Top 10 National Security Stories Of 2012

Commemorating 9/11 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, President Barack Obama and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, render honors as the national anthem plays during a ceremony to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the Pentagon, Sept. 11, 2012. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

The Top 10 National Security Stories Of The Year -- Foreign Policy

From Obama and the generals to women in combat, here are the big issues that mattered in 2012.

1. Obama and his generals
This election year, Democrats finally owned national security for the first time in decades. It began with the 2011 Osama bin Laden raid, sure, but the cement began to set after President Obama rewrote the national security strategy and built a new defense budget to heed the Budget Control Act with close buy-in from top brass. Obama delivered the plan at the Pentagon in January, flanked by the joint chiefs. The result: Republican attacks from Mitt Romney, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-OH), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) trying to put daylight between the president and the Pentagon fell flat. If there was any doubt before, Obama is commander in chief.

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My Comment: #6 (Staying out of Syria) and #7 (Afghanistan and the forgotten exit) are my two top picks.

How Debt Imperils National Security -- A Commentary

From David Ignatius, Washington Post:

Several months ago, a group of logistics officers at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces developed a national security strategy as a class exercise. Their No. 1 recommendation for maintaining U.S. global leadership was "restore fiscal responsibility."

That's a small illustration of what's becoming a consensus among national security experts inside and outside the Obama administration: To play an effective role in the world, the United States must rebuild its economic strength at home. After a decade of war and financial crisis, America has run up debts that pose a national security problem, not just an economic one.

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My Comment: I completely agree. Throughout history .... countries with the biggest purse tend to have the armies that are better equipped and trained to fight wars and conflicts. but a country saddled with debt .... that is a different story.

Bush National Security Adviser Has Advice For Obama

Photo: National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley gestures during an interview with the Associated Press in his office at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

From CNS News:

Washington (CNSNews.com) – Stephen Hadley, the outgoing Bush administration national security adviser, offered advice to the incoming Obama administration on Wednesday while also praising the often-maligned foreign policy of President George W. Bush.

“This president has put in place the tools to allow future presidents to succeed in the years ahead. I hope the next president will use those tools,” Hadley told a gathering of more than 100 people at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

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My Comment: Sorry Mr. Hadley .... the Democrats are not listening to you.

Gutting Security -- A Commentary

From The New York Post:

PRESIDENT-elect Barack Obama's appointments to Homeland Security, the Justice Department and now the CIA indicate a virtual abandonment of the War on Terror.

As Homeland Security chief, he's named a governor whose only experience has been with the US-Mexican border. His attorney general pick, meanwhile, took the lead in pardoning FALN terrorists. Now he has rounded out his national-security and Justice Department teams by naming ultraliberals.

Leon Panetta, his choice for CIA chief, is as liberal as they come. Though originally a pro-Nixon congressman, he long ago embraced the left with the fervor of a convert and brings these values to the CIA.

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