To prevent conflict in the wake of the Second World War, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower made sure to balance power in the Middle East. As president, he would defend this hard-won balance by forcing the British, French and Israeli withdrawal from Egypt when they invaded to take control of the Suez Canal.

It would remain a source of tension until 1979, when President Carter saw Egypt and Israel sign a peace treaty that remains in effect to this day. Unfortunately, Carter also agreed to provide Pakistan and Saudi Arabia the arms and training they’d need to aid those few rebels who opposed the Soviet-backed Afghan government that year, thus beginning the misadventure that would see the Middle East destabilized this century.

Eisenhower’s approach worked because it approached the problem as something to be managed. Carter and his successors failed because they approached it as something to be solved once and for all. The opacity with which Pakistan and Saudi Arabia trained and positioned the terrorists who forced us to war, and who guided our movements to restructure the Middle East as they saw fit thereafter, was a consequence of this misguided effort.

It lingers as those married to the politically expedient explanation cling to it. So long as they do, we will remain engaged in an effort that comes at our expense and offers no benefit.

Jamie Beaulieu
Farmington