To Make Us Safer America Must Demonstrate Its Power

The world views America as weak because we have a very weak leader.  A demonstration of American military power is urgently necessary.  No, not boots on the ground, but a demonstration of our capability and overwhelming superiority in military technology.

The American public is tired of seeing our brave soldiers come home, without arms and legs, or with mental difficulties or in a casket.  But it does want America to be respected in the world.  Because without that respect they instinctively know we will continue to live in a world that is the tinderbox it has now become under the lack of leadership of President Obama.

Throughout my life, largely because of political reasons, our American military has tried to fight antiseptic wars to reduce the number of DAILY civilian casualties. In doing this it always increased the TOTAL number of casualties, both civilian and military.  In Vietnam our troops one by one crept thru the jungle trying to increase a body count of the enemy at a very high risk to each individual soldier.  In Iraq our troops one by one kicked in doors hoping the woman they saw did not have a rifle and the child they saw did not have a bomb strapped to it again at a very high risk to each individual soldier.

In my judgment we should fight war in a different way. I believe that we should use our bomb carrying aircraft, missiles and drones to render TOTAL DESTRUCTION of an area, the only boots on the ground being the absolutely necessary special forces directing the fire. With the crossing of his red line on Syria’s use of chemical weapons President Obama ignored the perfect opportunity to eliminate Syria’s air force and its other assets as a demonstration of American power.  His failure there showed his fear and timidity which encouraged the aggression of our enemies which we now see all over the world.

His latest is a failure to foresee the success of ISIS troops who have just taken Mosul and have almost surrounded Baghdad in an unpopulated area. It is in America’s interest to stop them and prevent Iraq from becoming a vast training ground for terrorist forays into our country.  And to prevent them from obtaining help and making an ally of their fellow Shiites in neighboring Iran.

It is also an opportunity to demonstrate American power.  I believe that whatever firepower our military would decide is necessary to complete the task should be doubled to show the world what we are capable of.  I personally believe a few demonstrations of American power and the world will get the message, reduce war making and it and us will be much safer.  Maybe even Iran will get the message and curtail its drive toward shortly obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Because of political considerations our leaders look at the short term effects of what we do completely ignoring the long term effects.  In Syria 200,000 of President Bashar al-Assad’s own citizens have died because of him.  An aggressive approach early on may have resulted in the deaths of maybe 10,000, but if Assad had been targeted he would no longer be there and 190,000 lives likely would have been saved.

During World War II America was blessed that President Truman was not as weak as Barack Obama.  But then Truman had been a small business owner who instinctively knew that one’s decisions always needed to be made with an eye toward long term results.  In dropping two bombs on Japan he killed 242,000 Japanese—horrible—but he saved the lives of 2 million American soldiers of our greatest generation whom we recently celebrated.  And he saved the lives of 6 million other Japanese who were prepared to defend their Emperor and their country in many cases only with bamboo sticks.  Over 7,500,000 lives were saved because of his decision. And no country has used another nuclear bomb in over 70 years.  THAT decision resulted in a clear demonstration of American power.  And the strong president who made the decision it is said, went to bed and slept all night . . .  Because he knew the decision was the right one.  And we have lived in freedom ever since.