Stutzman has not learned lesson

Marlin Stutzman — that would be the same Marlin Stutzman who is our congressman — says he’s “OK” with U.S. troops “boots on the ground” in Syria and Iraq.
And you have to ask yourself the question: Have we learned nothing in the past couple of decades?
Sorting out the situation in the Middle East is like trying to disassemble a pot of stew. It’s been cooking for hundreds of years — at least the Sunni-Shiite portion of it — and every time you think you know the good guys from the bad guys, something bubbles up and changes everything.
For instance:
•The Saudis are our friends and allies, at least on paper. Yet the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis, and the Wahabism that prevails in Saudi Arabia is among the most virulently violent forms of Islam.
•A mountain of treasure — both in terms of dollars and in terms of the lives of young Americans — was spent to get rid of Saddam Hussein, but Iraq is even more dangerous today than it was before the first shots were fired.
•Iran, an enemy since the days of the embassy takeover during the administration of Jimmy Carter, now looks as if it’s on our side in the battle against even more zealous radicals. Yet it continues to threaten Israel with the possibility of nuclear holocaust and underwrites the disruption and terrorism of Hamas in Palestine.
•Israel, which has enjoyed strong U.S. support for 65 years, continues to drive U.S. policymakers crazy with its heavy-handedness in dealing with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
And the list could go on.
In short, it’s a situation where only two rules should prevail: Be cautious, and remember that it’s always more complicated than it looks.
That’s the lesson that should have been learned in Afghanistan and should have been learned in Iraq.
At the moment, it appears President Obama has learned that lesson. His caution, which has been sharply criticized by the gung-ho jingo gang, is in the best interests of America and in the best interest of the Middle East.
It may indeed be the case that the U.S. will get sucked back into a conflict it wants to avoid, but the emphasis now should be on getting the best possible outcome with the most careful and — in the truest sense of the word — conservative approach to the problem at hand.
That’s what the president seems to be trying to accomplish. Maybe someone should tell Rep. Stutzman. —J.R.