Mel, I agree - but there's a complication.

If we move out of the Middle East, China will move in there in a heartbeat - and the Chinese don't care how brutal, despotic, and fanatical those Muslims are unless they mess with China. That could leave Europe and the U.S. stuck with very expensive energy and China with a supply of cheap and abundant energy to fuel their industry.

I believe our conflict with Muslim fanatics is a sideshow and the next world war will be between the U.S. and China. Walking away from the world's largest and cheapest oil deposits could make that big war come a lot sooner and make it even more likely to go against us. Just sayin'.