Vigilance: Troubles in the Middle East are far from over

These days the news from Afghanistan is just not what it could be.

There are still attacks, still irrational uprisings and still a foreign policy of appeasement from the current administration.

And while the news that we are pulling out of the area was greeted with relief and happiness by many Americans, it is important to be very, very cautious about completely putting a check mark by the box marked "Middle East."

It was time to rethink the mission and to think hard about the role that we will play in the region.

But that does not mean that the battle is over.

There are continuing concerns about not only anti-American sentiment, but also about the future stability of the region.

And that means that we have to be very, very careful about standing down entirely from keeping an eye on what goes on across the world.

There will always be people who claim that the only reason we were in the Middle East in the first place was to protect our oil supply.

Those are the same people who have forgotten why we mark the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

As the mission of the military starts to reform and decisions are made about where and when we will fight, we need to remember the basic tenet that our parents taught us when we were growing up -- an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

That is particularly true here.

Published in Editorials on February 28, 2012 10:28 AM