US should leave ME, focus on domestic issues instead: Bloomberg
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Andreas Kluth expresses that the US presence in the Middle East only ensures that troops are not being positioned in areas of the world where they are "needed".
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An American soldier stands guard during a joint patrol with Turkish troops in Syria in the village of al-Hashisha. (AFP)
Andreas Kluth has written an opinion column in Bloomberg highlighting the various reasons why the United States should swiftly withdraw from the Middle East, noting that hegemony and breeding instability are not among them.
Kluth describes how with the massive presence of 46,000 US troops spanning 11 nations in the region, the US is risking missing out on the places where its troops are "needed" most.
According to him, however, withdrawing now is not the answer, since "Israel" is being accused of genocide in Gaza and the Axis of Resistance is engaged in numerous operations against American troops. This would mean that withdrawing is a "propaganda victory" for Iran, as he put it.
Kluth wonders whether the US should "remain a hegemon, using its leadership to preserve a modicum of global order?" or if it should address its domestic issues.
Although he admits to being supportive of US hegemony, since it is "cheaper in the long run to incur the costs of keeping order than to clean up the messes of global calamity," he acknowledges this cannot mean being everywhere at all times.
Read more: US policies root causes of region's conflicts: Syria in UNSC meeting
A public debt of 38% is only one reason for believing so, and another is that Americans are growing impatient with their issues domestically.
He wonders whether the Middle East is such a priority and emphasizes that many of the 46,000 troops in the region are not only unavailable in Europe and Asia but have also turned into targets.
He gives credit to the US for the "downfall of ISIS" and believes, in that regard, that their job is done, while he details how other strategists believe the US ought to stay to "prevent Iran from becoming a regional hegemon."
However, Kluth argues that regional alliances will take care of that, noting that Turkey is a NATO member and that Saudi Arabia and the US will soon agree on proper security guarantees.
Kelly Grieco from the Stimson Center has expressed that US troops in the Middle East serve only as "provocations and targets," which increase American hatred in the region.
Kluth further notes that by increasing the size of its military presence in the region, the US is allowing other nations to "free-ride and do less" for their security contributions, echoing the words of Donald Trump when he recently divulged he would allow Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" to NATO members who did not pay for their military.
He concludes by stating that even "Israel" with its nuclear arsenal is capable of "defending itself" and that the time has come for the Middle East to "make peace" without the presence of a foreign power.
US plans to end Syria occupation as regional tensions heat up: FP
The United States is considering pulling out its occupation forces from Syria following almost a decade of illegal presence under the guise of fighting the Islamic State, deeming further presence in the country as "unnecessary", the Foreign Policy reported in late January, citing US senior officials.
This potential measure comes amid increasingly growing risks of a regional war in the Middle East, as the US-backed Israeli ongoing genocide on Gaza nears its 4-month mark and Washington reassesses its military priorities.
Since pushing forces into eastern and northeastern Syria, the US went on to establish several military bases and sites, where some 900 soldiers are currently stationed as per Pentagon claims, to oversee the stealing of the country's vast oil and gas resources, as well as destabilizing its security and backing proxy groups such as the Syrian Democratic Forces.
