except that al qaida was holed  up in pakistan not afghanistan 

you know pakistan - our so called ally in the GWOT

and as far as ukraine goes  - well not everyone agrees  that crimea was annexed or invaded for that matter considering they had a basing agreement for 25,000 russian troops and 16000 were already there before the referendum took place

nope nato has no real purpose anymore except to to perpetuate big fat contracts for general dynamics and the like and surround russia because it can