Framework for the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons<\/a>\u201d agreement to remove and destroy all Syria\u2019s chemical weapons.\u00a0 When, in direct contravention of his freshly signed Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), al-Assad thereupon launched a series of chlorine attacks.\u00a0 Oh yes, in response to which that American President did \u2013 absolutely nothing.<\/p>\nAs President Obama put it: \u201cWe can convince friend and foe alike that we are in earnest about the defense of freedom only if we are in earnest.\u201d\u00a0 Actually, no, that was President Kennedy.<\/p>\n
Make no mistake.\u00a0 President Trump\u2019s missile strike on the Syrian airbase is about far more than a horrible violation of the CWC.\u00a0 It\u2019s about the beginning of a rebuild of the United States as the bulwark for freedom.\u00a0 It\u2019s about the re-emergence of the world\u2019s greatest hope for peace, liberty and self-determination as a force that will stand in the front, alone if necessary, in the battle to preserve the rights of man.<\/p>\n
Feckless American Leadership is a Danger to the World<\/h2>\n
President Obama either never understood, or understood and chose a different path. \u00a0The world we actually live in (not the one we dream about) is far more dangerous when America doesn’t lead. \u00a0But a strong United States has the power and capacity to shape that world and its future direction, and the arc of freedom for a time yet to come. \u00a0Feckless American leadership weakens the United States. \u00a0It weakens our friends and allies. \u00a0And it emboldens our enemies.<\/p>\n
When America\u2019s adversaries probe for American weakness and find it, they exploit it.\u00a0 The enemies of freedom and self-determination are implacable.\u00a0 The United States, too, must be implacable. \u00a0We find ourselves in a war that promises a distant end. \u00a0But it will surely end badly if the United States prostrates itself. \u00a0It will end badly if the United States fails to project force and strength for all the world to see. \u00a0Time and again we see that the stronger the United States is, the less likely its military force will actually be used.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time to remove our collective blinders.\u00a0 One day human beings may peacefully coexist in a multi-cultural world with different value systems.\u00a0 Perhaps.\u00a0 But that time, if it ever arrives, is not now.\u00a0 The United States must express a willingness and a fierce determination when necessary to combat the enemies of peace and freedom, wherever they might reside.<\/p>\n
It is more difficult for a democratic nation to sustain its effort over the course of a very long conflict on this dangerous planet we call home.\u00a0 The clarity brought by the horrors of physical world wars is likely not the future that we meet. \u00a0Rather, our time will be marked by historically unique existential threats through cyber wars and other means.\u00a0 America must not weary just as the challenges become far more difficult and complex.<\/p>\n
Time to Lead Again<\/h2>\n
This is why leaders must lead.\u00a0 The American people have always been willing to make the necessary sacrifices in the names of peace and freedom, provided their leaders can explain with clarity the dangers to be met and the sacrifices to be made. \u00a0We can ill afford feckless American leadership. \u00a0We don\u2019t know whether President Trump will exhibit these qualities.\u00a0 Only time will tell. \u00a0The world needs American leadership. \u00a0But we can\u2019t afford to repeat the mistakes of past Presidents who could not see, or understand, the gray colors of the real world.<\/p>\n
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