If our enemies mistook a more precise American focus as a disengaged, disinterested, or recoiled America—an “isolationist” America—and tested our resolve or capability by attacking us, they would find us recoiled like a viper: ready to strike instantly, lethally. Military action, including intervention, is always on the table—but only as a last resort, and only when there is a direct, concrete, and grave threat to the security of the United States or to one of our allies. Just as the threat must be clear, concrete, and well defined, so must be the objectives of military operations. We must know what victory looks like in order to achieve it. It must be seen first in the mind before it can be won on the field of battle.
Freedom is the most precious thing in the world—and it is for that very reason that freedom must be fought for and won by those who yearn to live it most. Freedom cannot be America’s gift to the world, purchased with the blood of U.S. service members alone. Nothing given has value, only that which is earned.
The neocons believe freedom can be bought on the cheap, and in so thinking they take too low a view of what makes us great. For oppressed people to live any lasting liberty, they must make it happen themselves. They must fight and die for it, bury their relatives over it, and tell timeless stories of national heroes who showed the bravery to win. They must teach their children that it matters and that there is nowhere to run should they fail. Only then will any people cherish freedom so much that they will not allow a strongman to take it away ever again. It is true that some of them will die, but they’ll have something worth living for. This attitude is less likely to produce gratuitous, pointless military deployments than would aimless, global patrolling and policing operations.
Plenty of D.C. pundits and Beltway hawks talk in terms of “toughness” to support American military action. They say America has a “moral obligation” to intervene everywhere. Real morality and real toughness is standing up to the pro-war special interests, who never tire of tiring out America. Real morality is affirming forever that the blood of American troops is not for sale, not at any price, not at any time.
Today’s wiser, more cautious Trump Doctrine will rile some so-called “experts” in Washington, but it is supported by an overwhelming share of Americans. And President Trump’s measured approach in Venezuela, Syria, and Iran will make our nation stronger. We must continue to build upon Trump’s achievements in developing a twenty-first-century foreign policy. Elected officeholders of both parties have sworn an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, which requires specific declarations of war from Congress, not just endless enemy hunting. Will the members of Congress keep their oath?
This means not sending the next generation of patriots to fight unwinnable wars, for unknowable gain. There are always places we could invade, peoples we could rescue, nations we could build. A clear-eyed look at the threats we face proves that peace through strength should also mean strength through peace.
Our doctrine means continuing to rebuild our military and maintaining its dominance and hegemony. It means listening to the American people, not the siren song of beltway pundits and armchair generals in fancy air-conditioned studios. It means taking a clear-eyed look at America’s interests, always focusing on the well-being of our own great nation before we volunteer our brave soldiers to the world. It means knowing that, sometimes, the fight is just, and worth fighting—and knowing that when America fights, America will win and win quickly. A great people don’t make the next generation go to war to settle scores from the last. We cannot send Generation Z to die in Afghanistan. Our heroic servicemen deserve better, and the enduring prosperity of our nation depends on it.
If we must fight some nation purely because of its size and potential hostility, let’s get to the fight that really matters—China. But that doesn’t mean mindlessly launching missiles. We must be smarter to win the fights that matter most.
February 10, 2020
4:00 PM, Air Force One. Manifested to Manchester, New Hampshire, for “Make America Great Again” rally.
The loudspeaker voice was familiar by now: “The president has boarded the aircraft.” The commander in chief then bounded to the conference room where his political team gathered.
“The soldiers are at Dover [New Hampshire]. We should go to Dover. Does anybody mind if we cut the rally short and head back to make it?” No time was permitted for a response. He had already made the call and given the order. “We are going to Dover.” He returned to his office not having heard a word from the rest of us. The manifest was updated to Dover.
They weren’t just any fallen heroes. They were mine. The 7th Special Forces Group calls my district home. They go deep into the fight and take heavy casualties. I’ve buried too many. They were all in their prime. The last two were twenty-eight years old.
9:45 PM, Dover Air Force Base. Dignified transfer of Sgt. Javier “Jaguar” Gutierrez and Sgt. Antonio Rodriguez.
“We have to do this to show everyone the cost of these wars, Matt,” said President Trump. We hadn’t stepped off Air Force One yet. The tears were already welling in my eyes. Did I mention I cry?
I can still hear her screams. I will never forget them. Spanish words, raw emotions. “Estoy aquí, Jaguar! Estoy aquí!” She didn’t believe he was dead and was shouting, “I’m here.” She sprinted to the back of the C-130, calling for him at the top of her lungs. When she
