we don't have the luxury of ignoring?