Our presence in both Iraq and Afghanistan has made things worse, not better, for our brothers and sisters in the faith that built America. Half or more of the Christian population in Baghdad has fled for safety, and Muslims are hunting down the ones that are left neighborhood by neighborhood and house by house. What kind of nation is that? But that’s the nation we’re leaving behind.

American blood is too precious and American treasure too valuable to be spilled and spent in a fruitless attempt to build nations in parts of the world that have no respect for our fundamental values. Our next president will certainly encounter threats and attacks from Islamic nations during his time in office. It is imperative that he reject the nation-building ideology of President Bush and the aimless dithering of President Obama.

When we must respond to an attack from a Muslim country, our agenda and mission should be crystal clear: we will project the force of the United States military as long and as intensely as necessary to obliterate the source of the attack or the threat, and then we will bring our troops home. We will leave behind one simple message: it’s your country, build whatever nation you want. But don’t give us a reason to come back, because if you do, it will not be pretty.

— Bryan Fischer, “On Afghanistan: Give Up Nation-Building: Not Our Job, Won’t Work,” RenewAmerica