Instead of a foreign policy directed by civilian authority, we now have simply military policy. It’s like General MacArthur won against President Truman today. Foreign policy columnist at The Nation Patrick Lawrence describes our State Department bureaucracy as “sclerotic.” In the new wars against Yemen on behalf of the Saudis, and the drive to take back Mosul in Iraq, once again the US policy-makers are shoved aside by the Pentagon, which has it’s own goals not necessarily the same as what is in America’s interests in the region. Even Obama seems weighted down by their power over policy. These are two unwinnable, poorly considered, unnecessary wars. Listen in!