Quagmire

Mark my words: an American soldier will soon die for next to nothing in Syria. Here’s a mission that takes all the absurdity of America’s post-9/11 wars of choice to their logical conclusion. As such, this muddled and aimless operation must stand forever tall in the pantheon of U.S. foreign policy folly – right up there with the three Seminole Wars (1817-18, 1835-42, 1855-58, 1,608 dead troops); Nicaraguan "Banana Wars" (1910, 1912-25, 1927-33, 159 dead); the Russian Civil War’s "Siberia” intervention (1918-20, 424 dead)...