Obama’s Challenge

A hostile world awaits the messiah

By Jamin A. Dowdy

Barack Obama will find that his four-year long rock star life will end on January 20 at noon. For the past four years, Obama has either been preparing for or actually running for the Presidency. This sophomoric Illinois state senator usurped all the conventions of the American cursus honorum and managed to ride the wave of media promotion to the White House. However, when he enters the Oval Office next month, a world of evil aggressors and continuing national security problems will shatter his carefree lifestyle. Unfortunately, these problems are not only getting worse but new threats are also emerging from other areas of the world. 

Iraq and Afghanistan will obviously be major issues for Obama to deal with. Recently, the Iraqi Government and U.S. Government agreed to the reduction of U.S. leadership in security affairs and to the U.S. withdrawing entirely from Iraq by 2012. Afghanistan, on the other hand, has seen a resurgence of Al Qaeda. Obama plans to withdraw our forces from Iraq by some time in 2010 and to “refocus” our efforts in Afghanistan according to his website, www.change.gov.

While Obama tries to play tough on some issues, I do not doubt his ability to worsen affairs. Let us not forget that Obama called for America to refrain from the Iraq war in the first place. Some hail this as prophetic of our new messiah; I hail it as laughable. All rational people in 2003 believed the threat that Iraq poised to America was real and urgent. If Obama was a sole dissenter who had no intelligence reports upon which to base his dissention, doesn’t that make him, as has been noted by others, more a fool than a visionary?

Further, the mere fact that we are able to leave Iraq, with honor I might add, gives credit to President Bush’s surge plan. As I recall, Obama thought the surge wouldn’t work either—now we are supposed to trust him with ensuring a safe withdrawal and transition? Even though Obama is moderating his views on policies in Afghanistan and Iraq, let us not forget his misjudgments in the past. With a resurgent Al Qaeda in Afghanistan that will fight until a caliphate has universal dominion, can a President who never wanted to fight in the first place protect us? 

A new threat that an Obama administration will face is an aggressive Russia. As we have seen recently, Russia is not only pursuing a build-up of its clout but also using military force to express its intentions. The Georgian crisis showed the world that Russia wants to reassert its pre-1991 world power and hegemony in Eastern Europe. When the Georgian crisis erupted in August, Obama showed little condemnation of Russia in his press statement.

More recently, Russia expressed admiration for Obama’s reluctance to deploy missile defense systems in Eastern Europe. We know that Vladimir Putin is the main leader behind the resurgence of nationalism in Russia. We also know, as evidence by his position as de facto president, that this megalomaniac isn’t going away anytime soon. How does Obama plan to deal with the Russian Bear?

He will “slow our development of future combat systems,” “set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons,” and “achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.” Sounds like a fighter to me.

Most unsettling is the National Intelligence Council’s report “Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World.” This report predicts major reductions in U.S. hegemonic power and new challenges for our nation. The West is predicted to decline in population and in economic and military clout. A world will emerge that is not governed by a hegemonic America but that struggles to achieve a balance of power between several potent nations.

The Council expects the possibility of nuclear usage to increase in the coming years. Further, a nuclear arms race could occur in the Middle East if the Iranian situation is not resolved. They report there will also be the continued competition from Russia and China, albeit with both countries facing crises of their own. As bad as this outlook sounds, the recent terrorist attacks in India with possible Pakistani linkage have further heightened international tensions.

In light of these predictions, America needs to take measures to prevent our projected “decline and fall” from global dominance. Our military must be expanded and better equipped. Missile defense systems must be installed in strategic locations throughout the world, especially in Eastern Europe. And with possible nuclear confrontations in the future, we do not need to reduce our arsenals or attempt to rid the world of nuclear weapons—a ludicrous and near impossible fantasy of liberals. The Rooseveltian doctrine of “speak softly and carry a big stick” is pragmatic counsel that Obama should rely on—not the example of Jimmy Carter.

As America moves out of Obama-mania and into the real world, many threats await us. While we may want to imagine that the world is full of rational, diplomatic nations with good intentions, we cannot “take a holiday from history,” as Senator Fred Thompson advises. The challenges that Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, and other powers impose upon us must be met with courage and an adherence to the guiding principle of American exceptionalism.

Even though I did not support Barack Obama for president, I hope that he will follow a pragmatic path and lead our nation through these perilous times. So, as Obama gets ready to plant new flowers in the Rose Garden, he had better be prepared for terrorists and dictators planting bombs along America’s road to prosperity.