I have demonstrated the many ways that I believe America has changed over the years throughout other commentaries, and news flash, I probably will continue to as the life we know evolves into something unrecognizable at an astonishing rate.
However, among the most harrowing of changes came in 2014 when the United States agreed to exchange five highly dangerous Taliban members for U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Berghdal. In the early days after his disappearance, little was known and a failed rescue mission, which was attempted, made complete sense. Those of us that signed up to protect this great nation would do the same for any American. However, as the details regarding Berghdal’s desertion came to fruition the scenario changed. Berghdal chose to abandon his post and leave the army after spewing rhetoric about his disgust for the service and our country. When one does this, they essentially decide that they are no longer American or at minimum they are not worth risking American servicemen’s lives to risk. Certainly one is free to think however they wish, but it must be understood that potential consequences may exist.
Our decision to later negotiate with the terrorists, broke a tenant in the house of rules that built this great nation. Not only did it set a precedent for the enemy, who, trust me, remembers this and sees it as a part of the great weakening of America, but it also set a precedent for us. It demonstrated that we are okay to pay the bill and thus opened the playbook for enemies across the globe to extort their weakening foe for cash or their comrades who rot in prison cells, wherever they may be. Still, many in America, most of which have never served in an intelligence, military or law enforcement capacity, lauded the move as bold and celebrated the result in pure ignorance.
Our decision to later negotiate with the terrorists, broke a tenant in the house of rules that built this great nation.
Fast forward to this year and the administration, yet again, allegedly cooperated with an enemy that sponsors terrorism across the globe, this time providing them $400,000,000 for the release of four prisoners in Iran. Iran, for those of you who do not know is evil, really evil, not to mention opportunistic. In the past years they have avoided conflict with us on numerous occasions when, frankly, one should have probably been present, they signed a nuclear deal that significantly benefits them as they still quietly build nuclear capabilities and now have learned that they can extort hundreds of millions of dollars from their wilting foe.
I am not certain that we can correct the rapidly changing perception of America and be feared once again, but I assure you that caving to terrorist demands, allowing them to roam free in Iraq, Syria and Libya when decisive action could end their self-declared caliphate and being unwilling to quell the rapid migration of Muslims across the globe, which is largely due to our hand in the Arab spring, will only result in further extortion and deals of this nature. Still, the deals themselves, while they defy logic and who we once were, are not the issue so much as the fact that America continues to feel sorry for our past and unexplainably drives ahead toward a utopian stance on how life should be, vice living in reality.
by OpsLens staff
