The Korean crisis demonstrates the need for a strong United States Navy
The Daily Caller
Robert C. O'Brien is an attorney and commentator on foreign affairs and international law issues. His opinion and editorial pieces regularly appear in major publications such as CBSNews.com, The Huffington Post and Newsmax. Mr. O'Brien's law review articles have been published in the American Journal of International Law, The Cornell International Law Journal, The UCLA Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs, The Los Angeles Lawyer and other journals. He is the managing partner of the Los Angeles office of a national law firm.
The Daily Caller
The Daily Caller
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appears at least to be trying to restore American prestige abroad. Talking tough in Asia last week, she stared across the DMZ and told the North Koreans to back off. In Vietnam she asserted that the United States still had a “national interest” in the region. She intimated that America would not allow China to bully ASEAN nations into giving up their rights in the South China Sea or restrict our freedom of navigation through one of the world’s busiest oceans. It is striking that Clinton, the most liberal Secretary of State since Cyrus Vance, is the most hawkish member of the administration’s national security team.
The Daily Caller
The United States Navy is drastically shrinking due to the serious cuts the Obama administration is making to the shipbuilding budget. As set forth in the Navy’s Quadrennial Defense Review, the service requires a minimum of 313 ships to accomplish its many missions. Today, however, the Navy is operating just 286 warships. Given President Obama’s plans to further cut the defense budget, the number of ships in the Navy is certain to continue to decline below even the current number with very negative consequences for the United States; one area that is significantly impacted is America’s amphibious assault capacity.
CBS News
President Obama has reaffirmed our commitment to winning in Afghanistan and American and British Marines are on the offensive in Marjah. Winning in Afghanistan requires that we, our coalition allies and Afghan forces, defeat the Taliban insurgency, end the rampant narcotics trade, and overcome pervasive corruption among Afghan officials. A key to success in dealing with all three areas is rebuilding the Afghan justice sector.