Democrats vs. the military: wokeness won’t win wars and keep America safe
The most striking thing about the debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney concerning foreign policy, which took place on Thursday night on MSNBC, was not the fact that Romney didn’t mince words about the US military’s conduct in the Middle East.
In fact, it wasn’t the fact that Romney took the military to task for its conduct in several of the most recent conflicts. And that is what set Obama apart from Romney.
But the fact that Obama didn’t call Romney on his comments about US-supplied arms to Israel — that Romney said were “not going to be on the table” — was the key point that set him apart from Romney.
The two men didn’t clash over who was the best candidate to be president. Neither man claimed to be the candidate who can best deal with the US military’s conduct in the Middle East. That was a debate Democrats shouldn’t miss.
I say this without being biased. As a member of the Army, I’ve seen what the US military does over in Iraq now. I know how the US military conducts themselves in Afghanistan. The notion that we can just stand aside and not intervene because we’re worried about the military’s ability to do the job is a fantasy.
In fact, if Congress does nothing, Obama is taking the military in to Iraq as soon as next month. He was also planning on sending US ground troops to Afghanistan in 2009.
So, while Obama and Romney did not talk extensively on the military aspect of this election, both men called on the US military to do what other countries — both friendly and unfriendly — are not willing to do:
“The notion that we can just stand aside and not intervene because we’re worried about the military’s ability to do the job is a fantasy.”
By not confronting Romney