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Jewish World Review
Sept. 3, 2008
/ 3 Elul 5768
Palin's experience
By
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Listening to her critics, one might think that John McCain's
chosen running-mate is a complete ignoramus when it comes to matters of
national security. In fact, Sarah Palin's background in Alaska,
including most recently her service as that state's governor, suggests
that the judgment of the Republicans' candidate for Vice President with
respect to this portfolio is likely to be substantially better than that
of either Barak Obama or Joe Biden.
Consider the following factors:
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Gov. Palin has spent much of her adult life dealing with
matters long central to the Alaskan experience and now of surpassing
importance to the nation as a whole - namely, energy security and how we
can provide for it. Having managed her state's department responsible
for oil and gas exploration and exploitation, having negotiated a
long-delayed natural gas pipeline through Canada to the Lower 48 and
having been married for nearly two decades to a blue-collar worker in
Alaska's North Slope oil fields, she knows more about the subject than
all three of the others on the two parties' tickets put together.
If Gov. Palin can bring to bear her insights into the need for expanded,
yet environmentally sensitive drilling, including in the Arctic National
Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) - together with an appreciation of the need to
introduce fuel-choice in our transportation sector, the object of the
bipartisan Open Fuel Standard Act introduced in both the House and
Senate shortly before the August recess - she will demonstrate
unsurpassed leadership in what is, arguably, the single most important
national security challenge of our time.
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Napoleon is said to have declared that "Geography is destiny."
That certainly is true of Gov. Palin. Her state is adjacent to Russia,
a nation that has in recent years demonstrated a rising aggressiveness
towards its neighbors. The targets are not just the relatively weak and
formerly enslaved countries on its littoral like Georgia - the scene of
a bloody invasion last month aimed at toppling the elected government
there. Moscow has also conducted simulated strategic bombing runs with
Soviet-era long-range, nuclear-capable aircraft. These offensive
missions are designed to penetrate U.S. northern air defenses in a
manner reminiscent of the most provocative of Kremlin behavior during
the Cold War.
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As it happens, the best of those defenses - including a
squadron of America's state-of-the-art interceptors, the F-22 Raptor -
are stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage. Governor
Palin would not only be intimately familiar with that facilities' vital
role in protecting U.S. territory. She would also appreciate its
importance in the projection of American power in Asia and beyond as
much of the nation's long-range transport aircraft supplying our
military operations around the world transit through Elmendorf. Every
Commander-in-Chief should have such insights.
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Speaking of geography, Alaskan territory is also along the
trajectory of ballistic missiles launched eastward out of Stalinist
North Korea. For that reason, among others, Alaska's Fort Greely was
selected as the site for the principal U.S. ground-based defense against
such missiles.
As that state's governor, Sarah Palin would know more by osmosis - if
nothing else - about the necessity for U.S. anti-missile systems than
either Messrs. Obama or Biden. In fact, the Democrats have reflexively
opposed such defenses and promise to starve them of funds if elected.
Opinion polls suggest that the support missile defense enjoys among Gov.
Palin's Alaskans is shared by strong majorities of their countrymen
elsewhere. Her judgment versus Sen. Biden's on the question of whether
America should be protected against present and growing
missile-delivered threats will be one of the highlights of the vice
presidential nominees' debate.
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At present, one can only infer Sarah Palin's grasp of the
danger posed by today's principal enemy: adherents to the brutally
repressive and seditious program the Islamists call Shariah, a program
they seek to impose worldwide through violent means and "soft jihad"
(including, Shariah-Compliant Finance, influence operations, subversive
proselytizing and recruitment in our mosques, prisons and military,
etc.) A tangible indicator of her views, however, is the enlistment of
her eldest son, Track, on the anniversary of 9/11 last year and his
imminent deployment to Iraq. His mother - like the loved ones of
millions of other servicemen and women - has had to confront directly
and personally the prospect of making the ultimate sacrifice for their
country in the face of such evil.
In short, America is only beginning to get to know Sarah Palin. As we
do, she will have plenty of opportunities to illuminate her views on
national security. One thing is already clear, though: By virtue of
her home state and its unique role in America's energy, defense and
power-projection and thanks to her own public sector service and that of
her offspring in the U.S. Army, it is not only wrong but foolish to
portray her as totally unprepared to contend with the epochal foreign
and defense policy issues we are confronting.
If anything, Gov. Palin's personal story and qualities that are clearly
resonating with millions of Americans across the political spectrum -
her intelligence, scrappiness, integrity, common sense and deep-seated
faith - when combined with her real-world experience in Alaska, suggest
that she will prove to be better equipped than her rivals to deal with
the dynamic and increasingly ominous national security challenges of our
times.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. heads the Center for Security Policy. Comments by clicking here.
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© 2006, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
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