It's Almost Like We Aren't the Problem

I'm so old, I remember when our large-scale troop presence in Iraq caused jihadis to go to Iraq where they replenished hundreds of foreign jihadis who specialized in suicide bombings. If only we weren't in Iraq, the charge from the left held, recruiting would dry up. That was the theory.

Here's the reality:

Nearly 30,000 foreign recruits have now poured into Syria, many to join the Islamic State, a doubling of volunteers in just the past 12 months and stark evidence that an international effort to tighten borders, share intelligence and enforce antiterrorism laws is not diminishing the ranks of new militant fighters.

You don't have to be quite as old as I am to remember that we refused to intervene more in Syria in support of rebels to avoid "militarizing" the conflict.

And now we have a lot of jihadis--some with their own Islamic State--and a lot of dead civilians in Syria and the formerly secured Iraq.

Thank God we ditched cowboy foreign policy for Smart Diplomacy that created "a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect."