I am as opposed to radical Islam and the barbarian actions of these 7th-century throwbacks as anyone.  However, I am tired of hearing from so-called pundits and tea leaf readers that "if we don't stop them in (pick a country), we will have to fight them here in this country."

Let's be realistic: this is not a uniformed army with tanks and howitzers and ships being loaded in some foreign port preparing to invade this country through the harbors of Boston or New York or Savannah or the beaches of Long Island.  These are not people with sophisticated logistics systems ready to resupply this imaginary army over thousands of miles of ocean.

What we are faced with are small numbers of homegrown or smuggled terrorists ready and willing to cause havoc and die for their beliefs.  These are the people we should be concentrating our defensive efforts against.  Although the liberal Democrat judges of this country are willing to allow these people into the country with no effort to identify them, that is a problem not related to any overseas adventure requiring American military personnel on the ground.

I am all in favor of dropping munitions of one type or another on specific ISIS targets as was recently done with the MOAB in Afghanistan, but I am vehemently opposed to subjecting soldiers and Marines to ground combat in situations without a clear objective of winning.  Korea, Vietnam, and other misadventures in the Mideast have shown the folly of "nation-building," "limited objective warfare," "regime change," and other political euphemisms for lack of will as a substitute for victory.

The recent call by the commanding general in Afghanistan for thousands more troops on the ground is frighteningly reminiscent of the call for more troops in Vietnam.  The ego of some of these generals results in the deaths of untold American military.  "Just give me a few more thousand troops and I will defeat the enemy" has been the cry since the time of Caesar.  Unfortunately, many of these generals disregard the politicians' overwhelming fear of defeat at the polls, which will cause them to make fatal decisions, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  Millions – yes, millions – were lost by the French and British in World War I because of the same ego-driven stupidity of the generals and politicians.

Now addled politicians Lindsey Graham and John McCain are calling for ground troops to be sent to Syria in addition to Afghanistan.  We were advised many years ago to stay out of any ground combat in Southeast Asia – advice that was ignored with horrendous consequences.  Take a look at recent events in Iraq, a manufactured artificial country.  Must we relearn the lessons of history with the blood of our military?