CAIR shouldn't be able to give money to campaigns either, and also PACs shouldn't exist- at least not as a roundabout form of political bribery. All that aside, according to opensecrets CAIR raised 80k in political funding over the past 2 years when the AIPAC raised 45 mil, they're not in the same league in terms of influence. And that's not even getting into all the state-funded social media astroturfing campaigns that have been posted about here as well. I'm not sure how any US citizen could defend these practices while also having a (warranted) conniption over election meddling when the Russians do it

I'm also disapointed that the posts for this submission were immediately mired in politics (due to one off-hand remark in the article) instead of discussing the history of this siege or even the fascinating life of Josephus, but I guess I shouldn't complain if I'm part of the problem

>what has America gotten in return

The ability to retake a small shred of moral high ground, I guess, given its role in turning Afghanistan in to a failed state.