Of all the crises facing the United States at home and abroad, one of the most serious is our failure to ask the right questions that get to the heart of important issues. Questions are distorted and deflected by disinformation, misinformation, and a willful disregard for truth and facts. That has become the political malfeasance of today.
Answers are neither relevant nor helpful until the right questions are asked. What does this mean in simple terms?
One of the major crises is the Secret Service. obvious incompetence To provide adequate protection for current and former senior officials, especially the President and Vice President.
two people assassination attempt Matches with Trump on golf courses in Pennsylvania and Palm Beach came too close to success. If Butler misses an inch either way, Donald Trump will likely die. If Secret Service Agents Were Not Alert look at gun barrel Looking out through the trees of Palm Beach, you could see disaster unfolding.
Here are the important questions that have never been asked before. The Secret Service has something else that's equally important. mission Besides protection investigate Financial crimes against the government, from forgery to fraud. Should the Secret Service focus on protection at the expense of investigation?Are other missions better placed under another agency?
Ukraine presents a further testing example. Since Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the United States has engaged in so-called “” activities.endless“war. Is Ukraine becoming one of them? Is it time to consider strategic options?
While the Biden administrationdeclaredWhat does it mean that future support will be “for as long as necessary”? Will the regime and its allies allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to attack Russia deeply and risk escalation?
Or will Russia's long-term superiority in size, mass and population ultimately prevail, despite Ukraine's heroic resistance? If so, are negotiations the only way forward?
Trump and his vice presidential candidate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), end the war It did not mention the specific terms of what a successful agreement would look like to secure Ukraine's future sovereignty. In this politically charged campaign, many believe President Trump's solution is: abandon ukraine to russia.
Regardless of what President Trump does, it's important to ask the right questions to get the most satisfying outcome. That's not happening.
Perhaps the most serious immediate threat is us debtcurrently worth over $35 trillion. But neither Trump nor Kamala Harris has been asked how each intends to deal with this debt. neither mentioned reducing expenses That needs to be done to balance the effects of President Trump's tax cuts and new spending proposed by Harris.
Given the political difficulty of cutting spending, the alternative is economic growth through increased productivity. However, neither candidate mentioned how they would improve productivity. why?
National defense is rarely a central issue in presidential elections, but the Trump campaign argues that:world war 3” Could break out under the Harris administration, and Biden and HarrisdepletedNo one is asking what each candidate will do about the future of the U.S. military.
In 2025, the United States will spend nearly $900 billion. But what do people get for their spending? Is the U.S. falling behind China and Russia? If so, what corrective actions are needed?
So what will happen to China? One of the rare areas where there was agreement in Congress, other than providing more funding for the Secret Service. China is a threat. member quote Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the military to “prepare for an invasion of Taiwan by 2027,” citing a “clear and present danger” that must be countered.
But here is a crucial question that no one has raised. If China were to invade Taiwan with amphibious and air attacks, how many troops would it need to penetrate its defenses and seize the island? Guided by history, overload — Invasion of France on June 6, 1944 — Required Approximately 5,000 ships and small vessels and 180,000 troops participated on the first day. The invasion of Okinawa in 1945 required an even larger force.
China you can't do it It will have a force of that size by 2027 and beyond. Of course, China has other options, from blockade to domestic regime change. But aggression is not among them.
Getting the right answers means asking the right questions. Will it happen? Probably not.
Harlan Ullman He is a senior advisor to the Atlantic Council and the principal author of the “Shock and Awe” military doctrine. His 12th book “The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD: How a massive destructive attack became an urgent existential threat to a divided nation and the entire world.” Available on Amazon.
