In the military, our best geopolitical advice has always been – and has had to be – tied to facts and a dispassionate commitment to the best interests of our great nation.
Our decisions were not made based on protest slogans, celebrity complaints, fundraising opportunities, or poll dominance. We carefully weighed the pros and cons and determined the best course of action based on calculated risks, possible consequences, and whether our actions would move our overall objective in the right direction to accomplish our mission. Our recommendations were not always perfect or popular, but they were carefully designed to support and advocate. Constitution In the United States. (Related article: Morgan Murphy: Europeans not worried about threat of Russian invasion of continent after Ukraine)
But eight months after the October 7 attacks that claimed more than 1,200 lives and kidnapped more than 240 hostages, amid Hamas’ strategy of carnage and humanitarian maximization, we have allowed short-term political calculations to muddy the waters and move us away from strategic decision-making that will strengthen the interests of our great nation.
Over the past eight months, we have abandoned our principles of never negotiating with terrorists, leaving no one behind, defending our homeland, and working resolutely with our allies and partners in order to win an election and appease extremists.
Celebrities George Clooney He now has the ears of the White House, and he has students at my alma mater. Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThey have taken over campuses, echoing terrorist and Nazi-inspired talking points, undermining the mission of education and threatening the safety and well-being of Jewish students. Members and candidates of both parties in Congress are doing the same. (Related article: Shoshana Bryan: Biden's stance on Israel is truly mind-boggling)
And the White House finds itself increasingly embarrassingly weak on the world stage, desperately searching for policies that will give it an electoral advantage — and in so doing, abandoning long-held principles and beliefs to appease its opponents.
American weakness creates a more dangerous world that is seriously harmful to American interests.
As one of our senior officials serving during a transition of presidential administrations and in Iraq just before the fall of Afghanistan, I saw the consequences of looming weakness: Groups allied with Iran were excited by American weakness, seduced by the idea of American power diminishing.
Our irresponsible withdrawal from Afghanistan further emboldened our adversaries in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the Western Pacific. When we begged Iran to return to the nuclear deal, offering $6 billion in sanctions relief in exchange for a few political prisoners in a shameful offer on September 11, it was a sign that their dark dreams were becoming reality.
One month after that sad sign of appeasement towards the world's largest sponsor of terrorism, Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists savagely attacked Israel.
Let me be clear: protecting the United States and its allies and partners from terrorism should not be used as a means to win an election, but I foresee that it will be in 2024.
We have gone from refusing to negotiate with terrorists to pandering to those who parrot their rhetoric. For the sake of our country, our allies, our partners, and our national interests, it is time to return to a time when strategy was viewed with a focused, long-term mindset, not the myopic, rose-colored lens of political fantasy.
U.S. Air Force Brigadier General John Teichert (Ret.) served as Commander of Joint Base Andrews and Edwards Air Force Base, was the senior U.S. defense official in Iraq, and most recently retired as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs. General Teichert is regularly featured on NewsNation, Fox News and Newsmax.
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