No Peace Without Strength

A former Secretary of Defense is noted, among many other things, for what he calls “Rumsfeld’s Rules.” One of the most instructive of them is Donald Rumsfeld’s observation that “weakness is provocative.”

We are seeing today accelerating instability worldwide. It’s being encouraged by the weakness communicated at every turn by Team Obama.

A prime example is the President’s hollowing out of the U.S. military, including cuts announced just yesterday by the present Secretary of Defense shrinking the Army to a size not seen since before World War II.

Don Rumsfeld also famously said “you go to war with the army you have.” But, if the army you have is seen as too small and too weak, you actually invite otherwise avoidable wars.

It’s time for Ronald Reagan’s alternative: “peace through strength.”