Two weeks ago, Karl Rove addressed the conservative faithful here in Washington
with a typical display of magic. In front of an audience with severe political
indigestion (caused by a diet rich in lobbyists minus principles), Rove
previewed his 2006 electoral strategy. The rabbit he pulled out of the hat was
the Energizer Bunny -- wound up and clanking "liberals are weak on defense,
soft on security, and won't keep you safe." Specifically he said:
"At the core, we are dealing with two parties that have fundamentally different
views on national security. Republicans have a post-9/11 worldview -- and many
Democrats have a pre-9/11 worldview. That doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at
all. But it does make them wrong -- deeply and profoundly and consistently
wrong."
Then this week Rove's employer rolled out a defense strategy and a federal
budget that hearkens back to approximately 1985. But definitely pre-9/11. Why?
Because the Bush Administration -- with its profoundly wrong world view --
refuses to lay out a strong and effective defense strategy for post-9/11
threats. One primary lesson from both Iraq and Afghanistan is that the way to
keep our military strong is to share the responsibilities for national security
across the government -- made obvious by the gaps in our post-war
reconstruction efforts. Defense is just one part of a national security
strategy, but the vast majority of security dollars go to the defense budget
(over half a trillion dollars for 2007).
Re-balancing spending across the government is the work of decades, but today
we're draining the coffers of defense to purchase billions of dollars worth of
weapons designed to thwart the Soviet Union. This must stop. These "pre-9/11"
priorities are being foisted on us when our National Guard troops need basic
items like trucks, ammo and language training.
Ever since Katrina, our commander-in-chief has lost credibility on the issue
that he ran on: national security. Many Americans have a nagging, uncomfortable
feeling that these guys really don't know what they are talking about.
[more]
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lorelei-kelly/national-security-roves_b_15381.html>
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