Thoughts for today

Right as we in the United States are remembering the single most horrific day in our history, the radical Muslim world commits two acts of war against our country. The U.S. Embassy in Egypt was stormed and the American Flag was replaced with an al-Qaeda black flag. Also, in Libya the U.S. ambassador and three embassy staff were killed as they rushed away from a consulate building in Benghazi which had been stormed by al-Qaeda-linked gunmen. These “coincidental” events occurred on the eleventh anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy and our president’s initial response is to disgracefully apologize for a movie produced in the U.S. which called the prophet Muhammad a fraud.

Where is the backbone of this president? In another coincidence, Obama blew off an invitation to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu when he is going to be in the U.S. next week. We need to support Israel at all costs. They are alone in a very tumulus time. Iran and Egypt are now speculated as working to form a new alliance. The Muslim Brotherhood has not hidden their hatred for Israel just as Iran has not either. This is eerily similar to the beginnings of World War One and Two. The sparks flying now are sure to ignite the next world war and a global depression.

I was one of those naively to believe that once we swept through Kabul and Baghdad that these third world – old world people would embrace western ways. Who would not want a Starbucks on every corner in Afghanistan and Iraq and every man, woman and child living freely and openly. This is where the actions based on the religious beliefs of the Muslim world could not be predicted. With over 2.2 billion Muslims, all practicing their version of their religion the way they feel is best, it is simply impossible to impose our democratic way of life upon them. Even if we could perfectly appease the Muslim world and make 99% like us, this would still leave 22 million (1%) radicals dedicated to destroying our way of life.

Quite frankly, it would be much better if we could just walk away and live in isolation like the other nations we protect and watch over. But we can’t. The United States is the world super power and the rest of the world should take heed. No other country will protect Israel. Russia would attempt to take advantage of any geopolitical power vacuum and try and reclaim territory. China would more boldly move to claim islands in the East China Sea. The financial meltdown in Greece, (and soon to be Spain) has just begun to escalate and the actions of the masses can not be predicted.

President Obama has a confused commitment to the Middle East. However, Iran and radical Islamists are not confused about their commitment to destroy Israel and the United States. What Europe does not seem to grasp is that any World War Three scenario would not take place on U.S. soil but most likely on their southern and eastern borders and most likely spilling over to countries like Spain, France and Greece. Their way of life and economies will be forever destroyed and they would have no one else to blame but themselves. Europe has to stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States against radical Islamic actions and they must commit greater military forces to help us.

The United States needs to fight stronger, smarter engagements and we need the support of our allies. If we do not get the full commitment from supposed friends then we should decrease aid and economic trade, close military bases and give them what they believe they wish for. After all, when you have a big brother protecting you at all costs the younger skinny brother can be emboldened and over time may take for granted the good gesture of the strong protector as a “right” and not a privilege and more importantly a two way street.

The United States needs to stay head and shoulders stronger than the rest of the world in military power. That does not mean that we equally deploy our men and women. It would be interesting to see what would happen if all of our military personnel left Europe and were redeployed on the U.S. – Mexican border or in Israel.

As my hero Ronald Reagan said, “Of the four wars in my lifetime none came about because the U.S. was too strong.”