America in Retreat

Why is the nation with the largest economy and most powerful, technologically-advanced military ceding the field of conflict to a bunch of atavist jihadists whose goal is to return the globe to the seventh century when Muhammad actually lived? Why is a nation with ICBMs and fighter jets fleeing from a portions of the world where they can not keep refrigerators running through the night? Why have tens of thousands of Americans shed their blood to pacify Afghanistan and Iraq if we in the end run from the region like a scolded dog rather than asserting our national security prerogatives and unleashing sufficient force to vanquish those who intend to harm us?