Returning to Peace Through Strength

Less than three weeks from election day, the nation faces threats as dangerous and more diverse than September 11, 2001. This predicament can be directly traced to the misguided, reckless, and naive policies of the Obama administration.

The threat of ISIS arose from President Obama’s abandonment of Iraq. In the vacuum that his own military leadership warned him of, ISIS seized much of Iraq and moved into Syria. Americans are all too familiar now with ISIS’ barbarity in the form savage beheadings paraded over the internet. Compounded by gross negligence at the nation’s borders and immigration policies imposed by fiat from the administration that subvert the will of the people, Americans find themselves facing everything from the prospect of terrorists entering the nation illegally, to the spread of Ebola in the United States from foreign travelers.

American weakness has not gone unnoticed. Russia brazenly annexed Crimea from Ukraine earlier this year with no consequences other than superficial sanctions. China proceeds with a break-neck military build-up while denying free elections in Hong Kong and threatening its democratic neighbor Taiwan. North Korea brutally represses its people and conducts ballistic missile tests to taunt the US and its allies. And Iran, in the face of unenforced “red lines” (one drawn on Syria by Obama on the use of chemical weapons, the other by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu on the Iranian nuclear threat), continues its nuclear program and sponsorship of terrorists, unconcerned.

All the while, Obama and his lieutenant in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, relentlessly demoralize the US military. With the 2011 sequester, they have led the shrinking of our military to force levels not seen since before World War II. America must control spending, but doing so on the backs of servicemembers who have already borne more than half of the $2 trillion in cuts mandated by the sequester breaks faith with them and threatens our security. The All-Volunteer Force has been transformed into a social-engineering laboratory with the repeal of the law on gays in the military and a headlong rush to force women into combat positions. Obama trades away terror leaders in Guantanamo for a deserting soldier, but seems unmoved by the plight of a US Marine held by Mexico, ostensibly an ally. And most outrageously, he has yet to be held accountable for the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya on the anniversary of 9/11 two years ago. Personnel on the ground as well as other sources in the region that night have said assets were either left unmobilized or delayed in assisting Americans under siege. Intolerable.

The foregoing litany demands a return to the tried-and-true Reagan policy of peace through strength. And keeping faith with our troops and remaining a constant and true partner to our allies. As voters consider their choices for the House and Senate, the following is offered as an essential list of policy positions to judge them against:

• A vote in Congress on the ongoing use of force against ISIS in Syria. America deserves a full explanation from the president on our strategy and what that will require from our military men and women and mean long-term for the United States.
• An end to the sequester-levels of spending for the military, rebuilding it to project the strength that peace requires, and stemming the demoralization that years of cuts, misuse (“containing” Ebola), abuse (Benghazi and the Bergdahl trade) and false errands (the aborted Afghanistan surge/abandonment of Iraq; the ISIS airstrikes) have inflicted.
• Defense of Israel, as the only free, democratic ally to the United States in the Middle East.
• Toughened sanctions against Russia, in answer to its invasion of Ukraine and in deterrence of future advances on neighbors/former regions of the Soviet Union.
• Re-establishing the plan for a missile defense site in Poland, to deter Russia more broadly in Eastern Europe, as well as to defend all of Europe AND Russia from rogue ballistic missile threats.
• Halting travel into the United States from countries with high risks for Ebola or other potentially fatal and/or epidemic health threats. Maintaining a ban until the CDC has cleared such regions from being high-risk.
• Securing the border. It is inexcusable that a sovereign nation cannot or does not control its own borders. This negligent and willful policy of the Obama administration not only inexcusably puts Americans at risk, but also those attempting to cross our border illegally by taking highly dangerous measures to do so.
• Diligent oversight and action to end social engineering policies that weaken morale and readiness in the All-Volunteer Force.
• Demanding accountability on Benghazi. Our military and overseas personnel deserve to know how their government failed them and see those responsible punished and/or brought to justice, as well as to maintain confidence that in times of danger, our government will not abandon them.

Endorsement of these prescriptions should represent a non-negotiable test for voters with growing concern about national security leading into this midterm election–no doubt driven by their extreme distaste for impotence on the world stage and the breaking of faith with our military. The dereliction of this administration will not stop unless confronted, and that will take leaders guided by American interests, not the failed policies of an unworthy Nobel Peace laureate. America can indeed achieve peace. Through strength.