With the rest of the nation, I awoke on Sunday morning to hear the devastating news about our neighbors in Orlando. It’s a powerful thing to be preparing to go to church and have to confront such evil along the way. Like so many Americans, I spent Sunday morning praying for some measure of clarity. The hard reality is, there are no easy answers.
Each of us in our society has been brought into this fight. Parents and teachers are now faced with having to explain again and again what these attacks are and why they keep happening. First responders are doing what they can to contain the damage once terror attacks occur. The nation’s unwieldy counterterrorism apparatus tries to keep pace, but the threats are getting murkier and more numerous by the day. Our troops – inadequately resourced and with their hands cuffed by politicians – are left trying to train and prepare for a mission they themselves can’t define. In so many ways, we’re choosing not to fight back. And during the darkest hours, it’s hard to see how that’s different from lying down and choosing to take it.
We’ve reached a point where the lack of decisiveness and leadership from our President and our Congress has enabled not just a longstanding threat of violence on our shores, but now a steady drumbeat of attacks. I can’t help but think about the years-long string of half-measures, choices avoided and cuts to our defense. I can’t help but think about the parade of tough talking politicians and the utter lack of follow through from them.
Just as in San Bernardino, the Orlando killer was inspired by ISIS. He pledged his allegiance to ISIS. And ISIS will use this tragic event to inspire more recruits in the future. ISIS is not an enemy that can be allowed to operate with impunity. More attacks on our own soil or on our allies’ will come again and they will keep coming until we do something different.
In February 2015, after what was already six months of half-hearted air strikes, the President submitted an official request for the Authorization of Use of Military Force (AUMF) against ISIS. That AUMF was widely criticized as being inadequate to achieve his stated goal of “degrading and ultimately destroying ISIS”. But instead of responding, Congress ducked the issue. They feared having to take another vote like the one they’d taken on Iraq. They feared getting stuck with the blame if the campaign didn’t go well. They feared having to explain themselves to the voters all over again. So instead of taking it up, instead of amending it and demanding something different from the President, Congress simply ducked the issue and hoped it went away. We all know it hasn’t.
Career politicians, by their very nature, do what’s best for their careers. They do what’s necessary to get one more term. And so long as their interests and the nation’s are aligned, it’s easy for them to do the right thing. But when doing the right thing is hard, when it might come at some political cost, they run for cover like roaches with the lights on.
The politicians in Washington are avoiding taking on the real spending challenges in Washington. Instead, they pat themselves on the back for thoroughly unintended cuts to defense. They’ve long since removed the fat from DOD and have gone years now cutting into muscle and bone. More than a decade of constant war has meant that aircraft and equipment are running forty percent or more past their expected useful life. We’re pulling parts off of museum pieces just to keep our planes in the sky. Training hours for our pilots are being shifted to simulators because there aren’t enough actual aircraft available back home. Where we once had two aircraft carriers projecting lethal diplomacy in the Persian Gulf, we now only have one. Against this backdrop, we have pilots in the air – and make no mistake about it – troops in combat on the ground, without the full resources and support of this once mighty nation.
The politicians know what it takes to protect us. They’ve received the candid briefings. And yet they allow this situation to continue unabated. They offer us their “thoughts and prayers” again and again as if it’s some kind of substitute for their leadership.
Radical Islamic terrorism has now visited our home state – not some far flung city or country. As a father, I am as angry as I am heartbroken to know that we could be doing more and our leaders won’t let us. This state is where my child was born. It’s where he’s preparing to go to school. Florida isn’t beyond the reach of evil anymore. And as a parent, I refuse to accept that reality just so some politician can bolster his reelection chances. I don’t want talking points from the President anymore, I want a plan. I want a decision. And I want to see Members of Congress come out of the shadows and hold the President accountable. Our troops, our first responders, our families and most of all, the victims demand it.