Always Carry a Big Stick

War is never the right answer, but when someone has launched a nuclear-tipped ICBM at San Francisco or New York, there is little time to argue the point. War is always initiated by a bully. When a bully swings at you, you have three choices: you can turn the other cheek and let the bully hit you again; you can duck, in which case the bully is still going to swing again; or you can duck and swing back to knock the shit out of him. If you hit a bully just once, he will never bother you again. Beneath the pretense of strength of most bullies is a coward that will run away if struck back. To avoid all bully's you only need a reputation for swinging back. You stand firm with big stick in hand and use it only when you have to, maybe never at all - but stand ready to use that big stick, just in case.

A bully believes he has something to gain by making threatening gestures or striking out at someone - it may be purely to maintain a reputation, or it may be for your lunch money. When the United States launched an attack against Iraq, the aim appeared to be about taking Saddam Hussein's lunch money, but the true motivation behind US aggression in the Middle East was to justify continued investment in this country's war machinery. (If one seeks to know why things occur in this modern era, one need only "follow the money".) When we decimated Iraq and intervened in the Middle East we left desperate populations infuriated at our actions. Islamic terrorism was easy to predict based upon our interference. It is almost as if western powers needed a threat to replace the threat previously posed by the Soviet Union. The US government needed to justify its expensive military budget, which is impossible to do without a nemesis. Now we have one.

This approach to military affairs has revealed itself to be a severe threat to global security. The previous four administrations bullied Middle Eastern and North African states that were by and large minding their own business on the world stage, starting conflict after conflict to assert our values where they were not welcome. All four were cowards in their own ways, initiating conflict to the benefit of profiteering players in the military-industrial complex and petrol-chemical industry. Our most recent Noble Peace Prize winning president initiated more conflicts than the other three combined, yet was the most cowardly of them all, down-sizing our national military strength while continuing to joust his stick into the eye of Islamic states.

Now we have an administration that knows very well how to shake a stick and swing back, as it shifts massive resources into restoring America's military strength. The nation's enemies have taken a step back to re-evaluate the way forward against the new strong man. There will be those that seek to test his mettle, but this president is no coward and will not hesitate to retaliate. Those that seek aggression against the United States will no longer get a milquetoast pass as with the past administration. President Trump will be viewed as a warring president by his critics as he defends the security of the nation at any cost, but his stick will only be used in defense. As a man seasoned in thwarting confrontation who will not run from a fight, Mr. Trump knows all the moves, and with a big stick stands ready to finally bring peace and stability back to the world theater.