A Marine Reserve Center,  directly across the street from our house,  is a daily reminder of our brave Americans.  There’s a plaque near the building with the names of those in that battalion who recently lost their lives in the Middle East.   We’ve watched these fine men and women  come and go over the years. They seem like our own kin . Would I like to see a few  more names  on the plaque because we’re defending the Kurds?  Actually, no. And, will our retreat  influence the next election?  Do voters care about the Kurds or our mission in Benghazi?

The 2012 attack on the American embassy in Libya brought about a two year investigation in 2014.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,  was  criticized for not coming to the rescue of the four American citizens who died in  Benghazi.  Because  the US ambassador was gay, he was singled out for extreme torture.  You might have thought this would  affect Hillary Clinton’s  support from the  LGBT community,  But obviously, it didn’t.  She easily won the popular vote in the 2016 election.

Now, we have the President’s decision to pull out of the Kurdish held territory in Syria, Apparently, the Turks informed the  President a massive invasion was about to take place.   If our troops  were to stay, many of our men would die 7,000 miles from home.   Questions about  the wisdom and integrity  of this  decision will drag on until the next presidential election.

But do these events  influence the way Americans vote?  In our modest, middle class neighborhood, yard signs supporting various political candidates proliferate .  From the looks of it, we’re fairly divided as to political party leanings.  In 2020 , will my  Republican neighbors  vote  against Trump–or Pence– because he decided not to stay and fight a losing battle? Will it be a deal breaker?  If we go on past history, I would doubt it.