Return of the Star Wars

When Ronald Reagan announced his plans for the US Military to develop a Star Wars defense system, he was derided by many.  The idea of using advanced technologies to search and destroy incoming missiles from enemies like the Soviet Union was thought to be made of mere fantasy.  But Reuters reports that the US plans to use a missile to destroy a falling US spy satellite.  Reagan's vision, it seems, wasn't as fantastic as previously thought.

The planned shoot down of the satellite doesn't involve laser beams or other more sophisticated technologies, but it does illustrate the power of evolving technologies in military defense.  We cannot say if the Pentagon's intent is to provide a defense of the population from the toxic payload the satellite carries or if the plan is a pretext to demonstrate American military power.  It may be a bit of both.  It may be that our military leaders have decided that America's primary military advantage is still air and space supremacy.  

When Reagan was in office the primary military threat was large conventional and nuclear weapons targeted against civilian populations en masse.  Today's geopolitical world has changed, the primary focus of defense centered on localized terrorist groups.  After 911, it became apparent to many that the American military Juggernaut probably was too big to cope with small groups of fanatical but deadly terrorists.  The idea of asymmetrical warfare became part of the public lexicon.  

But America's image in the world as a premier military power ever since WWII stemmed from its ability to strike from above ground.  That's a power that the US still has, and it's one that can be used to spy and strike terrorists.  The war in Iraq may have gone very differently if the US relied more on its strategic and tactical supremacy from the air to spy on ground-level terrorists.  The fear of an invisible power in the sky could have demolished the morale of potential terrorists,  and permitted the US to police the establishment of a more peaceful set of circumstances on the ground in Iraq.  

Other threats from countries like China also make the case for the US to focus on air power as its primary way to avoid or manage conflict, in addition to even more peaceful and strategic initiatives that responsible nations adopt.  

So Mr. Reagan's vision wasn't a fantasy-based idea after all, at least that case can't be made as easily as it was in the 1980s.  It was part bluff for the Soviets to go bankrupt, but it was also a realistic vision of how warfare could be conducted in a way that minimizes casualties, protects the civilian population, and regulates irrational impulses.  That's no small matter.  To think of Star Wars as mere fantasy is to think of peace itself as fantasy.  

Ronald Reagan Must Come Back!

Ronald Reagan was our best President. Period. He wasn't perfect. Just the best.

And today's times call for nothing less than the best. The Regan Revolution was more than a political scheme to bankroll power. It was a movment based on the solid principles of capitalism, moral discipline, economic leadership and international security. Reagan's presidency set-down the foundation on which America became the premier power in the world. Without his strategic vision, we would be far more entrenched in a world scheme dominated by Stalinist terrorism.

Is there anybody in today's political system able to take his mantle? Does such a person exist? Or should the question really be: is there a community of people who could make a New Regan Revolution possible?

Ronnie's gone, but his legacy and ideas are not. The limbs of the American body move through a dangerous time, which is to say opportunity abounds. At one end it is being eaten alive by mindless consumerism; on another, it is being stalked by predatory fanaticism; and from within it is being infected by socialist greed.

As I see it, the only solution is a leadership of principled vision. That vision never loses sight of three key principles: freedom, long-term capitalism, and moral courage.