Then what?

Tuesday – May 10, 2011

Then what?

This is the question that the White House must answer!

After the dust has settled, since the announcement of Bin Laden’s death, we must start asking the tough questions. When tough questions are asked it is assumed that leadership is occurring. However, when questions are asked and answers are given that doesn’t yield a thing then what?

The true test of leadership in any White House is getting the answers to needed questions. Just because a devil (Bin Laden) was killed doesn’t mean that the threat he created is over and the accomplices of his crimes are now on their best behavior.

As the Republican field of potential candidates are making themselves heard, the left is actively starting their campaign to disqualify each and everyone. Trump is now being called a racist. Ron Paul is now being called an extremist and the list goes on. This is only a diversion, because no one in the White House can answer the question. Then what?

There are those who favor eliminating the billions of dollars that we give to Pakistan in aid. There are those who are saying that our relationship with India should be leveraged to pressure Pakistan into a passive ally of the U.S. The facts are now clear, we cannot take away the aid to Pakistan and we cannot use India as a wedge, if our leaders are unable to use these two scenarios then what. The answer is we need a leader that will stand tough and be as tough as the questions that must be asked and answered.

When we prosecute members of our own intelligence community for performing two cases of water boarding that gleaned the information that led to the elimination of Bin Laden by U.S. Troops it sends the wrong message. The environment presently in Pakistan is very dangerous. The Pakistani’s see the hypocrisy of the prosecution here and they are now demanding that we account for our actions there. They are charging the U.S. with invading a sovereign territory and essentially shooting an unarmed man. We see this as being totally ludicrous, but those in the world who hates America is seeing this as one more case of American Imperialism and America’s continued violation of invading foreign lands.

We all favor the tough decision by our president to invade. We all favor the tough response that our country is capable of when it is necessary. We all favor the patriotism that ensued upon the announcement that Bin Laden was dead. We all favor the threat that was eliminated in the short term. We all favor the victory that the SEALS had.

When the president gets around to demanding answers to the questions that every American is now asking and he doesn’t get the response that is required then what?

When all else fails to reconcile the question of why Osama was living undetected amongst the Pakistani military is not answered then what?

The problem with American diplomacy, in any given crisis, is that we continue to throw money at it just like we do with our problems here at home. We continue to encourage containment in our own management of American affairs at home, as we do with our diplomatic efforts abroad.

The question of how do you stop practicing the policy of containment, must be the question that is asked of the potential field of candidates that will run against the president next year. This question must also be asked of the president. It doesn’t make sense to continue with giving financial aid for containment purposes any more. The world is being divided up into two camps. It is obvious that the two camps have ideological and cultural differences and instead of buying time to coerce the two camps to put up false walls we should be demanding that our leaders set a course that will encourage security and not the same containment practices that work against our interest every time.

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: When our leaders cannot find the means to get answers to the questions that we need answered and our money does not provide the security that we think we are buying, we must begin to consider the question: then what?