muddybrazos said:
Massie is def one of the best reps we have.
I have a lot of sympathy for the non-interventionist policy here. I think the mullah terrorists running Iran and trying to get nukes ("Death to America!") justify some bunker busters, for our own sake. But, in general, I think our involvement should be mostly nil.
But I will posit one thing we get from Israel. They're a lightning rod for the jihadists' hate. And I do not believe that hate simply goes away if Israel does. Given that we are target 1b, I have a guess how it goes if they didn't have Israel as their daily foil.
I really like Massie in general, and have been surprisingly impressed with Vonn and think he's interesting and fun. But I think Massie is oversimplifying why the United States is hated in many corners in that part of the world. The barbary pirates weren't capturing our boats and enslaving our people in the 1700s because we were an ally of Israel, which didn't exist. Nor did they do it because we were involved in the crusades, as we didn't exist. They did it because we are infidels. And we are still, and will always be, infidels.
So, unless and until (and I think it's until) the Persians wrest control from the mullah terrorists, we are occasionally going to have to smack someone upside the head over there.