My congratulations and best wishes go to the 44th President of the United States as he confronts his many challenges.
Overseas, there are still troops in harm’s way in two countries. While things in Iraq are looking up, Afghanistan – which is technically a NATO operation – continues to be problematic.
It is ironic that initially Afghanistan was a model of success precisely because the United States worked with local tribes and proxy forces, augmenting them with critical intelligence and fires capabilities. We should have applied more of this model to Iraq from the onset, rather than waiting for several years and suffering thousands of casualties. [snip] It is important to recognize that the relatively more peaceful areas of the country in the north are also the areas that have enjoyed the most local control. This is no coincidence.
Other nations represent threats or concerns that may escalate without warning. Iran continues to work on the bomb, Pakistan already has the bomb and an unstable government. North Korea has the bomb and a willingness to sell it for hard cash. Russia and Venezuela are increasingly belligerent; China has a huge, disproportionably male, population with growing material demands; the list goes on and on.
Terrorist organizations still want to do us harm. If President Obama is to continue Bush’s seven+ year record of preventing terror attacks on the homeland, he will gain a new-found respect for the surveillance and interrogation methods Bush emplaced. He will be supported by all the BDS sufferers who will be relieved now that the tools are in more trustworthy hands. He may even conclude that the detainees at Guantanamo are there for some very good reasons.
Gaza is a festering sore, just as it was in 2001 and 1993 and 1989 and all the way back to the partitioning of Palestine. There is a solution to the problem, but it requires the cooperation of the United Nations: “Stop funding a Palestinian youth bulge, and the fighting will stop too.”
On the domestic front, there is the 800 lb. gorilla of a financial crisis. We are not yet in a depression – unemployment, inflation and the stock market were worse during the Carter administration, for example – but there is a lack of confidence in our financial institutions and a disturbing tendency of attacking all problems by throwing money at them. That the money does not exist and must be conjured out of thin air is what lends a potential for permanence to the crisis.
At this point, President Obama’s financial strategy resembles that of Franklin Roosevelt. Recall that the Great Depression went on for eight years under FDR and only ended with World War II. There are other proposals, and the president did say he was open to other suggestions. He has a big decision to make as the day approaches when the Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire.
Health care is a large part of the economy that Democrats have long hoped to take over. Obama campaigned on a promise to give Americans an additional choice beside employer paid plans, private insurance and going without. If you liked what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did for housing, you’ll love a public/private collaboration on health care. May the new administration move cautiously in this area.
Energy consumption and sources, particularly oil, affect a surprising number of our problems. The price and availability of oil have a multiplier effect on the economy. High oil prices mean high transportation costs which means everything costs more*. Oil shortages mean more revenue for the most despotic and troublesome foreign regimes. A tight world oil market literally puts a gun in the hand of oil producers which they can point at the heads of their customers. A healthy and growing domestic oil industry will be more necessary than ever considering who controls oil in the rest of the world.
President Obama campaigned on the promise of moving toward alternative energy sources. He would be well advised to listen to former Clinton advisor Dick Morris, who suggests he put an economist in charge of the Department of Energy. It would not promote the general welfare to replace 3 cent per kilowatt-hour electricity from coal with 10 cent/kwh from solar power.
President Obama faces a daunting task in so many areas, but he can call on 300,000,000 of the toughest, smartest, most creative and most industrious people in the world. Given the proper incentives, (such as keeping the fruits of their own labor) these people can solve any problem. Given the proper motivation, (such as expecting a better life for our children) we can outlast any adversary. Given support (such as the rule of law) for the can-do attitude that made America great for over 200 years, we certainly are good for another 200 years.
May God bless America and its new president, Barack Obama.
*Added a link I'd left out - sorry
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