The US's complicated Middle East policy mix

WHEN his fans claim, and his detractors sometimes agree, that US President Donald Trump is "authentic" and that he "says what everyone thinks", they usually have in mind your standard Archie Bunker applauding The Donald's most recent violation of a political correctness directive.

But then on occasion, Queens' native son who currently occupies the White House pronounces in public - in his own stream-of-consciousness way - what even some members of Washington's political elites only say privately.

Consider, for example, Mr Trump's comments in a recent interview to The Washington Post, discussing American policy in the Middle East, in which he expounded on one of the reasons why the US may consider bidding farewell to that part of the world.