Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in 1793, in his annual address to Congress, George Washington noted: If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war. Or in the words of another President nearly 200 years later: We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression. The United States has a well-deserved reputation for strength, and aggressors think twice before tangling with the U.S. military. But strength has to be maintained, and we have not done a good job, or good-enough job, of that lately. Five years ago, the bipartisan National Defense Strategy Commission released a report warning that our readiness had eroded to the point where we might struggle to win a war against a major power like China. While we have made some progress since then at rebuilding our readiness, we are still a long way from where we need to be. Recent U.S. war games envisioning a United States-China conflict following an attack on Taiwan have had grim results, showing enormous military and economic costs on both sides. One news story on these war games noted: And while the ultimate outcome in these exercises is not always clear--the U.S. does better in some than others--the cost is [clear]. In every exercise the U.S.…”