Robert Gates Retires From Pentagon, Warns America – Newsweek.
“Congress is all over the place,” Gates says at one point. “And the Republicans are a perfect example. I mean, you’ve got the budget hawks and then you’ve got the defense hawks within the same party. And so I think there is no consensus on a role in the world.”
MY VIEW:
Hmmm, I would think the budget hawks are going to win in the end. The U.S. cannot afford to be world’s policeman going forward. The U.S. can’t adopt a totally isolationist foreign policy posture either. That would could be highly destabilizing and spark wars we would forced to enter. However, I think it is possible for the U.S. to very significantly reduce our military footprint overseas and provide adequate protection to the American people and our most important allies. Our leaders must find a way to do that. Our economy leaves us no choice.
gmf journal 