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New questions over US foreign policy in Mideast

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    Is American influence declining in region?

  • Duration 4:02
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Of course whoever wins the Oval Office will direct foreign policy in this country for -- -- next four years and there are new questions.

About the effectiveness of our foreign policy as violence explodes across the Middle East.

In Syria more than 20000.

People are dead in a civil war that has no end in sight.

New amateur video reportedly shows -- government airstrikes hitting a gas station there killing dozens of people.

New reports that Iran is fueling the bloodshed with steady shipments of weapons in Iraq a homicide bomber strikes near western embassies.

And in Egypt out of control riots erupting on September 11.

-- -- new wall street journal editorial argues that this administration's policy is to blame for the chaos in that part of the world.

The piece reads in part President Obama keeps using his campaign catch phrase that the tide of war is receding.

But the real receding tide is in US power and influence.

Are growing irrelevance to the region comes with costs that are growing.

And that are likely to draw us back in later at a much higher price.

Let's talk about it with Paul you go the editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal pretty ominous ending to that.

Yes well I mean I think that this is a part of the world that we might like to think we can leave without consequences.

But.

We really can't we have a crucial ally there and Israel that we have moral and strategic obligations to we obviously have alliances with the gulf states.

And -- course it's a source still.

Of enormous amounts of oil so it's not a region of the world that we can say let's just wash our hands of -- so.

If but but what's been happening is our influence in the last few years has been -- there and that's the danger because when US influence -- scenes.

Bad actors had Phillies.

One of those bad actors obviously you're wrong -- -- has been shipping weapons to Syria to help prop up the Assad government there.

And they've been doing so by flying through Iraqi airspace we told the Iraqis -- Could -- could -- not let them do that.

And what was the response well Joseph Biden the vice president who is the president's Obama's point man on a rock personally interceded with the prime minister of Iraq.

Nori Al-Maliki.

And asked him to stop those overflights and Maliki said no.

And it's a sign I think of the fact that our influence with the rock which we spent so much blood and treasure to to -- from Saddam Hussein.

Even they are saying look we're not gonna listen to you in part.

Iraq is in a tough neighborhood if were not there remember we pulled out lock stock and barrel.

No -- on the ground no troops no residual troops you could've left 101000 or so had we negotiated it and and and sought that.

But -- out now so our leverage is really -- meanwhile Iraq has to live next to Iran which is a power in the region.

So he has to mallet.

Joseph Biden forget it I'm going with a rock bettered it tick off Joseph Biden and the mall is next to -- right exactly right.

All right so what is the solution I mean the president -- gave one of his first big speeches in Cairo promising to reset relations with the Muslim.

Well I mean clearly I think one of the things you have to do -- -- probably the most important thing he should do is basically show that we're gonna stop Iran from getting nuclear weapon.

Because that's the single biggest problem in the region.

And if Iran is able to assert itself there despite all world opinion and US insistence -- the president said that that is unacceptable.

Then we'll see I think assertion really -- the dangerous consequences in the Middle East as the US influence receives even further.

And I think it's a -- it's an illusion to think.

That we can forget about this because I think it's in the next four years were like to see more trouble and in the Middle East and that might bring America in no matter who is present.

-- ago thank you.

You can catch more of Paul this weekend when he hosts The Journal Editorial Report.

A program now expanded to a full hour as we get closer to the election in November Saturday tomorrow 2 PM eastern right here on Fox News.

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