America Must Lead in Middle East with Strength, Not Slogans

The Middle East helped shape my career long before I came to Congress. I studied there as a young man. Later, I served in Baghdad during the surge and embedded with an Afghan counter-narcotics team in Helmand. On my first trip abroad as a member of Congress this year, I returned to Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Some things have changed. Some haven’t. One lesson is clearer than ever: American leadership can’t be built on one-off deals or delusions of grand bargains. It takes showing up, keeping promises, and leveraging our partnerships.

In Iraq, the surge worked — but only to fix earlier mistakes. Disbanding the Iraqi army and mismanaging the occupation taught us the hard way that strategic clarity matters. In Afghanistan, I saw how poverty, corruption, and geography made grand plans for nation-building impossible. Both wars showed what happens when strategy outpaces reality: Our credibility erodes, our alliances fray, and the American people lose patience.

About the Author

Michael Baumgartner

Congressman Michael Baumgartner represents the people of Washington’s fifth district and sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

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The Middle East helped shape my career long before I came to Congress. I studied there as a young man. Later, I served in Baghdad during the surge and embedded with an Afghan counter-narcotics team in Helmand. On my first trip abroad as a member of Congress this year, I returned to Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Some things have changed. Some haven’t. One lesson is clearer than ever: American leadership can’t be built on one-off deals or delusions of grand bargains. It takes showing up, keeping promises, and leveraging our partnerships.

In Iraq, the surge worked — but only to fix earlier mistakes. Disbanding the Iraqi army and mismanaging the occupation taught us the hard way that strategic clarity matters. In Afghanistan, I saw how poverty, corruption, and geography made grand plans for nation-building impossible. Both wars showed what happens when strategy outpaces reality: Our credibility erodes, our alliances fray, and the American people lose patience.