From the beginning of the Obama administration in 2009, it was apparent that our new president had a very different view of the United States’ responsibilities with regard to world affairs.  Obama viewed the U.S. as a quasi imperial power which had oppressed peoples around the world, rather than helped them.  It was the view of an individual who felt personally demeaned by the system, when in truth he had been given incredible opportunities because of, not in spite of, his mixed race.

In Obama’s world, in order to correct all this countries’ faults and shortcomings, it would be necessary to “Fundamentally Transform America”, and he immediately set out to do just that.  One of the first things he decided to transform was our military, and he was very successful in doing it.  He drove out large numbers of very qualified and dedicated “warriors” and replaced them with politically correct individuals who would follow his directives, whether they were wise ones or not.  From transsexuals being allowed to openly serve, to the withdrawal, using published timetables, of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, to the recalling of our naval forces to their ports, the military was systematically weakened. Shocking statistics began to surface.  Nearly two thirds of our Marine fighter aircraft are unfit for service.  Many surface ships and submarines are desperately in need of routine maintenance and refitting.  The size of our military has been reduced to a level smaller than at any time since prior to World War Two.  Why should we worry about this?  Well in the words of Ronald Reagan: “Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong”.  Military weakness emboldens dictators and despots.  Those who doubt this should take just a few minutes to study the Munich Accords of 1938.  This disastrous agreement allowed sections of Czechoslovakia to be annexed by Germany on promises that would be the last demand by Adolph Hitler for territory.  British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain waved a copy of the accord before the newsreel cameras proclaiming that it guaranteed “Peace in our time”.  Instead, less than a year later, German tanks rolled into Poland, starting the most costly conflict in human history.  Weakness in the face of threats never ends well.

Now, in our time, there are many threats to the peace and security of our world.  Some come from rogue countries, like Iran and North Korea.  Others come from former or current adversaries like Russia or China.  One of the most serious threats is from an ideology, Radical Islam.  Make no mistake, these threats aren’t false.  They are very, very real, and can overwhelm us if we don’t face them for what they are.

President Trump’s ordering of a limited missile attack on the air base in Syria which was the launching point of the poison gas attacks last week is a new “line in the sand”.  Bashar al-Assad is now aware that we will not allow him to thumb his nose at this country and commit crimes against humanity.  Iran, North Korea, Russia and China have also been put on notice. America is finished with the Obama concept of “Leading from behind”.  The cold war never went “Hot” because the adversaries, the USSR and the United States, realized no one could win a global nuclear conflict.  New players on the scene, such as Iran and North Korea, are either armed with nuclear weapons or about to get them.  They have no problem with sharing them with terrorist groups, who in turn have no compulsions about using them.  What difference does it make if you die wearing a suicide vest or press a button to detonate a small nuclear device?  The sick mind thinks it’s going to a guaranteed paradise either way.  Only your victims pay a higher price.  We can only hope that this country and our allies can come to grips with the threats before the unthinkable happens.  You simply cannot negotiate with madmen.