America does not need another nation wrapped around our necks.

We can't afford to pay our retirees their Social Security checks. Rumors abound that Congress is working to cut Social Security benefits and raise the retirement age even higher. American people have paid years into Social Security while the fund has continued to be robbed and spent other places. Let's think really hard. I wonder where those places might have been. How about Iraq and Afghanistan? Both wars have cost over four trillion plus dollars and over 6,000 lives.

Americans do not want to waste another trillion dollars on a Middle East country. We certainly do not want to lose another thousand lives or even one life in Syria. Why would we want to go to Syria? Who would we fight? Syria's president? Bashar al-Assad? I grant you he is a bad guy and there are plenty of people in Syria and the Middle East who do not like him. Would this be America's job to fight his army and take him out? Then what happens? Do we set up 20,000 troops in Syria to patrol the country and do we try to establish order in this already crazy part of the world? We've done such a great job in Iraq and Afghanistan - not!

How could we fight Assad in Syria without fighting ISIS? They are crawling all over the country of Syria. They would love to overthrow Bashar al-Assad and take control of Syria's oil wealth. But wait, ISIS hates America. They behead our people and they want to get into America to bring about any kind of disaster possible. Why would we ever want to do anything to help ISIS? I don't. I know you don't.

Do we want to be in Syria to fight Russia? That is just what we need - two superpowers who are both struggling economically to engage in warfare over Syria. Russia supports Bashar al-Assad and they want to maintain their only Middle Eastern Navy base in that area. Syria is their only port and they do not want to give up that port.

Is America afraid that Russia will establish more of a Syrian presence and have more control of Syrian oil? Personally, I wish we would quit killing our men and women over Middle Eastern oil. We have natural gas. We have oil. We have coal and wind and solar energy. Canada and the United States have plenty enough energy for here and even to export around the world.

The countries of the Middle East need to work out their problems. America has gone broke in the Middle East with nothing to show for it. Let's not repeat the same mistakes in Syria.

Glenn Mollette, an syndicated columnist and author, is the author of 11 books and read in all 50 states. This column does not necessarily reflect the view this paper or media source.