Civilization 5 Brave New World Trainer 1.0.3.18 Download
Beaulah Mozie
Among all the various concerns and issues that compete for our time and energy in Washington, nothing matters more than the security of the United States. Nothing. Everything else we do depends on our safety from the dangers of the world.
And of all the things our federal government attempts to do these days, the one obligation that only it can do is defend the nation. It is a defining duty of the president as commander-in-chief under Article Two, and the test of leadership that matters more than any other.
What makes it all real, in the end, is the fact of American military superiority. Without that, we would be just one more nation with good intentions and strong opinions. It is not some arbitrary cycle of history that made the post-War era what it has been. It is American power, and American leadership.
And before we credit the wisdom of even our best statesmen and diplomats in this long era, always remember where the greatest credit truly belongs. It belongs to generations of men and women who gave the best years of their lives, or laid down their lives, in brave service to our country.
They watch what our leaders do, the enemies of America, and they listen to what our leaders say. And a few of our most single-minded enemies might well have wondered why, in recent years, President Obama was talking about the terrorists being on the run, in retreat, when precisely the opposite was happening.
A realistic strategy has to recognize that ISIS is a grave, strategic threat to the United States. The situation is dire and defeating these terrorists will require immediate, sustained, simultaneous action across multiple fronts. Phasing in our actions will not suffice. Such a strategy will only prolong the conflict and increase the casualties.
Winning will require allies. Across the broader Middle East, we have to reassure our friends and allies that America will not abandon them. After five and half years of an Administration sending regular messages of retreat, withdrawal and indifference, we have lost credibility and the trust of allies we need to win this war. We must now demonstrate through increased intelligence cooperation, military assistance, training, joint exercises, and economic support that we know they are on the front lines of the war on terror. We should do everything possible to defend Jordan against ISIS. We should immediately provide the Apache helicopters and other military support the government of Egypt needs to fight the terrorist insurgency in the Sinai.
We should recognize that the Muslim Brotherhood is the ideological source for all radical Islamic terrorist groups around the globe. We ought to designate it as the terrorist organization it is, and we should provide full backing and support for those governments across the Middle East who are standing against the Muslim Brotherhood.
We should make clear that a nuclear-armed Iran is an existential threat to Israel, and to other nations in the region as well. We should refuse to accept any deal that allows them to continue to spin centrifuges and enrich uranium. The regime in Tehran must be made to understand that the United States will not allow that to happen, and that we will take military action if necessary to stop it.
I know something about that apparatus. I was one of its architects. And President Obama seems willfully blind to one of the key facts about the post 9/11 security apparatus: It is not self-sustaining. Those programs and policies must be kept strong and current.
It was one of the highest honors of my life to have the opportunity to serve as secretary of defense. There is no finer group of people anywhere than the men and women who wear the uniform of our nation. We need to do everything we can to make sure every expenditure is justified, but the defense budget is different from every other part of our federal budget. In most other areas, you start with questions like what do we have and what can we afford? When you are looking at the defense of the United States, you start with the question, what do we need?
But that kind of careful thought is not what is driving the massive defense reductions now underway. And whatever the thinking behind these decisions, it bears little relation to a strategic environment that is complex, demanding, and getting more dangerous.
Of course, they are not, as the next commander in chief will likely appreciate from day one. That next president, unless we start matching our military investment with the threats and challenges we face, will also find that the options have narrowed. All the capacities we need to shape events, protect our interests, and work to peaceful ends may not be there. Even the wisest, boldest calls in the Situation Room will not come to much without the assets to follow through, whether by land, sea, air, space, or cyberspace. And when the next Congress convenes in January, I can think of no more urgent business than this: Leaders in both parties working together, must ensure that the highest priority in our federal budget is the security of the United States.
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