CHUCK HAGEL AS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Whatever your views on Secretary of Defense designate Chuck Hagel, if the Senate confirms him, the likelihood that he will leave Defense four years from now better than he found it are extremely low. Discussions about Sen. Hagel’s personal views on gays, Iran, Israel, and other issues aside—after all, the White House makes policy, not the Pentagon—he will have little going for him and enormous challenges to deal with as he assumes office.  (Read the full column at EWRoss.com)

Filed under: National Security, 9th Infantry Division, Afghanistan, Air Force, Army, best and the brightest, Bill Clinton, brigades, broken marriages, china, Chuck Hagel, Ed Ross, ewross, fighters, First Gulf War, gays, health benefits for the military, Iran, Iraq, israel, John Kerry, light footprint, long-lead-time decisions, Marine, military healthcare, Navy, or George W. Bush, Pentagon, posttraumatic stress disorder, President Obama, PTSD, roles and missions, Ronald Reagan, second-string players, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State designate, sequestration, ships, special operations forces, squadrons, suicides, tanks, U.S. defense industrial base, U.S. forces, U.S. qualitative edge, Vietnam War, White House, wings

MILITARY VICTORY IS NOT AN OUTDATED CONCEPT

Deep cuts in the U.S. defense budget will have a negative impact on U.S. national security. Equally, if not more worrisome, are the effects of the strain we are putting on our warriors by endlessly placing them in harm’s way with no clear victory they can tell themselves was worth their sacrifice. (Read the full column at EWRoss.com)

Filed under: Military, ABC News, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan, all-volunteer military, and wars without clear victories, attacks on 9/11/2001, battlefield victories, Benjamin Karney, bottomless well, burned Qurans, cauterized wound in America’s psyche, commander-in-chief, conflict with Iran, Congress, democracy, Ed Ross, ewross, family separations, fleeting events, free and democratic government, future of Iraq remains in doubt, immunity from prosecution in Afghan courts, in harm’s way, Iraq and Afghanistan, Iraq military, israel, Kabul, Korean War, lasting peace, liberation of Iran, Military budget, military capabilities, military divorce, military leaders, military recruitment and retention, Military victory is not an outdated concept, Muslim world, nuclear weapons ambitions, Occupy Wall Street movement, Osama Bin Laden, pay and benefits, percentage of the American population serving on active duty in the military, Persian Gulf, personal sacrifice, President Barack Obama, RAND Corp, repeated deployments, sacrifice, SEAL Team 6, serving and defending their country, stability, staff sergeant who massacred 17 Afghanis, status-of-forces agreement, strategic partnership agreement, suicide rates in the U.S. armed forces up 80 percent, the 99 percent vs. the 1 percent, the American warrior., The First Gulf War, U.S. air and naval forces, U.S. defense budget, U.S. forces, U.S. military the most respected institution in America, U.S. national security, U.S. warriors have performed magnificently, Vietnam War Veteran, White House, world war II

DEMOCRAT’S SUPPORT FOR OWS AND NOSTALGIA FOR THE ANTI-VIETNAM WAR MOVEMENT

Is it any wonder why many high-profile Democrats, including President Obama, have supported and defended the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement and continue to do so? It holds out the promise of a return to the heady and influential days of the anti-Vietnam War movement where Democrats, now in their 50s and 60s, cut their teeth. They see it as a tool to rally frustrated Americans to support them in the coming elections. Unfortunately, the OWS protesters are unguided missiles that haven’t lived up to Democrat’s expectations and expose the weakness of their fundamentally-transform-America argument. (More)

Filed under: Politics, 60s and 70s, anti capatalism, anti government, anti-Vietnam War Movement, assaults, awards and accolades, baby killers, Bernaardine Dohrn, big banks, Bill Aires, Bob Dylan, Bolshevik, cavalry riding to the rescue, Civil Rights movement, counter culture, Democrat's expectations, Democrat's support for OWS, drugs, Ed Ross, ewross, Frankenstein, free love, fundamentally transform America, Jane Fonda, man and women in uniform, media coverage, nostalgia, Occupy Wall Street, occupy whatever, one percent, Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, President Obama, rapes, recreational activities, rock n roll, Southeast Asia, The Times They are a-Changin', transform America, U.S. Army, U.S. forces, unguided missiles, unsanitary conditions, useful idiots, Wall Street, Wall Street brokers, Weather Underground, Woodstock

THE ULTIMATE EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO AMERICA: A NEW WORLD ORDER

America as we know it faces the ultimate existential threat—a new world order (not the conspiracy theory) at which America is no longer the hub—and it will take much more than a change of the occupant in the White House to stem the tide.

America has faced many existential threats in its 335-year history. In every case, it has emerged stronger, more prosperous, and better prepared for the next one. Politically, economically, and militarily we have become the hub of the modern world order. That order is now threatened by the confluence of our monumental national debt, a global economic crisis, political upheaval in the Arab and Muslim worlds, the rise of China, and the desire by many countries that have benefited from the current order to change it.  (More)

Filed under: China-Taiwan, Climate Change, National Security, Politics, 2012 election, Afghanistan, Arab world, arms sales to Taiwan, car bombs, china, domestic economic issues, Ed Ross, ewross, foreign policy issues, George W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Iraq, Israel's 1967 borders, Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement, jobs, John Bolton, Jon Huntsman, Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney, national security, Newt Gingrich, President Barack Obama, President Obama's approval rating, presidential debates, Rasmussen Reports poll, Republican nominee, Ron Paul, sarah palin, there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, Tim Pawlenty, U.S. economy, U.S. forces, Vulcans, war, we got bin Laden

NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE 2012 ELECTION

The state of the U.S. economy and jobs are the overwhelming issues that will determine the outcome of the 2012 presidential election. Still, in a close race, national security issues could play the decisive role.

Given the inherent advantages President Barack Obama has on national security as an incumbent president and the likelihood that Republicans will nominate a candidate better suited to challenge Obama on domestic issues, Mr. Obama will have an advantage. Insufficient attention by the Republican nominee to national security issues could be a politically fatal mistake.  (More)

Filed under: National Security, The Presidency, 2012 election, Afghanistan, Arab world, arms sales to Taiwan, car bombs, china, domestic economic issues, Ed Ross, ewross, foreign policy issues, George W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Iraq, Israel's 1967 borders, Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement, jobs, John Bolton, Jon Huntsman, Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney, national security, Newt Gingrich, President Barack Obama, President Obama's approval rating, presidential debates, Rasmussen Reports poll, Republican nominee, Ron Paul, sarah palin, there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, Tim Pawlenty, U.S. economy, U.S. forces, United States presidential election 2012, Vulcans, war, we got bin Laden