In my time as a national security advisor in Washington, I came to believe that convoluted answers are usually the result of muddled thinking too stupid to be clear.
A good example popped up recently. The U.S. Navy has been trying to acquire two attack submarines per year since 1998. The sub program is arguably our most important national security asset.
Until 2022, the Navy met its goal. But very quickly into President Joe Biden’s term, industry foundered and has since has only been able to produce about 1.2 submarines a year, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The question is why? You would be forgiven for speculating that the backlog perhaps has something to do with the Biden administration’s industrial policy. In D.C.’s swampland, that is way too straightforward an approach to this problem set. Besides, the brass can’t criticize the president’s policies without losing their jobs in the five-sided building.
So, what did the Pentagon do recently? It threw money at the problem: $2.4 billion to be exact — to a consultant. The contract award announced that your tax dollars will go to “an Enterprise Integration Partner to deliver systemic, holistics [sic] solutions to regional and braoder [sic] submarine industrial workforce and industrial base challenges.”
Yes, your government cannot spell the problem correctly, much less fix it, so it is spending $2.4 billion of your tax dollars to hire a consultant to identify the problem with our submarine yards. Evidently word salads are the most expensive thing on the menu these days.
When I began my career in journalism in the 1990s, I kept Donald Trump’s number handy in case I needed a good quote. The brash New Yorker always had just the right turn of phrase to explain a complicated business question in a way people could understand. My readers appreciated his common sense.
Thirty years later, that common sense came across strongly in his acceptance speech at last week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Trump’s critics hate his use of superlatives and hyperbole, but it is hard to dispute his underlying points. The former president laid out his commander-in-chief credentials in clear language with sound strategy:
— On his national security record Trump said, “I was the first president in modern times to start no new wars.” This is perhaps the highest achievement of his presidency and undisputedly shows his prowess in foreign affairs. Trump went on to say that he defeated ISIS in Iraq, that Russia “took nothing,” and he boosted the military’s budget by $800 billion. He mentioned he created the U.S. Space Force and that in the last 18 months of his presidency there was not a single American service member killed in Afghanistan. All true.
— On President Joe Biden’s record Trump said it plainly: “Our opponents inherited a world at peace and turned it into a planet at war.” With the Middle East in crisis, Europe in its worst war since 1945, China eyeing Taiwan, and Iran on the cusp of a nuclear breakout, it is hard to argue with the former president’s statement. “It began to unravel with the fall of Afghanistan,” Trump said. Those who watched the chaos and death in Kabul would undoubtedly agree. Biden ordered the withdrawal of American forces and holds the ultimate responsibility for America’s worst battlefield defeat since the War of 1812.
— On America’s defense posture: “Our planet is teetering on the edge of World War III. It’s time for a change. We are dealing with very tough, very fierce people.” Trump reminded his audience that both China and Russia were afraid of him and contrasted his time in the Oval Office to Biden’s by pointing out that Russian nuclear warships are less than 100 miles off the coast of Florida.
— On American hostages being held by Hamas, Trump was forceful and clear: “We want our hostages back. And they better be back before I assume office or you will be paying a very big price.” That is the kind of tone that gets results with terrorists, who are not known for their Harvard dissertations.
— On DEI in the military, Trump made it clear that the top brass are to blame. “Our military is not woke,” he said, “it’s just a couple of fools at the top who are woke.” Trump signaled a new era of accountability for the Pentagon’s top military leaders and a return to the military’s meritocratic system.
— On his vision for U.S. security, Trump promised to build an iron dome system for the continental U.S. and vowed: “I will end every international crisis that the current administration created.” He signaled a return to “confidence, strength, and hope.” He also pledged unity to “every citizen whether you are young or old, man or woman, Democrats, Republican, or Independent, black or white, Asian or Hispanic, I extend a hand to you of loyalty and of friendship. Together we will lead America to new heights of greatness.”
Snobs with advanced degrees in international relations are likely still trying to get their eyes unrolled, but Trump’s acceptance speech was not aimed at the D.C. elite. His ambitious proposals and promises likely resonated with most Americans because he clearly articulated the problems and the solutions.
Let’s hope straightforward thinking makes a comeback this January in Washington, D.C.
Morgan Murphy is a former DoD press secretary, national security adviser in the U.S. Senate, a veteran of Afghanistan.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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