World War O

Ach du lieber!

44 pledged in his 2013 inaugural address that “a decade of war is now ending,” but the numbers suggest otherwise. His dream of extricating the U.S. from messy foreign conflicts remains just that.

The U.S. takes regular lethal action in at least five countries. U.S. troops are deployed in three conflict zones. And America is directly involved in a pair of Arab civil wars.

The roster of violence is sobering, and the president’s more cautious advisers fret about how much more military risk America should take on as global conflicts multiply.

In Ukraine, the administration is alarmed over fresh signs of another Russian military offensive that could shatter a February cease-fire agreement and turbocharge an internal debate about sending lethal weapons for Kiev.

In Yemen, Obama has lent logistical and intelligence support to a Saudi-led bombing campaign against Houthi rebels — despite concerns among senior advisers that the Saudi action is counterproductive and risks a confrontation with Iran.

In Iraq, as U.S. air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant continue, military planners are pushing for U.S. special forces to operate near the front lines when Baghdad’s troops mount a planned offensive against the ISIL stronghold of Mosul later this year.

In Afghanistan, 44 has been forced to slow the withdrawal of American troops and expanded their authority to conduct combat operations against the Taliban.

Pic - “It’s pretty clear we’re not going to do anything you can’t do from 30,000 feet and it’s not going to work."