Weakness invites provocation

Op-ed

We’re days away from a historic election. There has never been a former president and sitting vice president running against each other. This offers unique insight for the American people – we know what we’re getting with each candidate. 

As a resident of Loudoun County, U.S. Army Special Operations veteran of the Global War on Terror, and Executive Director of the Virginia-based veteran service organization, the Special Operations Association of America (SOAA.org), my focus has always been on national security, defense and foreign policy.

As a father of two boys who are new students in Loudoun County public schools, I have to broaden my view of political outcomes to local elections and domestic issues. Regardless of what issues you care most about this election, exercise your right that so many veterans fought to defend. 

All politics is local, so the saying goes, but my experience brings a deeper threat – that foreign policy, and subsequent national security, starts at home. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 59% of adults ages 18-30 saw the biggest foreign policy goal is “dealing with global climate change” while only 55% (third on the list) found that “taking measures to protect U.S. from terrorist attacks” is a top priority. This, to me, is a problem. 

Here’s where foreign policy comes home: porous borders with simultaneously upsetting global migration and increased reliance on cyber and digital infrastructure blurs the once rigid lines of foreign and domestic threats. China and Russia know this and have exploited these vulnerabilities.

Veterans and service members know, and recognize this, better than most. We’ve seen it overseas, where lawlessness and the breakdown in the rule of law prevent every other pillar of society from functioning properly. We sacrificed time away from our families, our best years, to protect the American way of life and we returned with a sense of vigilance and security unmatched among any other demographic.

When security breaks down, so will the institutions that make a democracy, a democracy. It happens gradually, then all at once. We’ve all watched the gradual part for years, some more closely than others. The only way out is a show of strength. Because of the last four years of ineptitude and a misplaced idealism, it will take every one of us to correct our path as a nation. 

The Biden administration’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan caused a domino effect around the world – giving authoritarian leaders the tacit permission to do what they want. Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, Iran overtly supported Hamas in the terror attacks in Israel, and Xi Jinping continues to subvert the American private sector through adversarial capital investments and intellectual property theft.

These nations have one thing in common: America is their number one enemy. That’s a short list of actions taken by adversaries listed in the Biden/Harris Administration’s National Defense and National Security Strategies.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies annual armed conflict survey in late 2023 showed more armed conflicts last year than any time since the end of the Cold War. I believe this is a direct correlation of the Biden administration’s misplaced idealism of foreign policy and laissez-faire approach to national security. 

Weakness invites provocation, and our enemies see the bystander administration in the White House as the weakest it’s been since Jimmy Carter. A weak approach to foreign policy and ignoring national security raises costs in grocery stores and at the gas pump immediately, and increases our chances of having to send our sons and daughters to wars we can deter now with overwhelming strength. 

While most of us have made up our minds about who we would like to see in the White House, there are many Americans who feel disillusioned or express dismay at the choices for President. That’s okay. Healthy discourse and internal conflicts are what makes America unique – it’s what makes America great. We are allowed to argue, loudly, and in public. It takes strength to speak out, and to argue.

A vote is a form of expression and a form of strength, a right that is God-given and enshrined in the Constitution as inalienable. Our service members raised their right hands and bravely said, “Send Me” to protect and defend our right to vote.

Tomorrow, please vote – if for nothing else, do it for the men and women who fought and died preserving that right. 

David Cook is Executive Director of Special Operations of America.