National Defense

Key Elements of National Defense -

1)Declare war before going, establish an objective, win the war, come home
2)No nation building, at all, for any reason
3)Neutrality and trade with all, alliance with none
4)A strong navy and airforce/a professional army
5)Not meddling in the internal affairs of other nations


A strong national defense means defending the United States. While that should be obvious, it's not to the Democratic and Republican parties.

If we go to war, we should declare it, fight it and win it. Declaring war creates a plan and an objective. We've lost or are still fighting the vast majority of wars we've failed to declare. When you win a war, there is no enemy and you need no occupying force for the long term. Unlike the Democratic and Republican parties, I assert a difference between war and aimless nation building.

The job of our military is to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies. Our job is to make sure they are only doing that job. Because both major parties have failed to support the troops in this most important way, it is our job to make sure the task is finished.

Fighting terrorism means targeting only terrorists, not nation building. Letters of marque and reprisal are in the Constitution for this reason. Common sense dictates that you defend your country from attack by dealing specifically with the attacker.

National defense does not include policing the world and managing the affairs of other nations. Doing so means over extending our military, intervening in cultures we don't understand and creating enemies we don't need. Ultimately, it's a barrier to promoting the freedom we claim to support.

We have the technology and resources to hit any target on the face of planet Earth. We have satellites that can track an ant from space. With a strong Navy, Air Force and nuclear deterrent, we don't need 700 military bases in 130 countries. It's time to save more than a trillion dollars per year while strengthening our national defense. It's time to bring all the troops home. Let our troops spend their money here, and let them come home. Let us create the naval means to keep them where they belong, defending the United States.

Instead of outspending the rest of the world on defense for something that is offense, we could save more than a trillion dollars and increase national security. The alternative is bankruptcy and conflict when the current bipartisan approach fails on its own merits.

Above all, we should readopt Thomas Jefferson's approach of friendship and trade with all and entangling alliances with none.