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A Reagan Doctrine for the Twenty-First Century - Let's take off our gloves
Washington Free Beacon ^ | October 9, 2015 | Matthew Continetti

Posted on 01/30/2016 10:15:41 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

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The AEI scholars recommend a return to the level of defense spending proposed by Robert Gates, and the gradual build to "an affordable floor of 4 percent of gross domestic product that would sustain the kind of military America needs." These numbers might not be as shocking as Reagan's. But at least they would reverse the hollowing out of the force. And they would grab the attention of the Kremlin.

"...."You claim it is tough talk to discuss carpet bombing," [Ted] Cruz said. "It is not tough talk. It is a different fundamental military strategy than what we've seen from Barack Obama."

Cruz continued to hammer Obama over his military strategy.

"Barack Obama right now, No. 1, over seven years, has dramatically degraded our military," he said.

He then invoked the Persian Gulf War, using it as justification of his strategy of increased air attacks:

Just two weeks ago was the 25th anniversary of the first Persian Gulf War. When that war began, we had 8,000 planes. Today we have about 4,000. When that war began, we had 529 ships, today we have 272. You want to know what carpet-bombing is? It's what we did in the first Persian Gulf War: 1,100 air attacks a day, saturation bombing that utterly destroyed the enemy. Right now Barack Obama is launching about 15 and 30 air attacks a day. He's not arming the Kurds. We need to define the enemy, we need to rebuild the military, to defeat the enemy, and we need to be focused and lift the rules of engagement so we're not sending our fighting men and women into combat with their arms tied behind their backs. Jan 28, 2016

1 posted on 01/30/2016 10:15:42 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Russia is doing the Lord’s work in the Middle East while we sit and criticize. Let’s postpone hating the USSR back into existence for a while, ‘mkay?


2 posted on 01/30/2016 10:22:35 PM PST by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Russia is doing the Lord’s work in the Middle East while we sit and criticize. Let’s postpone hating the USSR back into existence for a while, ‘mkay?


3 posted on 01/30/2016 10:22:35 PM PST by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
'Others, like the mujahedin, were the enemies of our enemy - and thus, in specific circumstances, worthy of our help. '

Crazy talk. The Soviets can have Afghanistan.

Even after helping the muzzies, they turned and brought their sabres to our shores.

China helped to kill or harm more Americans post WWII than any other country. Yet the think tankers turn a blind eye to that and want us to focus on Russia.

4 posted on 01/30/2016 10:27:39 PM PST by Theoria (I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive)
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To: All
Pentagon Conducts Warship Passage Near Disputed Island

A U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a second transit near a disputed South China Sea island claimed by China and two other nations, the Pentagon announced Saturday.

China's Defense Ministry denounced the warship transit and said its forces had forced the destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur out of the area.

Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban said the freedom of navigation operation by the Wilbur took place Saturday near Triton Island in the Paracel Islands chain in the northern part of the sea "to challenge excessive maritime claims."...

"This operation was about challenging excessive maritime claims that restrict the rights and freedoms of the United States and others, not about territorial claims to land features," he added. While the U.S. government takes no position on the competing sovereignty claims, "the United States does take a strong position on protecting the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all countries, and that all maritime claims must comply with international law," the spokesman said.

None of the three nations' governments were notified of the transit, the second time a U.S. warship has conducted a freedom of navigation operation after a hiatus in such operations of over three years.........

....China is claiming some 90 percent of the South China Sea as its maritime domain, and the Pentagon has said it rejects the claim. China has set up a vaguely defined "Nine Dash Line" covering most of the sea.

Navy officials have said the Chinese claims have threatened the transit of some $5 trillion in annual trade through the region, including an estimated in $1.2 trillion in trade bound for the United States.

President Barack Obama called on China in November to halt construction on some of the 3,000 acres of newly - created islands in the disputed waters that are now being militarized with airfields, deep water ports, and other military features.

Days later, China's government responded to the president's call by announcing that the construction of military facilities would continue.

China is building airstrips on three islands in the Spratlys that the Pentagon has said could be used to station warplanes capable of controlling the entire airspace over the sea.......

Urban, the Pentagon spokesman, said the latest operation demonstrated that "the United States will fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows."

"That is true in the South China Sea, as in other places around the globe," he said.

However, a senior military official said the failure to conduct the navigation operations between 2012 and last October was the result of bureaucratic opposition within the Obama administration that sought to avoid upsetting China.

The official said the former commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Locklear, had proposed conducting the close transit warship transits in the South China Sea but was overruled for years by officials in other agencies of government who blocked the requests by failing to respond to the admiral's requests.

After a while, [Locklear] stopped making the requests.

Last year, McCain disclosed during a committee hearing that the administration had restricted Pacific Command from conducting the operations for both aircraft and warships.

"The administration has continued to restrict our Navy ships from operating within 12 nautical miles of China's reclaimed islands," McCain said Sept. 17.

The hearing prompted the new Pacific Command chief, Adm. Harry Harris, to renew the transit requests and the first operation was carried out Oct. 26 near the Spratlys Islands, in the southern part of the sea........

5 posted on 01/30/2016 10:27:45 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: sparklite2; Theoria; All

The entire content of the article is worth reading.


6 posted on 01/30/2016 10:29:11 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I read it. We are broke. Where are we gonna get the money? We haven’t paid off the Reagan debt, we still have Bush and Obama after that.


7 posted on 01/30/2016 10:30:47 PM PST by Theoria (I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

You want to start WW-III now.


8 posted on 01/30/2016 10:31:36 PM PST by McGruff (Boycott Fox News Channel. I am.)
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To: Theoria

That is addressed in the piece.


9 posted on 01/30/2016 10:31:40 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
'What the right needs to understand is that deficit reduction and balanced budgets are worthy goals in a time of peace. And peacetime this is not. '

Lol...Forever war? 20 Trillion isn't enough? I still see no facts on where we are gonna get the money and the author says it doesn't matter.

10 posted on 01/30/2016 10:36:02 PM PST by Theoria (I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I cannot imagine a worse time to toss that “STUFF” on the forum.

This is just so much noise right now.

We have a caucus tomorrow, and this subject can be addressed anytime in the next ten months.


11 posted on 01/30/2016 10:42:05 PM PST by DoughtyOne (the Free Republic Caucus: what FReepers are thinking, 100s or 1000s of them. It's up to you.)
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To: Theoria
Both left and right are likely to oppose more spending on the grounds of debt and deficits. For the left to make this critique is disingenuous - their leading economists say deficits do not matter in the current economic environment and call for an expansionary fiscal policy. What the right needs to understand is that deficit reduction and balanced budgets are worthy goals in a time of peace. And peacetime this is not.
12 posted on 01/30/2016 10:44:21 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: DoughtyOne
I cannot imagine a worse time to toss that "STUFF" on the forum.

?

It's the perfect time. This is vital "stuff."

A Commander in Chief is what Iowans will be voting for.

13 posted on 01/30/2016 10:46:37 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

No, what they need i someone who won’t send out fraudulent voter packets.

LOL


14 posted on 01/30/2016 10:48:38 PM PST by DoughtyOne (the Free Republic Caucus: what FReepers are thinking, 100s or 1000s of them. It's up to you.)
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To: DoughtyOne
Fraud? Hardly, that's political tactics before an election - they all are being tactical.

*************************************************

This is fraud, hubris and disrespect, and fair warning about a future from knowing the past:

A draft dodger.

The same Trump who fought to keep veterans from LEGALLY selling outside his Trump Tower.

Showing his NYC values, Trump called vets a detriment to NYC (and when he lost he put up huuuge planter barricades).

He failed though, just like he did when he tried to take a widow's home for a limo parking lot for a NJ casino - then praised the eminent domain Kelo decision as "wonderful").

A phony who had nothing to say about Fort Hood in 2009, but in 2012 (with political aspirations) decided to start pandering and tweeted about it.

This is what you get with a "President" Trump:

A commander in chief that belittles U.S. prisoners of war.

A commander in chief that likes and defends Putin - a KGP goon that shoots down domestic airliners.

A commander in chief that is in awe of Kim Jung-Un and how, at such a young age, he took charge - in such a commanding way - the brutal family dictatorship of North Korea (that closed society of starving people).

15 posted on 01/30/2016 11:12:45 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Smear away. Your job ends in less a little over 48 hours.


16 posted on 01/30/2016 11:14:22 PM PST by DoughtyOne (the Free Republic Caucus: what FReepers are thinking, 100s or 1000s of them. It's up to you.)
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To: McGruff
You want to start WW-III now.

That's a leap.

You want to let Russia and China roll over us?

We stand up and make them stand down.

They're making their moves. Obama has given them the field.

17 posted on 01/30/2016 11:21:21 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: DoughtyOne

You tell me what is a smear?


18 posted on 01/30/2016 11:21:40 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

About 90% of your posts.

Any questions?


19 posted on 01/30/2016 11:25:02 PM PST by DoughtyOne (the Free Republic Caucus: what FReepers are thinking, 100s or 1000s of them. It's up to you.)
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To: DoughtyOne

That’s an expected tactical comment by you.

I source what I post.

It’s hardly my fault that the shoe fits.


20 posted on 01/30/2016 11:32:45 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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