Following the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Pakistan, and Iraq over the last few weeks, Jesse Ventura questions what the U.S. government’s role should be abroad.  In the case of Brussels, it was recently announced that at least 50 ISIS supporters were working at the airport as baggage handlers, cleaners and catering staff.  Is the US supposed to lend their support to fight in these regions terrorists have targeted?

In my opinion, each country has to deal with on its own.  Now we can collectively work together to solve this issue, certainly.  But I am tired of hearing myself say this, but I’ll say it again: I don’t believe any of this would be happening today if we hadn’t invaded Iraq, enforced regime changes, and destabilized the entire Middle East.

If we had simply gone after the Taliban in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and if we would have confined the wars to Afghanistan, I don’t believe you would have the situation we have today.

The invasion of Iraq is what destabilized and turned radical muslims onto the rest of the world.  Now we’re left with a global war on terror. I believe that there were people that wanted this.  And now we got it.

When you look at the actual deaths caused by terrorism, yes, they get the headlines.  Yes, there seems to be more of them en masse.  But, in reality, there are many other causes of death that are far more prevalent than deaths at the hands of terrorists.  Just take a look at the pharmaceutical industry: a 2010 statistic states that 100,000 Americans die every year for using prescription drugs as directed.

Yes, these attacks are increasing and becoming larger. I don’t want to make light of the issue.  Certainly, they have to be dealt with now.  But we have to reconsider our policies abroad.  Are we in this situation now because of our policies in the Middle East over the last several decades? Are we in this situation now because our government wanted to usurp authority over the regimes in the Middle East?

Put it this way: the Middle East looked a lot better when those countries were operating under dictatorships.  We went in, unwanted, and overthrew these existing governments.  It’s completely destabilized now.  We’re left with islamic radicals who’ve taken the reigns.  Now they’re in power.  And we’re left to fight them when we actually helped create them?

The more we attack, the larger this problem seems to get. If we go in with ground troops to stop ISIS, will that stop terrorism? Do you believe it will?  It's like a cancer of its own.  It always seems to reappear somewhere else.

Ultimately, we have George Bush and Dick Cheney to thank for ISIS.  They should definitely be held responsible, yet no one is holding them accountable.  And perhaps that’s where the problem lies: we haven’t held these people responsible for what they’ve done to Middle East.

-Jesse Ventura

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