Quote Originally Posted by Lady's Human
Defeatist? No. Realist? Yes.

If we focus on whether the countries in the Middle East "like " or "Hate " the US we've already lost. This is warfare, not a public opinion survey. Our first wars as a nation were with arab states(Barbary wars), and they haven't exactly been buddies at any time in the intervening centuries.

The US hasn't been liked for decades. We have very few reliable allies, and have never had more than a handfull we could really trust. Most of our cold war allies were allies of convenience, and while some have remained allies in name, few will back the words with actions.
You couldn't be more wrong about the US not being liked for decades. Much of the world was with us after 9/11....Bush & Co. blew that all to....

Once again a semantic difference...you call it "realist" I call it "defeatist"....if we aren't any better as a nation than to think the only solution is killing....