The people that were making the predictions like that as we pulled out of Vietnam vastly overstated the repercussions of that pullout. Yes, there was bloodshed and yes incredible atrocities in neighboring Cambodia but then it all magically stabilized and the spillover effect just didn't pan out.

If the Mideast is due to explode then maybe that's its natural progression just as our Civil War was ours. It's horrifying thinking of the innocents that will die but it's very likely our presence only puts off that inevitability and increases the severity of it.

I wish I knew the answers but, like you, I believe we're leaving and soon and we have no further control over what comes next.

Art