What exactly is America’s foreign policy in the Middle East?

Former senator and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel asked precisely that during a short interview with the national security publication Defense One. In Hagel’s mind, Washington doesn’t have a policy, a strategy, or anything else in between. The Trump administration is attempting to achieve objectives in a tough, turbulent, bloody region — kick Iranian troops out of Syria; limit Moscow’s influence; support an independent, corruption-free, and democratic Iraqi government — that place an unnecessary burden on America’s limited resources and costly burdens to U.S. taxpayers.