by Mark Alexander: The Patriot Post counts among our most influential supporters who helped us launch in 1996 two in particular. It was with the sage advice from conservative protagonists William F. Buckley (National Review, Emeritus) and Edwin Feulner (Heritage Foundation, Emeritus), among others on our National Advisory Committee, that we had a successful launch as the first conservative news, policy and opinion digest on the Web. Ed Feulner has been an inspiration for years as president of the nation’s most prestigious policy think tank, The Heritage Foundation. This week, he announced his successor, Kay Coles James, who has served on Heritage’s board of trustees since 2005. Ed noted, “I look forward to expanding the conservative movement in a positive, inclusive way as we build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity and civil society flourish.”
For her part, Kay said, “You have my commitment: Heritage is safe with me. I’m in awe of this treasure you’ve built, and I pledge to you that I will protect it and grow it with the greatest care possible. The work of this extraordinary institution is so important. We’re not just a bulwark against the left. We’re a battleship for liberty.”
She has an impressive résumé and record in government, academia and the private sector, beginning with key roles in Ronald Reagan’s administration. Most recently, she helped lead Donald Trump’s transition for the Office of Management and Budget.
Kay is the right person to take Heritage forward, and we welcome her leadership there! ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53053
{nationalreview.com} ~ A 26-year-old woman has given birth to a baby girl from a donated embryo which was frozen for 24 years... the longest-ever frozen embryo to come to term. Tina Gibson’s baby Emma Wren was conceived and fertilized 24 years ago in 1992, but the embryo was frozen instead of implanted. Tina, who was born in 1991, could not conceive naturally so she and her husband Benjamin decided to adopt a frozen embryo from the National Embryo Donation Center in East Tennessee. The process is like adoption, but the baby grows inside the adoptive mother. .. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/454781/baby-born-after-living-24-years-frozen-embryo
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by Todd Johnson: Monday’s unveiling by President Donald Trump of his congressionally mandated national security strategy is a significant milestone for many reasons. Primarily, it serves as a blueprint for his administration’s approach to security concerns around the world and the timing of its release couldn’t be better. It serves as a bookend to his actions of last week where he signed a massive $700 billion defense bill, which is focused on trying to restore America’s competitive advantage. Trump’s signature on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a critical step as Congress continues to wrestle with how to fund their vision for a more robust defense capability in the broader context of budget reform.
More importantly, Trump’s decisive action comes at a major inflection point for the U.S. military as the nation’s uniformed leadership finds itself grappling with on-going, low intensity combat operations around the world while simultaneously trying to modernize force structures and doctrine. Just last month the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, stated that the U.S. military advantage against near-peer competitors is eroding. His assessment is in line with a recent think tank report that stated America’s military forces need to retool immediately for future conflicts.
Last week, the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis, released a study highlighting the fact that the United States military is not properly configured to meet the conventional threats of peer competitors like China or Russia in the next war. According to the report, “Put more starkly, assessments in this report will show that U.S. forces could, under plausible assumptions, lose the next war they are called upon to fight, despite the United States outspending China on military forces by a ratio of 2.7 to 1 and Russia by 6 to 1.”
This is the main reason why Trump, his surrogates and congressional Republicans have been advocating for increased military spending for the foreseeable future. This reinvigorated approach for defending the homeland and its worldwide interests are needed, but care must be given to avoid wasteful spending. Also, Trump and his team need to continue working on reaching out to traditional allies as those relationships often serve as the foundations for America’s ability to project power around the globe.
This approach allows the United States to share the burden of deterring aggressive actions emanating from Russia and China, which is critical in an era where threats can range from conventional troop movements to economic coercion to cyber incursions. This “adversarial competition” from Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and others is the new paradigm for future conflict and America and her allies must continue to be vigilant if they expect to win.
Trump’s national security strategy is a great initial step but it is only the first of many on a journey to setting the conditions for peace and security around the world. Only time will tell if he and his administration are able to fully achieve the nation’s goals while our partners achieve theirs. ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/53023
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