Myeah, I see where the writer of the article is coming from.

Iraq was indeed not at all about 9/11 or human rights, but was valuable for strategic and economic reasons. Afghanistan has been a total clusterfuck since the 80's, Pakistan is a very volatile state. The US did, and still does, support despots.

But wars aren't about justice, it's about a country's interests.
And what's the alternative? If the US would change it's policy to isolationism (only intervening in case of a immediate threat), it would no longer be the foremost global power. Does the US want to lose its influence and be pushed around by another global power?
If they largely give up their influence in parts of the world, there will be a power vacuum. That won't last very long, (an)other global power(s) will jump in and take over. It has always been this way.

And will the other countries be better off dealing with the other world power (for example China)? Probably not. Afghanistan was just as fucked as it is now when Russia had the most influence there. China has the biggest influence in North Korea, that's no country you want to live in. China's getting more and more influence in Congo, no improvement there. Etc...