Defense

The Common Defense is one of the pillars of the Constitution. Let’s face it—the thing an armed force was made to do is to kill. In this light, we must continue to develop the best weapons and maintain a technological edge to protect ourselves while reducing civilian casualties. However, where civilians are sheltering the enemy, we cannot be afraid of inflicting “collateral damage.”

We should spend between one-third and one-half of our non-discretionary national budget on defense, making certain that our troops are well-supplied with the best technology we have to offer for the money.

We must never send our troops on a mission without the proper weaponry, outfitting, and supplies. Furthermore, we must give our forces under the United Nations the right to disobey orders that they see as foolhardy. For instance, in Somalia in 1993, U.S. commanders believed we were under-gunned before going into Operation Gothic Serpent, which led to the fiasco we now know as “Black Hawk Down.” However, they were constrained by President Clinton at the time to follow the orders of the local U.N. commander.