National Security

Our national security requires eternal vigilance.  

With keen awareness of the generations whose sacrifice has allowed our freedom to thrive, we must remain vigilant to the greatest challenge that faces us in the 21^st century: terrorism spawned by radical Islamic extremism. 

• In confronting this threat, our policy should avoid a September 10th mindset and recognize first and foremost that we are at war. 
• Acts of terrorism should be recognized as acts of war, and not as routine criminal matters. 
• We need to renew our commitment to a strong national defense and intelligence operations. The administration instead has floundered from one policy to another. 
  
  • Following harsh condemnation of the Guantanamo detention facility on the campaign trail, the President signed an executive order shutting down the facility immediately upon taking office, only to have to reverse his position in the face of the policy's failure.
  • After promising to move forward with plans for a "third site" ballistic missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, the administration abandoned its European allies, caved to Russian pressure, and cancelled the defense system.
  • The response to the failed attempt to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day 2009 and the decision, later reversed, to prosecute terrorists in federal court reflect serious errors in judgment in this area. 
  • The same is true of Speaker Pelosi’s attacks on the CIA and the Attorney General’s decision to reopen a criminal probe of CIA counterterrorist agents. These are unwarranted blows to an agency that helped foil several planned terrorist attacks in recent years and hopefully will foil more if it is not crippled in the name of politics.
• Reducing our dependence on foreign oil and seeking alternative energy sources are objectives that will advance our national security interests. 
• I am committed to the successful completion of our mission in Afghanistan and to the goal of preventing the establishment of another terrorist haven in the Middle East.  We need to cooperate with those in Pakistan who share a sincere commitment to curbing threats from extremists in their country, but we also must be wiser in our grants of foreign aid, conditioning it on crackdowns on groups that threaten American lives and meeting other counterterrorism benchmarks.
  
• Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East, shares and reinforces America’s security interests and deserves our full support.
  
• An existential threat to Israel and our other allies in the Middle East and Europe would be posed by a nuclear Iran, which would seriously impede our efforts to bring stability to the region. Sanctions against Iran should be expanded and enforced to further isolate the regime until it complies with its obligations.
• Throughout the world, we should stand by our allies and stand up to our enemies with the confidence that has long marked the greatest defender of liberty the world has ever seen.