- I subscribe to classical Republican values thqat date back to Lincoln.
The rest of your post speaks in such generalities that it's impossible to make heads or tails out of. Overall, however, he's bent over backwards to please the liberal constituency in this country. His massive education spending, his refusal to do anything at all about illegal immigration, his constant pressuring of Israel to cave into the PA's demands, his push for AIDS funding in Africa, and of course the recent Medicare entitlements are all evidence of this.
You choose to debate Bush at his strongest point? The Muslim terrorist is an immediate threat to our nations security but he is not the biggest threat...Look further East...to an emerging China and a desperate N. Korea. They are communist behemoths whose stated intentions toward this country should make ones hair stand on end. Many expect conflict within two decades. As President, how important do you think a military foothold in the ME and Afghanistan would be in countering this greater future threat. Look at your World Atlas. Our national security depends on our ability to extend our military power
President Bush said this while he was still Gov. of Texas:
We must see China clearly -- not through the filters of posturing and partisanship. China is rising, and that is inevitable. Here, our interests are plain: We welcome a free and prosperous China. We predict no conflict. We intend no threat. And there are areas where we must try to cooperate: preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction; attaining peace on the Korean peninsula.
Yet the conduct of Chinas government can be alarming abroad, and appalling at home. Beijing has been investing its growing wealth in strategic nuclear weapons... new ballistic missiles; a blue-water navy and a long-range airforce. It is an espionage threat to our country. Meanwhile, the State Department has reported that ;all public dissent against the party and government [has been] effectively silenced; a tragic achievement in a nation of 1.2 billion people.
Chinas government is an enemy of religious freedom and a sponsor of forced abortion; policies without reason and without mercy. All of these facts must be squarely faced. China is a competitor, not a strategic partner. We must deal with China without ill-will; but without illusions. By the same token, that regime must have no illusions about American power and purpose. As Dean Rusk observed during the Cold War, It is not healthy for a regime ... to incur, by their lawlessness and aggressive conduct, the implacable opposition of the American people.
We must show American power and purpose in strong support for our Asian friends and allies; for democratic South Korea across the Yellow Sea... for democratic Japan and the Philippines across the China
seas ... for democratic Australia and Thailand. This means keeping our pledge to deter aggression against the Republic of Korea, and strengthening security ties with Japan. This means expanding theater missile defenses among our allies.
And this means honoring our promises to the people of Taiwan. We do not deny there is one China. But we deny the right of Beijing to impose their rule on a free people. As I've said before, we will help Taiwan to defend itself.
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a395503e07c50.htm
The Bush Administration's military strategy is multi-dimensional. I know that our soldiers in Iraq are targets for every Islamic nutjob on the planet...But better we keep it on their turf then then here on our streets with our citizens as the target. The soldiers are doing their jobs and we need to do ours by at least giving them our unconditional support.
Unless you can articulate a comprehensive plan for our national security you will not be getting my vote either.