Good guys and bad guys

In the late seventies, during the Carter administration, the US was involved in the infamous SALT treaties with the Soviet Union. The Soviets were smart, they would build up their arsenals, then go to the table and demand that neither side build any more of the weapon that they had just finished stockpiling. After they had finished building up their supply of long range bombers, they proposed that neither side would pursue any more long range bombers. Smart for them, stupid for us. The Carter administration swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. Their goal was not to actually have meaningful negotiations, but to say that they had a treaty. They wanted to show that they were working with the Soviets. All the while the Soviets were laughing at the Americans who were hamstringing themselves into a second rate national defense.

Fast forward a bit to the 90s. The North Koreans, under a despotic regime tout their ambitions to become a nuclear power. In an effort to get some type of agreement the Clinton administration offers peaceful nuclear technology to the North Koreans, if they agree to not pursue nuclear weapons. Of course they agree. A nuclear reactor is established with the help of the US, then they Americans leave. The North Koreans turn around and announce the fact that they have been able to build a nuclear weapon with their new technology.

Brilliant diplomacy.

You can only negotiate with an enemy if you are in a position of strength. You have to know what it is that they have been and are capable of doing. You must be able to verify their compliance.

The problem is that both Carter and Clinton wanted to appear to be ‘the good guy’; the one who was willing to let down the guard of the great Unites States in order to achieve a peace agreement. The liberals of today seem to think that there really aren’t any ‘bad guys’ out there. We just haven’t taken the time to really understand their position and that if we were more willing to make concessions, they would see our side.

The fact is that WE are the good guys, and yes there are ‘bad guys’ in the world. No, they are not misunderstood, at least not by those who would open their eyes and see. They are people who are bent on holding and keeping their power, subjugating their people, and if they can fool you and gain the upper hand in any negotiations, they will. They are tyrants. They are murderers. They hate freedom. They love power. They cannot be trusted.

There is good and there is evil in the world. This is nothing new and it will not change.

If we are not fighting for the good, then we are abdicating to the evil.

As I watch the defense budget being slashed to make way for global warming initiatives and ineffective stimulus spending I’m concerned that the hard learned lessons of the past will have to be revisited. As I watch our president apologize for our role of strength and leadership in the world I’m concerned that our enemies are getting a green light to move forward in haste.

I want to grab our leaders and scream, “WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS!!”

If they can’t grasp the basics of who is on the side of good and who is on the side of evil, then they will never be able to fight for the good, or resist the evil.