13 March 2009

Where's your messiah now...

Make no mistake, I admire and respect our new Commander-in-Chief. I disagree with many of his social policies and am shocked at his inability to rein in a wanton Congress. But he clearly has a grasp of international necessities. So far, his actions seem to be aligned with the continuing ideology of the United States as the sole super power with a moral obligation to act decisively in support of international freedoms and rights.

Most recently, President Obama dispatched United States Navy warships to the South China Sea to escort the unarmed USNS IMPECCABLE. That ship is being harassed while conducting legitimate surveillance near the main Chinese ballistic missile submarine base. The United States has always been a staunch supported of the law of the sea and spends a great deal of time and energy protecting its use an avenue for commerce and trade.

The latest moves by China are classic cold war brinksmanship. This national bravado, much like the launch of the “peaceful” satellite by North Korea, is par for the course for opponents to US policy. Anyone who fails to see the North Korean effort for what it is, a test launch of an ICBM, is likely living in a vegan commune in Oregon. This is now, ironically, in range of North Korean weapons systems.

President Obama has found that the harsh realities of the post Cold War world are complex, extremely volatile and can not be handled with verbal diplomacy alone. Iranian drones have been shot down by US aircraft over Iraq. Detainees released from Guantanamo have shown up in Afghan battlefields, Russian forces are illegally consolidating their holdings in South Ossetia and Haiti continues to be fertile ground for backyard instability. And this is simply the open source list of possible threats to global and US security.

This picture paints a precarious one for the United States and the world. As the present economic uncertainty continues, the globe is more vulnerable to shocks from natural and manmade calamities. A capable organization or nation which seeks to further destabilize the world would have any number of choice options to act. It is imperative that free world forces are deployed to counter these threats and that the United States takes the lead in action against individuals, groups and nations that seek to undermine law and order.

President Obama has continued the necessary work. I am optimistic that my new boss will maintain a healthy pragmatism when deciding on national security issues. He certainly has abandoned that in the financial realm.


9 comments:

sonicfrog said...

Glad I wrote in Paris Hilton.

PS. I'm typing this on my new cell phone... Got myself an iPhone. It Rocks!!!

Citizen Deux said...

Congrats the new gadget! I need to rethink upgrading my old HTC Hercules (aka the Cingular 8525)

ep417 said...

As soon as my aunts estate settles and my tmobile uk contract ends..BAM! iphone and a macbook....

Citizen Deux said...

So west coast....

ep417 said...

yes, I know, but that is just because I am an out of touch Hollywierd liberal. Who happens to live in the New Jersey of England. Go figure.

Veri word:psyclami. I believe that is an odd, 1960's art form involving optical art and yarn.

LTC John said...

"I am optimistic that my new boss will maintain a healthy pragmatism when deciding on national security issues."

I wish I shared that. Iran, Venezuela and Gaza have disabused me of any notions in that direction - not to mention offering to throw the Poles and Czechs over for Russian "help" with Iran.

The VA follies of "hurt in combat, so what? We want your private insurance $. Oh, that will leave your family uncovered? Tough." have not helped any either. Furious rowback aside.

sonicfrog said...

I've gotten so disillusioned that I'm at the point where I realize... I don't really care anymore.

sonicfrog said...

... or maybe I just don't care anymore because I'm utterly mesmerized by my iPhone!

verword: skeri

Citizen Deux said...

Mmmm - technology.