CPAC 2013: Where does conservative military policy go from here?
Sen. Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster last week, in which he demanded the Obama administration clarify if it believes it has the authority to kill Americans on U.S. soil with drones, sparked blowback from some of his fellow Republicans, including Sen. John McCain. That has sparked debate about whether the GOP is moving in a new direction regarding foreign and military policy, or drifting apart into two, ahem, warring camps.
But foreign-policy and military experts speaking on a Thursday morning panel at the American Conservative Union’s CPAC conference sounded a relatively consistent line of thinking, albeit more about the use of force overseas while largely staying away from the topic of domestic drones.
“The proper natural end of war is your peace, the peace according to you, the peace you want,” said Angelo Codevilla, professor of international relations at Boston University. “Victory is that achievement. And defeat is in fact letting the enemy achieve his version of peace. That is what war is all about.
“Our bipartisan leaders for the past generation have forgotten that fundamental truth. So they have engaged us in a variety of enterprises around the world without knowing what they are fighting for and what they want to achieve. … They have deprived us of the proper product [of war]. This country has no peace right now. And the lack of peace is eating away at us.”
Rep. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas and veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, sounded a similar note. “Wars are not movies. They do not end. They are won or they are lost,” he said. “We should fight anywhere, but we should not fight everywhere.”
Cotton also criticized the Obama administration’s decision to try the recently captured son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, in federal court rather than holding him at Guantanamo Bay — in the prison President Obama hasn’t closed despite his 2008 campaign rhetoric about the need to do so — so that the military could interrogate him at length and try him in a military tribunal.
“It’s possible, I suppose, that we had exploited him for all intelligence value in just the few hours we had him” under military custody, Cotton said. But he noted it took far longer for the U.S. to learn from 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed about the courier whose presence ultimately led Navy SEALs to Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan.
Cotton’s comments echoed remarks Georgia’s Sen. Saxby Chambliss made to me Wednesday in his office, when he called a federal-court trial for Abu Ghaith “a huge mistake.”
“This is not an ordinary terrorist, it’s an enemy combatant,” Chambliss said. Yet, “he’ll be tried as an ordinary bank robber would be.”
In any case, the notion that America should engage in nation-building abroad came in for rough criticism from the CPAC panelists. Rep. Louie Goehmert of Texas recalled how it took little time and few soldiers to come to the brink of victory in Afghanistan, citing the help of the Northern Alliance.
“They fought the Taliban and defeated them for us,” Goehmert said. “We had less than 500 American soldiers … in Afghanistan when we defeated the Taliban because the Northern Alliance did our work. That was the beginning of the very end for the Taliban until — after we won — we sent in tens of thousands of troops in to occupy it.”
– By Kyle Wingfield
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251 comments Add your comment
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
March 14th, 2013
4:54 pm
I’m supposed to be thankful that it took Obozo four years to get the Dow back where it was before the recession?
That is just how big of a disaster Bush was. It took this long to recover from his Presidency.
independent thinker
March 14th, 2013
5:08 pm
Amazing how none of the halfwits on this blog can fathom the seriousness for the Republican party of the charges leveled in Kyle’s post. Aside from invading Grenada, and the liberating Kuwait, when did the Republicans ever conduct a successful and efficient military operation with limited loss of life and a total victory since WW II??? Yet they want to go to war with Russia, Iran, China, N. Korea and the entire Muslim fundamentalist world and overthrow the government in Syria and put Al-Quaida in charge. Some foreign policy!!!! How much more should we expand the military budget??? 230% since 2000 is obviously not enough according to Romney. How much????
Definitely too hard a topic for the members of the stupid party.Kyle needs to find another topic. That’s why the Southern voters are the base of the GOP.
Example of the stupidity being exhibited here on this topic:
“”"”"”"”"”The anti-antiterror leftards were sad that Our President Bush didn’t pump their hero OBL up by making sure everyone knew he was our #1 priority and the biggest baddest threat out there.
Idiots.
These are the same morons who don’t understand why He didn’t run out of the classroom like his hair was on fire when he was informed of the second attack on the WTC.”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"
Ah yes stupidity is bliss!
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 14th, 2013
5:18 pm
Does anybody remember that 2 hours ago cheesy said it was leaving?
Please, begone already.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 14th, 2013
5:25 pm
We found Kyle!
Man accused of ‘hog-tying’ boys, taping them
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 14th, 2013
5:27 pm
Please, begone already.
Please don’t question my intellectual authoriti.
How does South Park’s Cartman pronounce it? Authoriti?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 14th, 2013
5:31 pm
“Aside from invading Grenada, and the liberating Kuwait, when did the Republicans ever conduct a successful and efficient military operation with limited loss of life and a total victory since WW II??? ”
Iraq and Afghanistan, not so independent non-thinker.
Swept through both oppositions in record time and with minimal loss of life.
Now, if you want to discuss the ensuing misguided occupations following total victory over organized opposing forces, please do.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 14th, 2013
5:44 pm
In Afghanistan, Tiberius?
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 14th, 2013
5:46 pm
That is just how big of a disaster Bush was. It took this long to recover from his Presidency.
We aren’t really recovered yet cheesy. W dug a much bigger hole than we all thought he would.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 14th, 2013
5:49 pm
One would think such an important story, if credible, would have been reported by the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.
Can’t expect news channels to spend much time on 40 year old questions. Those questions get analyzed in the history books or maybe – maybe – an expose in something like Time mag or Newsweek.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 14th, 2013
5:51 pm
W dug a much bigger hole than we all thought he would.
We knew the damage would be bad – and deep – but we couldn’t portend the degree we accomplished.
Let’s start 2 wars and give out tax breaks at the same time!! Brought to you by Fiscal Conservatives one and all.
Can”t do math much….
indigo
March 14th, 2013
5:52 pm
Tiberius
So explain how I “doom this nation to a constant war against terriorism for all time”.
And then explain how you would persudade those terriorists to just leave us alone.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 14th, 2013
5:53 pm
Yes, Finn, Afghanistan.
But then, you’d have to read and understand the question as asked, featuring the words “successful and efficient military operation with limited loss of life and a total victory”.
If you disagree, please make the case that our armed forces did not sweep through whatever organized armed forces in Afghanistan.
Again, if you have a problem with the ensuing occupations, you’ll likely find common ground with me, but that wasn’t the question posed.
Just Saying..
March 14th, 2013
6:01 pm
““At the same time Republicans are moving to the right. Mostly because of the Gerrymandered districts that made it safe for them. Now their competition is from their right.”
This continues to be one of the dumbest statements made on Kyle’s blog.”
Because Saxby’s competition was from the left…
Hillbilly D
March 14th, 2013
6:09 pm
I’ve heard it said that even a stopped clock is right, twice a day. I reckon that just proves that a stopped clock is better than the one the AJC uses on these blogs.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 14th, 2013
6:10 pm
“So explain how I “doom this nation to a constant war against terriorism for all time”.
Because killing off the people who stick their heads up doesn’t get you to the masterminds. Because for every head that pops up, 50 (or likely 100 more keep their heads down until another opportunity presents itself. Because you cannot stop a plot which takes 20 people by killing off one of them. Got it?
“And then explain how you would persudade those terriorists to just leave us alone.”
And now I’m convinced you really are that dense. Once again, I have never made that claim. It is merely your attempt to bolster your position without actually addressing mine. When you catch the one that pops his head up, you interrogate them. When you interrogate them, you get names and locations of others in their cell. When you find them, you get other names. You get bank records which can be traced to the financiers of the operations. Then you go get them. And so on and so on and so on.
It’s called intelligence, and it is apparent to me that neither you nor President Incompetent has any clue what that means.
But when you kill one off, all leads back to who is running the operation are severed for all time.
Now, as to convincing them to leave us alone, it is a proven fact that you can’t keep some people from coveting the property of others. You and the 50% of people who voted for President Incompetent twice prove that on a daily basis on this blog. So some will never be convinced to leave us alone. As for the others, you can address it one of two ways; you can disengage from the Middle Easy militarily (from the land side at least) and simply provide protection for sea lanes to get their oil to us safely and efficiently. WE can also become more energy independent so that we have little reason to have a presence in the Middle East.
If disengagement isn’t your cup of tea, we can still be engaged in bringing about Western-style civilization to them by continuing to buy their products and funneling money to them. We will need to work on removing the monarchies those idiot British put in place through a gradual influencing of younger people with an appreciation of democracy. However, the forcing of such as we have tried to do is a recipe for failure.
If the carrot doesn’t work, the stick can be used again if they refuse to stop attacking us. And we still possess a pretty big stick, even if our current administration doesn’t really know how to use it.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 14th, 2013
6:15 pm
“Because Saxby’s competition was from the left…”
Of course, the subject was gerrymandered HOUSE districts (since it is impossible to gerrymander an entire state) Just Saying, but don’t let that little detail bog you down, son.
Just Saying..
March 14th, 2013
6:17 pm
“…President Incompetent has any clue…”
That be two term President Incompetent.
Slayer of the best the ‘Pubs can put up…
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
6:18 pm
Cheesy: It took this long to recover from his Presidency.
———————-
Correction. It took the incompetent Obozo this long to recover after Our President Bush ended the recession. Much longer than it took Our President Reagan to recover from the Carter recession, and every other president to recover from every other recession in history.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
6:20 pm
We could have thrown darts at a list of recovery options and done better than Obozo. Hell, doing nothing would have been better than what Obozo did.
Finn McCool (the system isn't broken; it's fixed)
March 14th, 2013
6:26 pm
e could have thrown darts at a list of recovery options and done better than Obozo. Hell, doing nothing would have been better than what Obozo did.
coming from an expert in all things Economics. LOL
mwuahahhahahahahaahaaaaa. Bet he/she also thinks personal finance works the same as government finance.
mwuahahhahahahahahaha
MrLiberty
March 14th, 2013
6:29 pm
So long as the neocon scum continue to infest the GOP there will never be any peace on the planet. They will invent the wars they need, just like they did in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Pakistan, Yemen, and soon in Iran. There is WAY TOO MUCH MONEY to be made for the people who support these clowns for them to ever promote a sound and sensible foreign policy that involves actually defending american interests over those of Israel, big oil, big banking, military contractors, the global surveillance state, the drug-running CIA, the prison-industrial complex, and worth mentioning again – Israel. The interests of the men and women who will die in these senseless wars as tools of our global empire mean nothing. The security and economic future of the american citizens means nothing. All that matters is persuing their goal of a global world government/american empire at the expense of everything else. Conservatives have been suckered in by a bunch of Trotskyite liberal leftovers who are now using the republican party to achieve their goals after being kicked out of the democratic party after WW2.
These criminals need to be purged from the party and national politics in general while there is still time to restore our republic.
Just Saying..
March 14th, 2013
6:31 pm
“…Of course, the subject was gerrymandered HOUSE districts…”
Wrong again, “This time we almost made it Tiberius”. The subject is the political compass point ‘Pubs have boxed themselves into, where only a bigger nut can pose a primary challenge to them. The fact that the touted challengers to Sax were Paul Broun and the renowned “Akin was correct” gynecologist Tom Price illustrates the point.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 14th, 2013
6:34 pm
“coming from an expert in all things Economics. LOL”
As opposed to someone whose entire participation here is a series of cut and paste links to far-left websites?
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
6:34 pm
“Akin was correct” gynecologist Tom Price
——————
Link please.
Didn’t think so.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
6:35 pm
gerrymandered HOUSE districts
——————-
If you want to be in charge of redistricting, you’re going to have to win some elections.
Just Saying..
March 14th, 2013
6:36 pm
” Hell, doing nothing would have been better than what Obozo did.”
Hey, Barry, dial this on your Obamaphone: 332-206
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 14th, 2013
6:37 pm
“The subject is the political compass point ‘Pubs have boxed themselves into, where only a bigger nut can pose a primary challenge to them. ”
Wrong again, Just Saying. You need to pay more attention before taking on the adults.
When the term “gerrymandered districts” is used to make a case in electoral politics, the ONLY thing you are discussing are HOUSE races.
Epic fail again, sonny.
Now if you wish to expand the discussion to Senate races, feel free, but that was not the subject to begin with.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 14th, 2013
6:40 pm
“Hey, Barry, dial this on your Obamaphone: 332-206″
The last refuge of the Incompetent is to bring up a completely unrelated comment like the one above.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
6:45 pm
332? Not exactly Reagan territory.
Just Saying..
March 14th, 2013
6:46 pm
“Akin was correct” gynecologist Tom Price
——————
Link please.
You’re correct, Barry, Phil Gingrey beat him to it.
But you might want to stand by for breaking news…
Just Saying..
March 14th, 2013
6:47 pm
“Not exactly Reagan territory.”
Where does that leave Mitt?
indigo
March 14th, 2013
6:49 pm
Tiberius – “it’s called intelligence’
Yet it is. And, to repeat, we would need a HUGE number of troops to be all over any and every country where those terrorists might decide to roost. You and John McCain to the contrary, there is no way we could possibly afford to do that.
You have painted a farily easy way out of this terrorist mess. Has it not occured to you that if your way is correct, both Bush and Obama would have figured it out and it would have been long since done.
You cons love answers that seem simple and easy, no matter how complex the issues are.
Islamic terrorists are fundamentally insane with hatred for us and their schools grind out more of these crazies each and every day. Terrorism is going to be a constant threat to us for the foreseeable future. No president, either Republican or Democrat, will be able to change this.
If and when these terorists succeed in smuggling in a nuclear device and blowing up one of our cities, your charitable attitude to them just might change.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
6:50 pm
“Not exactly Reagan territory.”
—————-
Americans loved Our President Reagan. He did much better than Obozo as a result. Obozo will never be beloved, as Reagan is.
Just Saying..
March 14th, 2013
6:57 pm
“… completely unrelated comment like the one above.”
You’re oh so right, “We were THAT close” Tiberius.
Citing the Constitutional margin that the Republican candidate fell before an Incompetent President and Uncle Joe has no relevance at all to the political might of today’s Republican Party.
They accepted your offer of help on the Transition Team, yes? Must have been a heady moment.
Even for you…
Just Saying..
March 14th, 2013
7:00 pm
“Obozo will never be beloved, as Reagan is.”
If ever words will come back to haunt someone…
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
7:01 pm
Isn’t it about time for those idiots in Norway to give Obozo another Nobel prize for having accomplished nothing?
independent thinker
March 14th, 2013
7:04 pm
Kyle asks “”"”"”"”"Where does conservative military policy go from here?”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"
Proving that the Southern GOP base is composed primarily of low intellect , low voltage and dimwit voters, not one member of the Stupid Party here could answer the question in a coherent and logical manner.
Just proves the GOP is in serious trouble.
Thanks Kyle for proving the point- Very well done.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
7:04 pm
Oh, look, Moochelle, I found another Nobel in my Lucky Charms!
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
7:10 pm
independent thinker, I guess you missed the very first post on this topic from one of the resident conservatives.
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
Just Saying..
March 14th, 2013
7:11 pm
“Moochelle”
That’s hilarious, Barry.
Anything else in that bottle?
Politico
March 14th, 2013
7:49 pm
“Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
Well now that you know that, are you going to change your ways?
JF McNamara
March 14th, 2013
8:11 pm
It’s the same as always for cons, and won’t ever change. If you don’t do what we say or give us what we want, we will bomb you. Look at how many military operations we have had since 1950, and Obama isn’t really slowing the trend with his drone wars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
8:41 pm
Look at how many military operations we have had since 1950
———————–
Korea–Truman
Vietnam–Kennedy
Those were a couple of pretty big ones.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 14th, 2013
8:57 pm
Dang, remember when Democrats fought communists? Now they worship one.
Hillbilly D
March 14th, 2013
9:36 pm
The city of Atlanta’s economic development arm would get free seats at some events at a new downtown stadium for the Falcons, a provision in the proposed deal that drew questions Thursday as key votes loom on the plan.
Somehow, regardless of your political persuasion, you had to see this one coming…….
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/stadium-tickets-promise-raises-council-concerns/nWsGD/
wsm_marathoner
March 14th, 2013
9:57 pm
As a 50 year old Gay conservative, gay marriage needs to be a Priority since it is the most important issue in the last 200 years. I love God and God loves Gays!!!!!!!
bluecoat
March 14th, 2013
10:45 pm
Grenada—Reagan whoopie do………….I think. From organizer to President one giant step for mankind.
independent thinker
March 14th, 2013
11:03 pm
Glad to see Rubio has candidly answered Kyle’s question about where conservatives go from here on their foreign policy failures “We have no new ideas” -See Bookman’s blog. Kinda like the childish commentary in response to Kyle’s question on this blog
wsm_marathoner
March 14th, 2013
11:29 pm
At least one conservative gets it – Washington (CNN) – You probably recognize Sen. Rob Portman from his tireless campaigning for Mitt Romney in 2012. He was even on the short list to be Romney’s running mate.He’s been a leading Republican voice on economic issues for four decades.
Now, the prominent Ohio conservative will be known for something else: reversing his hardline position against gay marriage.
FINALLY! I may even be able to wear my Red velvet blazer to the GOP convention. Winning!
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 15th, 2013
3:20 am
“The city of Atlanta’s economic development arm would get free seats at some events at a new downtown stadium”
——————-
And who is part of this “economic development arm”? Mostly, the usual suspects in Atlanta city politics. Mostly, if not all, Democrats.