"Why are we closing schools in the United States and building schools in Afghanistan?"
This was a question recently put to me by a Somali-born taxi driver. Though he may be a newly minted citizen, he cut right to the chase of how Americans feel about foreign policy these days.
These feelings are only amplified by the worries Americans have about the economy, jobs and the massive debts the government is piling up — even with the new debt-ceiling compromise.
Americans look at how much our foreign engagements cost, how many troops we’ve lost, and wonder whether all those sacrifices are even making a difference. In a time of austerity, the instinct is to retrench.
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