by Yoram Ettinger
Mitt Romney's Ten
Commandments on national security are based on recent pronouncements by
the Republican presidential contender, including his Oct. 8 speech at
the Virginia Military Institute.
1. Thou shall adhere to
the classic U.S. worldview, highlighting American moral and strategic
exceptionalism — a U.S. global competitive edge. American moral
exceptionalism is a derivative of America’s Judeo-Christian values,
formulated by the early Pilgrims and the U.S. founding fathers. Romney
believes in America’s moral, economic, scientific, technological,
educational, medical and military exceptionalism. He is aware that
America’s best interests and the minimization of global disorder —
militarily and economically — require U.S. proactive leadership.
2. Thou shall embrace
U.S. global leadership, underscoring U.S. freedom of unilateral action,
rather than subordinating U.S. policy to multilateral considerations.
The U.S. — not the U.N. or any international order — is the dominant
quarterback of international relations. U.S. global leadership is
critical for its economic, homeland security and military concerns. It
bolsters posture of deterrence, providing a tailwind for allies, thus
constraining clear and present threats posed by rogue/terrorist Islamic
regimes. On the other hand, U.S. withdrawal is interpreted as weakness,
emboldening adversaries, weakening allies, fueling clear and present
dangers and facilitating the recurrence of the Sept. 11 attacks.
3. Thou shall abide by
realism and experience and not by wishful-thinking and delusion. Thus,
the Arab street intensifies anti-U.S. terrorism and not democracy.
Confronting, rather than engaging, rogue regimes upgrades deterrence and
reduces the threat of war. Pre-empting, rather than retaliating
against, undeterred rogue regimes spares humanity calamitous wars.
Moreover, President Vladimir Putin’s Russia is a rival of the U.S., not
an ally. Steadfastness, not flexibility, would restrain Moscow’s
imperialistic ambition, reassuring the U.S.'s East European allies.
Realism requires confidence, marathon-like resolve, and clarity — not
apology, hasty-wavering and ambiguity.
4. Thou shall follow
moral clarity — a prerequisite for operational clarity. Do not
subordinate moral clarity to political convenience. For example, since
Islamic terrorism is the most distinct threat to Western democracies, it
must be clearly identified and not be blurred by linguistic acrobatics,
such as “workplace violence,” “man-caused disasters,” or “isolated
extremism.” The threat of Islamic terrorism must be lucidly presented
and not be deleted from the training literature of the defense and
counterterrorism establishment. Islamic terrorism has systematically
afflicted the U.S. since the 18th century. Core American values of
liberty and justice are a lethal threat to rogue and tyrannical Islamic
regimes. The U.S. is the chief strategic obstacle to megalomaniac
transnational aspirations.
5. Thou shall advance
strength, and not pliability, to promote peace. Strength deters, and
perceived weakness fuels, terrorism. Enhancing military capabilities —
of the U.S. and its European allies — is essential to facing the rising
threats and deterring aggression.
6. Thou shall enhance
strategic cooperation with capable, reliable, stable, predictable,
democratic and unconditional allies — such as Israel — which contribute
to the U.S. in the areas of defense and commercial high-tech,
intelligence, battle tactics, training and operations. Israel is the
only ally resembling a U.S. aircraft carrier, which does not require a
single American on board, cannot be sunk, already deployed in an area
critical to primary U.S. interests, snatching hot U.S. chestnuts out of
the fire, saving the U.S. taxpayer some $20 billion annually.
7. Thou shall not
indulge in the morally wrong and strategically flawed moral equivalence
between a role model of counterterrorism (e.g., Israel) and a role model
of terrorism (e.g., Mahmoud Abbas’ PLO); between a role model of
unconditional alliance with the U.S. (e.g., Israel) and a role model of
systematic alliance with enemies of the U.S. such as Nazi Germany, the
Communist Bloc, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden (e.g., the
Palestinian leadership).
8. Thou shall prevent
Iran’s nuclearization for the sake of American, and not Israeli,
interests. A nuclear Iran would traumatize the supply and price of oil;
devastate pro-U.S. Gulf regimes; coalesce Iran’s takeover of Iraq;
accelerate nuclear proliferation; upgrade the military capabilities of
anti-U.S. Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador; embolden anti-U.S. Islamic
terrorism, including sleeper cells in the U.S.; and would devastate the
U.S. posture of deterrence.
9. Thou shall be
cognizant of the secondary role played by the Palestinian issue in the
Middle East. It is not the root cause of regional turbulence and
anti-U.S. Islamic terrorism; not the crown jewel of Arab policymaking;
and not the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict. As Romney said: The
Palestinians are concerned about the existence, not the size, of Israel.
He is aware of the indispensability of the mountain ridges of Judea and
Samaria for Israel’s existence. He is also aware of the adverse impact
by the proposed Palestinian state upon cardinal U.S. interests. Hence,
the unacceptability of the “two-state delusion.”
10. Thou shall not subordinate the Ten Commandments to political correctness, expediency and global/domestic pressure.
Will Romney be faithful to the Ten Commandments on national security if elected on Nov. 6, 2012?
Yoram Ettinger
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=2677
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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