HAWAII, February 16, 2012 - President Barack Obama is actively campaigning on the message of an "America Built To Last." Unfortunately, the policy trajectory of our United States is speeding towards the path of a fallen, has-been empire that will be remembered only as a cautionary tale in future history textbooks written in languages other than English.
America's present national security model is an absolute failure. A bipartisan recognition of this fact leading to a paradigm shift must occur swiftly or America may lose not only her prestige abroad but also more dangerously, her sovereignty at home.
America Needs Competence In National Security
The study and practice of national security is one that is as old as the state itself, spoken of by so many but understood by so few. During an election year, aspiring politicians and the manifold armchair admirals that gravitate to their campaigns use national security as a talking point but scarcely know what it is they profess so passionately.
We should be clear on what national security is not. National security is not a partisan monopoly. National security is not emotionalism spewed from hyperbolic media personalities. National security is not a video game meant to entertain players.
National security is the preservation of our unique way of life.
The ancient Chinese tactician Sun Tzu called national security "the art of war" and wrote: "The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or ruin." He further wrote: "the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril."
In Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles spoke of national security as "sustaining the glories of her position" and warned his hearers "You should remember also that what you are fighting against is not merely slavery as an exchange for independence, but also loss of empire and danger from the animosities incurred in its exercise."
Carl von Clausewitz likewise spoke of national security when he said: "There must be an intimate knowledge of State policy in its higher relations. The conduct of the War and the policy of the State here coincide, and the General becomes at the same time the Statesman."
I personally like the Bible's view of national security, as it brings me to what I believe is the ultimate statement on how to establish and defend a nation: "when the ruler is a man of discernment, understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue" (Proverbs 28:2).
Today's leadership shows a complete lack of discernment, understanding or knowledge and America has neither stability or security in these very dangerous times.
America's Military Is Spread Thin, Worn Down
The most obvious evidence of our national security failure is the condition of our armed forces. America's military is thinly spread across approximately 140+ countries around the world and its equipment is aging and in need of recapitalization.
Two significant erosive forces are working against the strength of our military: first, the ongoing economic crisis which has impacted revenues, weakened the purchasing power of the dollar, grossly dilated the national debt and triggered a fiscal imbalance that has demanded significant cuts to military expenditures, especially in the area of research as well as procurement and acquisitions.
The second and more concerning drain on our armed forces is the ongoing post-9/11 Global War On Terror (GWOT). According to a March 2011 report by the Congressional Research Service, by the year 2021 expenditures on the ongoing GWOT may total between $1.4 to $1.8 trillion.
The massive expenditures needed to keep boots on the ground and drones in the air overseas takes money away that could be used for modernizing or recapitalizing our military as well as consuming tax dollars that could be used at home to finance private investment, production and ultimately a more prosperous economy.
To underline the impact that ongoing GWOT operations have on our collective national security, consider as a snapshot the findings of the Government Accountability Office's GAO-09-184 Actions Needed to Improve Management of Air Sovereignty Alert Operations To Protect U.S. Airspace report, issued in 2009:
"The Air Force has not implemented [Air Sovereignty Alert] operations in accordance with DOD, NORAD and Air Force directives and guidance, which instruct the Air Force to establish ASA as a steady-state (ongoing and indefinite) mission. The Air Force has not implemented the 140 actions it identified to establish ASA as a steady-state mission, which included integrating ASA operations into the Air Force's planning, programming and funding cycle. The Air Force instead has been focused on other priorities, such as overseas military operations."
In plain language, the Air Force is so consumed by GWOT and loosely peripherally related operations that at home, our ability to defend against threats such as intrusions into our airspace by foreign aircraft is greatly impeded.
While America is busy establishing no-fly-zones over countries of no vital national security interests, her own airspace at home is thinly guarded, such to the point that along the southern border, farmers in Texas now intermittently report seeing Mexican military helicopters crossing into U.S. airspace without escort or presumably even authorization.
On March 12, 2010, Texas Governor Rick Perry speaking of the breach of our airspace warned, "The helicopter incursion and uptick in violence in Mexican border communities underscore the urgent need for more U.S. law enforcement and surveillance along the Texas-Mexico border. I once again urge our federal government to add personnel and technology along the Texas-Mexico border to prevent spillover violence here and to combat drug cartels operating in the border region."
If a state is no longer able to enforce or protect its borders, a state is no longer sovereign. It makes little sense why the Obama Administration erected a no-fly-zone over Libya and hints at the possibility of another in Syria while our domestic airspace is woefully exposed and our Air Force is making do with aging aircraft.
While Mexican helicopters breaching our airspace may seem benign to some, to me it is evidence of a country that no longer takes national security seriously. If a low-tech Mexican helicopter is able to intrude U.S. airspace, what is to stop an air-launched cruise missile attack against U.S. cities in the event that China or Russia ever become hostile?
Even as our Air Force and other services see massive cuts and are forced to make do with legacy equipment as a sacrifice to continue in GWOT and other interventionist operations abroad, the Chinese and Russian militaries are approaching parity and are developing modern weapons which threaten America's military dominance.
Does it really make sense to continue pursuing terrorists hiding in caves and invading annoying, yet ultimately minor regional powers abroad while America’s military and economy collapses at home as a result of the continuing GWOT?
In a May 2011 essay for Proceedings Magazine entitled Return to the American Way of War, retired U.S. Navy Captain Steve F. Kime challenged policymakers to change the policy paradigm:
"We must go back to the drawing board. A new, comprehensive military strategy is needed. The foreign component of this strategy must return to the American Way of War and recognize that our well-regulated militia is for national emergencies and not a “tool” of international diplomacy in the hands of politicians. The domestic component must review the policies and the forces cobbled together by both federal and state governments and arrive at coherent strategies aimed at inchoate, but very real, threats to the nation."
President Obama's greatest legacy may be presiding over the fall of the United States of America if we do not change course at once and develop a solid national security strategy. Democrats and Republicans will need to recognize the decline and work together before it is too late.
Sun Tzu tells us "when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue."
Our weapons are dulled. Our strength is rapidly fading. Our treasure is all but spent. The United States is reaching a critical moment in its history where it will either be soundly saved or forever vanquished.
Danny de Gracia is a political scientist, an ordained minister and a former senior adviser to two committee chairs of the Hawaii State House of Representatives. He currently lives in Hawaii.
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