As we listen each day to promises of new domestic giveaways by the Democrats — universal health care, mortgage bailouts — we would do well to remember that our Founding Fathers declared that the primary role of government is to protect its citizens. In Federalist Paper No. 23, Alexander Hamilton argued that one of the chief reasons for the unification of the colonies into a federal system of government was to “…[provide for] the common defense of the members; [and] the preservation of the public peace as well against internal convulsions as external attacks…”.
When the government provides peace and security for the people, a framework of freedom is created enabling citizens to provide for their own needs without governmental interference.
Check the headlines this week – we still live in a dangerous world.
Now more than ever America needs a commander in-chief who is prepared to defend America from her enemies. While we have successfully liberated the Iraqi people from a cruel tyrant who threatened the United States and other nations, we are still at risk from radical Islam. Iran’s nutty Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatens to destroy Israel and continues to pursue nuclear weapons.
Vladimir Putin of Russia – still in charge after the election of his hand-chosen puppet – has warned that he would target a U.S. missile-defense base in Poland, even while he continues to meddle in the affairs of former Soviet satellite states. The Balkans are again rife with conflict as Serbian protestors stormed and set fire to the American Embassy in Belgrade. North Korea’s nuclear ambitions threaten to destabilize the Korean Peninsula and the rest of East Asia. And now Hugo Chavez is threatening to invade Columbia, raising the potential for war on the American continent.
Just as Hamilton and our Founders understood the fundamental role of government in protecting its citizens, so too did President Ronald Reagan. He maintained that while America doesn’t go looking for conflict, “when action is required to preserve our national security — we will act.”
Twenty-five years ago this month President Reagan delivered one of his most famous speeches, when he declared the nation’s only other superpower, the Soviet Union, to be an “evil empire.” In proclaiming the superiority of human freedom to the totalitarian collectivism practiced by the Soviets, Reagan in that speech laid the foundation for victory in the Cold War and peace for a generation.
Reagan’s deeds matched his words. In 1983, he ordered a military invasion of Grenada – an island in conflict as Marxist radicals assassinated their Prime Minister – to ensure the safety of more than 400 American medical students on the island. To this day, America and Reagan are celebrated in a free Grenada. In 1986 following disputes over access to the Gulf of Sidra and evidence linking Libya’s terrorist leader Muammar al-Gaddafi to a discotheque bombing in Berlin, Ronald Reagan ordered bombing raids on Tripoli and Benghazi. Gaddafi has been a compliant paper tiger ever since.
While national security was once a bipartisan concern — remember the resolve of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman? – today’s Democratic leaders seem to believe they can talk their way out of trouble from bellicose nations and terrorist ideologues who want to destroy America and kill Americans.
In a recent debate Sen. Barack Obama said he would meet with leaders of nations who wish America harm, including Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Even Sen. Hillary Clinton wouldn’t go that far.
Obama is equally naïve about Iraq — just last year he introduced legislation to remove all of our combat troops from Iraq by March of 2008 – that’s right now! If American troops leave Iraq precipitously, the country will deteriorate into a terrorist stronghold, much worse than what we found in Afghanistan.
While Hillary may be more seasoned, her policy positions are not much better. A main tenet of Hillary’s Iraq policy involves working with the United Nations to achieve regional stability. But the U.N. is the very body that could not enforce its countless resolutions pertaining to Iraq’s non-compliance with weapons inspectors for a decade prior to 2004 – that’s a key reason America went into Iraq in the first place.
In 2008 we must throw our support behind a candidate who understands the complexities of foreign policy and is willing to do what it takes to ensure that America and its citizens are secure. Sen. John McCain’s experience and commitment to our national defense stand in stark contrast to the weakness and appeasement favored by the Democrats. Sen. McCain and the Republican Party continue to stand – alongside our Founding Fathers and presidents like Ronald Reagan – in full support of the principle that the first priority of government is the security and safety of our people.
Len Munsil is the Chairman of PRO-PAC (www.pro-pac.org) and was the 2006 Republican nominee for Governor of Arizona. He blogs at www.lenmunsil.com.