Leaders To the Front

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Yesterday France deployed the nuclear powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to assist France’s forces already bombing the Islamic Caliphate (State). This deployment caught the world’s attention as it shows France is deadly serious when President Hollande says France is “at war.”

While the United States already has significant air and naval forces in the Syrian area, the carrier movement is a signal that France is not accepting the status quo and intends to hit back with everything it has. Since the terrorist attacks six days ago, France has moved aggressively. In addition to its military efforts, France is also showing it can take the lead and is moving to the front in providing international leadership.

So where is everyone else? The United States is not taking any major steps to pull together an international response. While we hear condolences from almost every country on earth (including, amazingly, the Chinese), there is little action on anyone else’s part to match the French response.

With this lackluster international support, it’s time for France to call NATO to action. After all, France is at war after being attacked, and it’s deploying a major asset in the carrier Charles de Gaulle.  NATO countries have agreed that an attack on one is an attack on all. If NATO cannot respond to this, then NATO has little reason to exist. It would obviously not respond effectively to an aggressive Russian move.

One of the reasons France needs to call on NATO is that France, or any European country, has not over the past few decades invested enough in national defense. The reality is that without the supply and transportation infrastructure of the United States military, the military forces of all the EU countries would be challenged to get significant numbers of troops to Syria and maintain them there.

The United States can get them there and help maintain them there. However, with Americans tired of sending hundreds of thousands of troops to the Middle East, it’s time now for NATO to take the lead and all the member countries send troops.

The carrier Charles de Gaulle is a symbol of French resolve to take the lead. At least someone is stepping up to the international front. As the old adage goes: lead, follow, or get out the way. We should all follow France this time.

Paris, War, and “Desert Drizzel”

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The carnage in Paris is the latest step in an escalating war between radical, jihadist Muslims and western civilization. Only one side in this war is playing with force, and it’s not the civilized side.

Burned by the results of massive efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and its western civilization allies have been hesitant to respond quickly and forcefully to the spread of the Islamic Caliphate (ISIS). Just bombing is not forceful enough.

We are getting attacked again, this time in Paris…twice this year. So how does western civilization, not just the United States, respond? David Deptula in Wall Street Journal coins the term “Desert Drizzle” a term in contrast to “Desert Storm.” Our responses to ISIS have been a drip here and there.

“France is at war,” stated French President Francois Hollande. The rest of the world needs to be at war with ISIS too, supporting France in its efforts to effectively respond to the attacks. Fortunately, there is an organization already in place that should take charge in the war: NATO.

Article 5 of the NATO Treaty states: “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them…” This article has only been used once in the history of NATO: by the United States after 9/11. France, or the European Union, should start in motion the process of activating this article by calling together all the ambassadors of the member nations. NATO could invite other nations like Russia, Saudi Arabia, even Iran, to join in this fight as “special allies.”

France as well as all other individual nations cannot do this alone. Common defense against deadly attacks is why NATO was formed. Hopefully France will take advantage of having the support of western civilization in their war against jihadism.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/11/14/we-cant-stop-islamic-state-desert-drizzle-column/75777004/

Veterans Day Needs More Than Thanks

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For the past week the television networks did a wonderful job of highlighting our troops overseas and in a variety of ways saying thanks to those in the military.

However, Veterans Day should be more than just saying thanks. It should be a time to think about why our troops today are in combat zones, the reasons they were sent there, and what the ultimate objective is in order to bring them home. No greater sacrifice is being made for our country. No greater issue needs to be constantly examined.

Reality is that to most all Americans the wars overseas are not often in our thoughts. We are not personally affected on a daily basis. Since most Americans never served in the military, saying “thanks” seems to be all we can do.

Not so. If we want to say a more meaningful thanks, we would make sure all Americans have to endure some form of sacrifice. Not in the life and death way of the military, but at least something to make going to war a very personal experience.

The best way to do that is for Americans to pay the excess cost needed to keep troops overseas in combat zones. As the then Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen commented, the gravest national security threat to America is our budget deficit. A big part of the deficit is the cost of keeping our military strong and operating it overseas.

If we all want to share in the sacrifice and force ourselves to think often of the purpose our troops are in combat, I suggest we need to have a gas tax that covers the cost of going to war. Our troops are in the Middle East because it is in America’s interest to have a stable world economy. Stable oil prices are one leg that provides that stability. Let’s pay for it with a variable gas tax that increases and decreases with the cost of our combat overseas: or through a special income tax charge.

A variable gas tax or special income tax would remind us frequently of the sacrifice our service men and women are making and allow us to join them in that sacrifice. It would also help reduce the budget deficit caused by the need to keep troops in harm’s way.

We all need to say thanks on Veterans Day. We should share in their sacrifices too.