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America's Continuing Presence in the Middle East
(Al Arabiya) Dennis Ross - On the one hand, American hard power still exists in the Middle East today - as the raid to kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi shows. On the other hand, President Trump has made it clear he wants to withdraw from the region. He realizes the American people are weary from Middle East conflicts that appear endemic and have cost the U.S. so much blood and treasure. Even now, the U.S. military retains over 40,000 forces in the area. It has just added more than 2,000 forces in the Arabian Peninsula to enhance defense against ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles. For now, the U.S. posture is likely to be purely defensive, but its continuing presence does create a reality. Iran's increasing use of Shia militia proxies, and increasing challenges by publics fed up with terrible governance and widespread corruption, show that even if the Iranians have gained enormous leverage, even veto power, over the governments in Iraq and Lebanon, there may well be a backlash against the Iranians because of governance failures. Amb. Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is the counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.