The invasion of Iraq destabilized the Middle East, empowered Iran, and created the conditions that produced ISIS. The 2003 decision to go to war is one of the worst national-security choices American politicians have ever made. In Afghanistan, we’ve “turned the corner” so many times that we seem to be going in circles, and the Taliban controls more territory now than it has since we first invaded, in 2001. U.S.-enabled wars in Libya, Yemen, and elsewhere have resulted in humanitarian tragedies and created new training grounds for international terrorists. U.S. counterterrorism missions have spread to dozens of countries, largely out of sight of the American people.

Kori Schake: How a forever war ends

There is no question that Trump’s careless actions—not only in the past month, but over the past three years—have made the situation in the Middle East demonstrably worse. Trump’s claim that he killed Soleimani to “stop a war” is breathtakingly disingenuous. He isn’t ending wars; he is making wars harder to end. And now he is taking steps that could start a new one.

We must not accept yet another unnecessary, costly, and counterproductive war. Instead, we should refocus our attention and resources on the challenges that will define our national security for the next generation: promoting prosperity and lessening inequality; addressing the climate crisis; answering resurgent right-wing demagogues who are undermining the strength of our democratic alliances; and countering globalized corruption and authoritarianism led from Moscow and Beijing. America should end its military involvement in conflicts in the Middle East and bring our troops home from these endless wars in smart, responsible ways.

First, I would make the cornerstone of my approach to ending these wars the renewal of efforts to forge diplomatic solutions based on realistic objectives. In the case of Iran, we should have never walked away from a nuclear deal that was working, triggering an inevitable cycle of escalation. I will bring both the U.S. and Iran back into the agreement if that is still possible, and build on the deal with additional negotiations to extend its accomplishments and sunset provisions, while beginning a broader negotiation with Iran, its neighbors, and key world powers to de-escalate regional tensions.

In Syria, we must pursue clear and achievable goals that will not require resources we never intended to commit. And while we must bring our troops home, Trump’s erratic approach has only endangered our partners and further confused an already chaotic situation. We need to be honest with ourselves that, after Trump’s incompetent handling of the situation, any diplomatic deal will be worse than the one we could have gotten before he betrayed our Kurdish partners, confused our European allies, and handed leverage to Turkey and Russia. Instead of playing games with troop deployments and missions, we should use our remaining leverage to negotiate a fragile balance among Syria, Turkey, Russia, and Iran; mitigate the humanitarian crisis; and keep ISIS fighters in prisons.