I am so glad to hear someone else say this. It bears repeating: WE ARE NOT OMNIPOTENT. We cannot control the course of history, and we are often outmaneuvered by our enemies (viz. Somalia, Vietnam, Yalta, etc.)
There is a tendency on the Left, and increasingly on the Right, to assume that we can simply enact our will uncontested. Thus the Left will blame the US for any larger conflagration that gets started following the attacks on the Pentagon and the WTC. Apparently, some on the Right will do so as well. Zviadist is right to say that "blowback" is merely another word for unintended consequences. But there are consequences to inaction as well.
Goodness gracious, I'm sounding like one of those dreaded "neo-cons." Best stop while I'm ahead.
You'll like this ... I used the word "King-cons" in a dream the other night to describe folks like Kissinger on whom our perma-leadership relies but whose Maotai ways and NSSM-200 pop-control policy reveal him to be every bit the evil elitist that Hillary, Soros or others are.
Malcolm Forbes had a funny comment at his desert birthday bash once when Elizabeth Taylor whined to Mr. Hanky "But Henry, you're not staying for the fireworks?"
"My dear," Malcolm laughed, "it's he who usually starts them."