Commentary by James Shott
Everyone knows that the U.S. military is critical to the
nation’s security, and that it is also important how foreign countries perceive
America’s strength. That perception of our military and its civilian leadership
can encourage careful, thoughtful and peaceful behavior by other countries, or
a cavalier, carefree “we’ll do as we please” approach.
Now that the Barack Obama presidency is over, we must begin
restoring the military and the world’s perception of America’s strength, both
of which have been severely damaged over the last eight years. The security of not
just our nation, but also of the world to a large degree, depend upon a strong
America.
Back in 2015 Obama stated that the U.S. is now “the most respected country on Earth” thanks
to his administration. That comment drew ire and fire on Fox News’ “The
O’Reilly Factor.” Host Bill O’Reilly and Fox News contributor Charles
Krauthammer both reacted strongly to the comment, with O’Reilly countering, “No, we’re not respected by Putin, we’re not
respected by ISIS and other terrorists, so I don’t know what he is referring
to.” Krauthammer wondered, “what planet he's living on,” and pointed out
that “allies who’ve depended on us for so long are finding themselves
left hanging in the wind.”
The rest of the segment detailed the many foreign policy
failures of the Obama administration that contradict Obama’s delusional
statement.
Two years ago The Heritage
Foundation said this about funding for the military: “Consecutive years of
across-the-board budget cuts have significantly weakened the U.S. military. The
military will likely need several years of reinvestment to return to a sound
footing.”
It is instructive to look at just how Obama’s eight years
have affected the armed forces from the perspective of active members of the
military.
A poll conducted by the Military
Times and Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families was
a voluntary, confidential online survey taken by 1,664 active members of the U.S.
armed forces.
The poll reflects that 51.5 percent of those responding had
a generally unfavorable view of Barack Obama’s presidency, and that 29.1
percent had a very unfavorable view, the largest response of the five possible
answers. Only 36.4 percent had a generally favorable view, and only 18.0
percent had a very favorable view.
The Marine Corps had the strongest level of disapproval at
60.3 percent, followed by the Army at 53.0, the Air Force at 49.6, and the Navy
was the least disapproving at 45.9. Enlisted service members had a 52.1 percent
disapproval rate, while 48.8 percent of commissioned officers disapproved.
Seventy-one percent think overall force levels are too low,
and 43 percent think more deployed forces are needed, compared to 32 percent
who think fewer deployed forces are needed.
Asked how the following “social” measures affected readiness,
participants responded: Repealing “don’t ask don’t tell” helped, by 24 to 18
percent; gender integration within combat units hurt, by 30 to 15 percent; and
transgenders in service hurt, by 41 to 12 percent.
Participants believe the U.S. is less safe because of drawdowns
from Iraq (59 percent) and Afghanistan (54 percent), and less emphasis on
large-scale overseas missions (42 percent), but more safe from greater reliance
on special forces (58 percent) and training missions (51 percent). And they
believe the top four significant threats to the U.S. come from the Islamic
State and al-Qaida (70 percent), domestic Islamic terrorists (67 percent),
China (64 percent), and Iran (49 percent).
They say the military is smaller and weaker, and the threats
against the nation have increased.
In a campaign speech last September, candidate Trump
outlined his view of the U.S. military, and said he planned to ask military
brass to present a plan soon after he takes office to defeat and destroy ISIS,
and that he will ask Congress to eliminate the defense sequester.
Among the goals he seeks are: Building an active Army of
about 540,000; a Marine Corps based on 36 battalions; a Navy nearing 350
surface ships and submarines; an Air Force of at least 1,200 fighter aircraft;
and developing a new state-of-the-art missile defense system. And he intends to
offset the spending for these goals by cutting waste and streamlining the
bureaucracy, rather than increases in the $600 billion or so spent each year on
the military.
"I'm going to make our military so big, so powerful, so
strong, that nobody – absolutely nobody – is gonna (sic) mess with us," he
said in a video posted on his campaign website.
Along those lines, his choice to run the Defense Department
is retired Marine General James Mattis, a man well respected for his service
and expertise, and who is expected to operationally strengthen all armed forces.
A strong military is just smart: Better to have one and not
need it, than to need one and not have it. Blessedly, we now have a president
who understands that a strong military presence can solve a host of problems
before they ever materialize.
And, a president who strongly and unwaveringly supports what
is good for America is a great improvement over the weak and tragic performance
of the last eight years.
Cross-posted from Observations
No comments:
Post a Comment