Curtis Harris
America's three-front war
By Curtis Harris
Prior to September 11, 2001, foreign policy experts and military planners, along with the pundit class, framed the debate about America's military capabilities in terms of our ability to fight a two-front war. For example, could we defend South Korea and Israel simultaneously? Or, could we defend Taiwan against China while protecting our allies in the Middle East from the likes of Saddam Hussein? Fortunately, we have not had to prove our ability to fight a two-front war.
Since September 11, 2001, the two-front war debate is obsolete. Our victories in Afghanistan and Iraq demonstrated we have the leadership, people, and technology necessary to take the initiative away from any enemy before a two-front war could develop. Provided we do not let the current crop of Democrats regain control of our government, no country is going to challenge the United States of America militarily. Even so, the threats to America's security and prosperity are very real.
The United States of America stands head-and-shoulders (and torso, in most cases) above the rest of the world. Our military power is unchallenged. Our economy, even when it is not meeting our expectations, as is the present case, knows no peer. In fact, the world economy depends on a healthy American economy as the foundation of progress. American society, although pre-occupied with sub-group rights and grievances and weakened by the erosion of personal responsibility, still produces the best quality-of-life anywhere in the world, France included. With the exception of a few solid allies (Great Britain and Australia being two of them), most other countries are responding to this situation by pursuing policies and alliances intended to weaken America. They would rather drag us down than do the work to lift themselves up.
As a result of America being targeted by these other countries and their allies among us, we face a three-front war. One front is military. Another is economic. And the third is social. Our enemies in this war take many forms. Our military faces terrorist groups like al-Qaida and countries like North Korea and Iran. Economically, we face enemies like China that steal our technology and use what is practically slave labor to be able to compete in world markets. On the economic front, we also compete with the Old Europe countries of the European Union (EU), because the primary purpose of the EU is to protect European markets, companies, and governments from fair global competition. EU regulations drive up the cost of imports so that European products burdened with high taxes and inflexible labor markets remain somewhat competitive. With regard to the social front, we face internal enemies that, by design or due to ignorance, constantly undermine the principles that make this country great.
Winning this three-front war will not be easy. Fortunately, we have a President that understands this three-front war. First, President George W. Bush leads the War on Terror by taking action. He is not willing to put up with interminable lip-flapping from the US Congress and the United Nations. Second, President Bush is taking steps to energize the US economy by cutting taxes while applying appropriate consequences to those nations that seek to undermine us. It is no accident that the US dollar has been allowed to weaken against the Euro. This makes our exports less expensive while making Old Europe's more expensive. He is taking the EU (primarily the French) to task over their agricultural policies that are starving people in Africa. Third, on the social front, President Bush is a champion of basic spiritual values that are common to many religions. He wants our society to be truly caring and compassionate while healing the divisions created by years of misguided social policy.
America is winning the War on Terror. We can win the economic war by staying committed to free markets and fair competition, by improving our public schools, colleges and universities, and by limiting government interference in our economy. Innovation in America will keep our economy growing even as declining industries move off-shore. There is a reason that virtually all genuinely new products and industries are developed in America. The pressure of competition and the freedom to pursue dreams combine to produce excellent results from research and development investments. In contrast, Old Europe—buried in regulations, stifled by taxation, and protected by barriers to competition—cannot keep up. At some point in time, the rest of the world will realize that human freedom is necessary in order to achieve real economic progress.
The most difficult front in our war is the social front—addressing and correcting the decline in American society. We have lost our focus on the principles that make this country great. American society is like a stone that has been exposed to many years of rough weather. Our surface is covered with cracks. Many members of our society push their anti-American ideology by working in those cracks with hammers and chisels, making the cracks wider and deeper and splitting Americans into groups that pursue group interests, at the expense of the whole. There are many examples.
America's failing public schools produce children ill-prepared for real life. Trial lawyers, as they invent victims and ruin industries, chip away at the health of our economy and the personal responsibility of people that become their clients. The entertainment industry, including the dominant news media, feed us a steady diet of bias against traditional American values, morality, our free-market economic system, and the idea of limited government. The mainstream news media, with its bias towards activist government, supports the erosion of personal responsibility. Career politicians in the US Congress play political games while ignoring serious problems that threaten our future. They also widen the rifts in our society by fear-mongering and playing one group of Americans against another. Currently, over forty United States Senators are openly and directly violating our Constitution by blocking judicial nominees in the confirmation process. They fear that these judges will follow the Constitution, rather than make up new rights and laws based on public opinion and politics. Finally, extremists on the left and right focus on America's differences to promote their ideological agendas. If all of these people fracturing our society are not stopped, the rock of our society will crumble into a pile of rubble.
As a society, we must renew our commitment to American principles. This nation's founding documents acknowledge the rights and responsibilities people receive from their Creator. Also, they made freedom of religion a basic right of all Americans. As a society, we have forgotten that separation of church and state does not mean separation of morality and state. Individual freedom does not mean freedom from responsibility for one's actions. Being of one race, religion, ethnicity, creed, gender, or sexual orientation does not mean one is no longer an American—exempt from the founding principles of this one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. The people working in the cracks of our national rock are steadily removing God, liberty, and justice from our national character. If we allow this process to proceed to completion, America will be no more.
Understanding our three-front war and fighting it successfully on all fronts is necessary to ensure America's future, and the world's.
© Curtis Harris
Prior to September 11, 2001, foreign policy experts and military planners, along with the pundit class, framed the debate about America's military capabilities in terms of our ability to fight a two-front war. For example, could we defend South Korea and Israel simultaneously? Or, could we defend Taiwan against China while protecting our allies in the Middle East from the likes of Saddam Hussein? Fortunately, we have not had to prove our ability to fight a two-front war.
Since September 11, 2001, the two-front war debate is obsolete. Our victories in Afghanistan and Iraq demonstrated we have the leadership, people, and technology necessary to take the initiative away from any enemy before a two-front war could develop. Provided we do not let the current crop of Democrats regain control of our government, no country is going to challenge the United States of America militarily. Even so, the threats to America's security and prosperity are very real.
The United States of America stands head-and-shoulders (and torso, in most cases) above the rest of the world. Our military power is unchallenged. Our economy, even when it is not meeting our expectations, as is the present case, knows no peer. In fact, the world economy depends on a healthy American economy as the foundation of progress. American society, although pre-occupied with sub-group rights and grievances and weakened by the erosion of personal responsibility, still produces the best quality-of-life anywhere in the world, France included. With the exception of a few solid allies (Great Britain and Australia being two of them), most other countries are responding to this situation by pursuing policies and alliances intended to weaken America. They would rather drag us down than do the work to lift themselves up.
As a result of America being targeted by these other countries and their allies among us, we face a three-front war. One front is military. Another is economic. And the third is social. Our enemies in this war take many forms. Our military faces terrorist groups like al-Qaida and countries like North Korea and Iran. Economically, we face enemies like China that steal our technology and use what is practically slave labor to be able to compete in world markets. On the economic front, we also compete with the Old Europe countries of the European Union (EU), because the primary purpose of the EU is to protect European markets, companies, and governments from fair global competition. EU regulations drive up the cost of imports so that European products burdened with high taxes and inflexible labor markets remain somewhat competitive. With regard to the social front, we face internal enemies that, by design or due to ignorance, constantly undermine the principles that make this country great.
Winning this three-front war will not be easy. Fortunately, we have a President that understands this three-front war. First, President George W. Bush leads the War on Terror by taking action. He is not willing to put up with interminable lip-flapping from the US Congress and the United Nations. Second, President Bush is taking steps to energize the US economy by cutting taxes while applying appropriate consequences to those nations that seek to undermine us. It is no accident that the US dollar has been allowed to weaken against the Euro. This makes our exports less expensive while making Old Europe's more expensive. He is taking the EU (primarily the French) to task over their agricultural policies that are starving people in Africa. Third, on the social front, President Bush is a champion of basic spiritual values that are common to many religions. He wants our society to be truly caring and compassionate while healing the divisions created by years of misguided social policy.
America is winning the War on Terror. We can win the economic war by staying committed to free markets and fair competition, by improving our public schools, colleges and universities, and by limiting government interference in our economy. Innovation in America will keep our economy growing even as declining industries move off-shore. There is a reason that virtually all genuinely new products and industries are developed in America. The pressure of competition and the freedom to pursue dreams combine to produce excellent results from research and development investments. In contrast, Old Europe—buried in regulations, stifled by taxation, and protected by barriers to competition—cannot keep up. At some point in time, the rest of the world will realize that human freedom is necessary in order to achieve real economic progress.
The most difficult front in our war is the social front—addressing and correcting the decline in American society. We have lost our focus on the principles that make this country great. American society is like a stone that has been exposed to many years of rough weather. Our surface is covered with cracks. Many members of our society push their anti-American ideology by working in those cracks with hammers and chisels, making the cracks wider and deeper and splitting Americans into groups that pursue group interests, at the expense of the whole. There are many examples.
America's failing public schools produce children ill-prepared for real life. Trial lawyers, as they invent victims and ruin industries, chip away at the health of our economy and the personal responsibility of people that become their clients. The entertainment industry, including the dominant news media, feed us a steady diet of bias against traditional American values, morality, our free-market economic system, and the idea of limited government. The mainstream news media, with its bias towards activist government, supports the erosion of personal responsibility. Career politicians in the US Congress play political games while ignoring serious problems that threaten our future. They also widen the rifts in our society by fear-mongering and playing one group of Americans against another. Currently, over forty United States Senators are openly and directly violating our Constitution by blocking judicial nominees in the confirmation process. They fear that these judges will follow the Constitution, rather than make up new rights and laws based on public opinion and politics. Finally, extremists on the left and right focus on America's differences to promote their ideological agendas. If all of these people fracturing our society are not stopped, the rock of our society will crumble into a pile of rubble.
As a society, we must renew our commitment to American principles. This nation's founding documents acknowledge the rights and responsibilities people receive from their Creator. Also, they made freedom of religion a basic right of all Americans. As a society, we have forgotten that separation of church and state does not mean separation of morality and state. Individual freedom does not mean freedom from responsibility for one's actions. Being of one race, religion, ethnicity, creed, gender, or sexual orientation does not mean one is no longer an American—exempt from the founding principles of this one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. The people working in the cracks of our national rock are steadily removing God, liberty, and justice from our national character. If we allow this process to proceed to completion, America will be no more.
Understanding our three-front war and fighting it successfully on all fronts is necessary to ensure America's future, and the world's.
© Curtis Harris
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