With the 2008 presidential election comes the possibility of a change in the U.S. as a military power. There are a lot of people out there who wouldn't want to see the U.S. as a country with worldwide military capability at all, but in the evolving state of the world it is something that must be maintained if we are to retain our nation's influence economically as well as overseas.
The Department of Defense and its constituents are crucial to carry over into the next decade, even if it means we have to make some sacrifices in the present. To put all of this in perspective, I'd like to point to some troubling facts. Russia at one point invaded the Georgian capital.
China has more English speakers than the United States and has continued to expand its influence monetarily inside the nation of Sudan. India and Pakistan both have nuclear weaponry, in addition to the simmering tension between two. Of all the times our military should be centralized and developing, we're instead spread thin in conflicts across the Middle East, using the term of the region because along with the wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, we've recently deployed for missions into Syria and Pakistan as well.
The latter mentioned countries are, of course, very concerned, and the current administration and their policies are doing nothing to reassure them.
In fact, our military policy as of late has done little to reassure anyone. I'm not saying that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan need to stop; I'm saying this is where our involvement in the Middle East has begun and needs to end if we're to keep any sort of influence across the CENTCOM region.
Getting involved was a mistake, but if we manage to establish some semblance of order in these countries and get out, we can begin prioritizing on threats that are going to become much more real in the next 10 years.
While we're fighting a losing battle with the insurgents and ourselves in Iraq, China and India grow stronger every day in terms of sheer numbers. When this translates into continental military might, the size and capabilities of our current military starts to look awfully small. Sen. Obama's campaign focused more on directing our attention to the Afghanistan and (according to him, and if the Democrats manage a majority in Congress) withdrawing from Iraq.
McCain wanted to continue a war on both fronts. I'm writing this primarily to express my frustration with the situation the Bush Administration has put our military in, which can be best equated to a Chinese finger-trap.
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What a rambling, incoherent column. "While we're fighting a losing battle with the insurgents and ourselves in Iraq..." Upon what do you base this asinine comment? As a veteran of three tours in Iraq, the most recent bringing me home only a few months ago, I believe this comment to be ... inaccurate. This is about as politely as can put it. If you want to trust the nation to a neophyte that is your right. Kindly don't try to justify your choice by discussing topics about which you have no knowledge.
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Your article is too full of inaccuracies for me to address them all. In fact I'm not even sure what your position is. The only thing I can tell for sure about your position is that it's wrong.
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