Obama’s unjustified optimism

A realistic assessment of international dangers facing the United States and its allies was completely missing from the President’s State of the Union Address.

Unfortunately for Mr. Obama, a number of serious incidents this week splashed icy cold water on his assessment that the world had turned a corner on issues such as terrorism and global relations. Consider just a few specific items that apparently the Commander-in-Chief wasn’t briefed on or didn’t care to discuss:

As talks with Cuba prepared to commence, a Russian spy ship docked in that island nation, another entry into the growing Russian, Chinese, and Iranian military presence in Latin America.
In Argentina, a prosecutor who is reviewing Iranian involvement in a past terrorist attack was found dead just before he could testify.
In the African nation of Namibia, discussions are underway to develop a Chinese naval base in the Walvis Bay area.
In Yemen, often cited by the White House as a Middle Eastern success story, militant Shiites invaded the Presidential palace.
The Russians have developed new and more potent missiles, part of a massive military buildup that in some areas violates past arms accords.
China continues its own extraordinary military buildup, continuing at a pace faster than either the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. did at the height of the Cold War.
Terrorists control more geography than ever in the Middle East, and are poised to make gains in Afghanistan as well.
North Korea and Iran continue on with their nuclear and missile development programs as well.
All of this occurs as the United States and its allies continue to underfund their own militaries. With clearly no threat from the west, what justification can Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea provide for their vast weapons programs and aggressive tactics?

These days, you can generic viagra tadalafil find websites that are selling all type of herbal products. Gokhru improves functioning of viagra best buy reproductive system. Only a few days ago, the World Health Organization, proclaimed that cell phones were possibly carcinogenic. viagra free sample How to treat erectile dysfunction? A sexologist or rather a sex spe online pharmacies viagrat is the person credited for myofascial release, a massage therapy of the male organ to boost the flow of blood.
It is increasingly difficult to understand Mr. Obama’s foreign policy views.

Quick Analysis

Ignoring National Security Needs

Too many in Washington are far less interested in protecting against foreign military threats than in pushing a separate agenda. The defense budget may hold steady, but accounting for inflation, even a small increase is actually a cut. It’s a bad time to underfund national security. How defense dollars are used is vital. While key, front-line needs are crucial, the Defense Department spends money on items such as placing solar panels on the Pentagon and pursuing nonexistent internal threats from its own service personnel. Even as dangers lurk in Ukraine, the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific and on America’s own southern border, some of those entrusted with the defense of the nation are using the their budget to pursue political goals. The most important element of our defense, the men and women who serve, is in deep trouble. In 2023, the military fell short of its recruitment goal by an astounding 41,000. A Military Times report stated that “One possibility [for missing recruitment goals] that is increasingly resonating with veterans is that the military is too ‘woke.’ Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., for example, is among a group of Republican senators who have repeatedly blamed recruiting problems on the Biden administration for trying to build a ‘woke Army.’ Key defense fundamentals, both conventional and strategic, are facing challenges. An essential element of updating our nuclear deterrent is behind schedule. According to Rep. Mike Rogers, Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, the Sentinel land-based missile program, a key part of the modernization program, is not doing well. “Sentinel is absolutely necessary for the future of our nuclear deterrent… The Department must ensure that Sentinel is ready in time to replace the current ICBMs before they reach the end of their lives. Failure is not an option.” As an actual assault on U.S. interests becomes more likely than at any time since the Cold War, eyes that should be focused on the threat are looking elsewhere. In an August address to West Point cadets, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said “Climate change is a national security issue…” A Heritage Foundation study reports that “The Department of Defense has taken on the most ambitious climate change policy agenda in its history. On January 27, 2021, President Joe Biden declared by executive order “that climate considerations shall be an essential element of United States foreign policy and national security” and directed that: ’The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall consider the security implications of climate change.’” Our major adversary, China, grows stronger at sea as the U.S. falls behind. Beijing has built a navy larger than America’s. In fact, the U.S. Navy’s fleet is now smaller than it was in 2007. Mackenzie Eaglen, writing for the American Enterprise Institute reports that “The Navy has been making ends meet for now, but can only surge at this tempo for a limited period of time as deployment extensions continue to place additional wear and tear on overworked crews and aging ships. Furthermore, the fleet is set to slowly but steadily get smaller before it gets any bigger, as early retirements pile up and replacements slow….Battle force retirements have largely outpaced new procurement for the past two decades. Unstable funding and changing demands have left industry to cut down their shipbuilding operations to stay profitable, hollowing out domestic shipbuilding capacity and limiting our ability to build the fleet of the future. As former Chief of Naval Operations…Adm. Mike Gilday bluntly put it… ‘’The fleet is aging. As ships become older, they become more expensive and difficult to maintain. Ships are being tied in up in compounded maintenance delays, taking numerous ships off the line. Copious maintenance delays for the surface fleet resulted in less than 68 percent surface fleet ships deemed “mission-capable,” last year. Submarines face a similar situation, with just 63 percent of attack submarines available in the last year, further shrinking the true size of our Navy.” While Democrats have engaged in diverting military funds and attention away from defense and towards environmental and woke goals, Republicans have made their share of mistakes, as well. The border is a key issue and Biden’s negligence continues to produce current harm and future threats. But the GOP’s leveraging withholding of support for Ukraine and Israel for border policy reform is a poor strategy, simply replacing one threat with another. The current National Defense Authorization Act has been criticized as one that fails to address the threat from America’ “Pacing challenger,” China. A Heritage analysis points out that ‘Not long ago, House Republicans could have credibly argued that they were Capitol Hill’s toughest China hawks. Despite that track record, lame-duck Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and a few cronies were allowed to strip out virtually all of the important China-related national security provisions from this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).” Photo: Chinese frigate firing. (China Defense agency)