NATIONAL SECURITY WISH….The debasement of our national security discourse has reached staggering proportions. Just consider the half-witted nonsense we’re deluged with these days: Can you support the troops if you don’t support the war? (Yes. Don’t be a moron.) Should Hillary apologize for her war vote? (Seriously, who cares?) Will the surge work? (No.) Is Iran “meddling” in Iraq? (Of course they are. What did you expect?) Where is Carmen Muqtada al-Sadr?
I guess it’s always been this way. Still, we could use a break from the trivia, and my greatest wish for this campaign season is for Democrats to back off from the trifles now and again and instead spend some time getting back to basics and outlining a broad perspective on both American and global security that competes with the puerile bluster that currently passes for intelligent discussion among Republicans. I already know that every Democratic candidate thinks we should withdraw from Iraq, but what I don’t know is what they want to do next. What do they think are the biggest threats facing us? Are they willing to repudiate preventive war? (More to the point: Are they going to continue to insist that if all else fails, they’ll wage preventive war against Iran?) Do they agree that democracy promotion ought to be our primary foreign policy goal? If not, what is? What’s the role of the military in the war on terror? In fact, do they even think we’re at war? If so, is it a war on “terror” or something else? What’s the best way to prosecute it? Etc.
I’ve pretty much given up hope that there are any Republicans left who understand anything serious about the exercise of American power, but there’s at least a chance that one or more of the Democrats do. So let’s hear it. Let’s argue about something real for a change.
