Forever Enemies and Forever Wars

Posted: October 16th, 2019

By Gary Grappo

Gary Grappo is a former U.S. ambassador who held senior positions including Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad; U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman; and Charge d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As a career member of the Senior Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State, he served as Envoy and Head of Mission of the Office of the Quartet Representative, the Honorable Mr. Tony Blair, in Jerusalem. He’s currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Middle East Studies at the Korbel School for International Studies, University of Denver.

Gary Grappo is a former U.S. ambassador who served as Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad; U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman; and Charge d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As a career member of the Senior Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State, he served as Envoy and Head of Mission of the Office of the Quartet Representative, the Honorable Mr. Tony Blair, in Jerusalem.

The argument often proffered to justify President Trump’s precipitous decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northeast Syria is that “America must end its ‘forever wars.’” Costly wars in Syria, Afghanistan and even Iraq have made the loss of American lives an almost daily occurrence, drained the American treasury, sapped the vigor of the world’s most powerful and dynamic nation, and divided the nation into multiple pro and con camps. In the view of the American public, America has become bogged down in wars with no apparent end.

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