Cold War, Part Deux
Politicians and Washington D.C. told us officially the 45 year long Cold War was over. The United States has a stand-off with the Soviet Union described as a conflict with Communism and a nuclear arms race. During this era, the U.S. government tooled and re-tooled foreign policy, economic competition, technology and the intelligence community. Proxy wars appeared and military tensions spurred yet more re-tooling.
So, here we are in 2011, successfully having finessed an occupational forces conflict with what once was the Soviet Union, and whew, we should feel great about that, but, not so fast.
Not only has communism resumed as a threat to the way of life in America and with her few allies, we must be smart and prudent to admit, there are other wars America is fighting in occupational operations, which by some counts range from three to twelve. Let us remember the Cold War was not an occupational conflict but more a stand-off of two world powers over a totalitarian state versus a Representative Republic and an arms race.
We will leave the debate over Marxism, Socialism, Islam and Communism versus a Representative Republic (U.S. Constitution) for another time. Instead the objective here is to target the arms race, the quiet Cold War Part Deux currently in place and those countries in the silent or not-so-silent war. However, we cannot altogether exclude those types of totalitarian regimes with their quest for, and existing possessions of nuclear weapons, biological and chemical weapons, but eh new type of warfare……Cyberwar.
This list of countries against our way of life in America and her allies is not comprehensive, but does include: China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Venezuela, Syria and Algeria. We must also consider the Soviet Union enduring model which legacy is now part of Russia is back into the equation.
The Cold War ended we are told in 1991, but due to this argument on if it really did end, let us not forget the war/attacks the U.S. has included in recent history.
• U.S. Embassy Beirut 1985
• Achille Lauro 1985
• Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie Scotland 1988
• World Trade Center 1993
• Oklahoma City bombing 1995
• Khobar Towers 1998
• U.S.S. Cole 2000
• World Trade Center, Pentagon and Shanksville, PA. 2001
• Riyadh 2001-2003
• Cyber Attacks
o Google, NASA, World Bank, State Department, U.S domestic and foreign embassies, Commerce Department, Naval War College, Lockheed Martin
This list is by no means complete, but it does demonstrate a war against the United States. America is in war with herself over budgetary issues and deficit spending measured against weak revenues. We are still in an arms race, a technology race and a preservation race to keep America a strong and viable power. However, lawmakers and the White House are calling for additional spending cuts for the military beyond that which Secretary Gates eliminated to the tune of $400 billion. Is it logical then at the edge of a Cold War Part Deux, we allow the new Department of Defense Secretary Panetta and the Super Congress to yet gut the military spending by an additional $700 billion?
Are we prepared for this new era Cold War that may include Iran, Venezuela or Syria? America remains in a defense posture, which is not a viable strategy position in this second round of a Cold War.
Pray for Peace, Prepare for War
Tag Archives: White House
The Obama Administration, Back to the Future
It is now proven that Obama’s lack of political experience is playing out on a national and international stage. The matters so prevalent for America over the last twenty years remained unresolved; yet are better defined by being locked in minutia.
A handful of unresolved gorillas in our room include:
• Debt
• North Korea
• Border Security
• Healthcare
• Middle East
• Foreign Policy
It is customary for world leaders to establish a personal dialogue with each other given their respective standings on policy and objectives. Invitations are frequently extended for phone calls, dinners and most of all personal visits outside the scope of office formality on more neutral territory.
Protocol Office staffers perform in-depth research to reveal professional and personal traits that allow each leader to understand each diplomat’s characteristics once the outer layers are pulled back. When these protocol staffers fail their duty by lack of direction, mistakes and gaffs are soon uncountable.
It is submitted, this is true with the Obama White House. The fact remains the bi-partisanship will forever remain steadfast in Washington D.C., therefore, the Obama White House will not call on the Old Guard of the Bush Administration to step in as counsel, rather the Older Guard is called up for duty, known from the Clinton Administration. These personnel decisions are not all wrong as stated earlier the same gorillas stay with America year after year. In reality, the machine keeps the same bodes armed with the knowledge of these gorillas, yet the gorillas manifest and we never seem to capture and cage the herd.
It is been noticed and often asked why; the Obama White House continues to reconstitute the Old Guard. Could it be Obama and Hillary Clinton are opening the pathway for Hillary’s run again for the Oval Office, or is Obama hiring the Old Guard under the notion of keep your friends close but your enemies closer?
The Clinton Old Guard and Obama’s new friends include: William Daley (Gennifer Flowers), Rham Emanuel (Monica Lewinsky), Elena Kagan (Clinton’s Associate White House Counsel), Gene Sperling (Clinton’s National Economic Council), and Daniel Tarullo (Clinton’s International Economic Adviser).
Consider, the answer to either question is not essential, but rather the gorillas will multiply, all while other countries and world leaders are diligently capturing and caging their own gorillas as America festers with a capture and release strategy defined and experienced by the Obama White House.
Obama has no inclination to spend a ‘come to know’ weekend with Merkel of Germany, Hu Jintao of China or Dmitry Medvedev of Russia; it is also clear, no invitation has been extended to Obama by others. General Pace has not been invited to Camp David for a weekend of football but General Petraeus did get a ride on Air Force One. An Obama invitation for a weekend of leisure clubbing in Chicago and sailing on Lake Michigan with Nicolas Sarkozy or Silvio Berlusconi is not likely. General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan has made several trips to the United States but he has yet to join the Obama’s at Disneyworld.
‘Community Organizing’ does not include Foreign Policy. Community Organizing does not include debt or Healthcare. For Obama it does include Paul Mc Cartney, Marty Nesbitt, Valerie Jarrett, Eric Whitaker and Al Sharpton. Only insiders and handlers of Obama receive invitations to Martha’s Vineyard or to share the Christmas holidays in Hawaii.
In the meantime, the gorillas manifest. The relationship with China is feeble, the threat of North Korea looms large, Yemen is an uncontrollable breeding ground for terrorists with no capable government, and Lebanon is the same. The gateway at our southern border has an ‘Advance to Go and Collect $200 sign on Bureau of Land Management Parks. OPEC and China are dictating our economic landscape; all the while……..The gorillas are in a feeding frenzy.