Jeb Bush: Paris attacks show that U.S. leadership is at stake

[Luke Skywalker]

{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:

Jeb Bush speaks to the media during a campaign stop on Nov. 17, 2015, in Florence, S.C. (Rainier Ehrhardt, AP)

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Jeb Bush says the “brutal savagery” in Paris last week starkly illustrates the stakes of the 2016 U.S. presidential election: the fate of American leadership in the world.
“The last seven years under President Obama have taught us that problems do not take care of themselves in the absence of American leadership,” Bush plans to say in a national security speech Wednesday, according to excerpts released by his campaign.
“America has had enough of empty words, of declarations detached from reality of an administration with no strategy or no intention of victory,” the excerpts say.
In a speech retooled after last week’s attacks, Bush plans to push programs designed to defend the homeland, rebuild the military, reform Pentagon spending and operations, and “restore international order and promote international security.”
Bush delivers his remarks midday at The Citadel, the military college of South Carolina.
In fighting the Islamic State — the perpetrators of the Paris attacks — Bush plans to say that the U.S. must address the underlying conflicts in Syria and Iraq. While the excerpts do not provide specifics, Bush also plans to say that the United States has no choice but to defeat the Islamic State.
“Radical Islamic terrorists have declared war on the western world,” Bush plans to say, according to the excerpts. “Their aim is our total destruction. We can’t withdraw from this threat, nor negotiate with it.”
President Obama and aides say his Republican critics are only proposing things that are already being done, and that the current strategy to destroy the Islamic State will prevail in the long run.
In his indictment of the Obama foreign policy, Bush also plans to loop in former secretary of State and current Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
“Here in South Carolina two weeks ago, Hillary Clinton said that her foreign policy would be no more aggressive or forward leaning than his,” Bush plans to say. “I reject their diminished view of America’s role in the world.”
While pledging to rebuild the military by restoring budget cuts, Bush also plans to <span style="color: Red;">*</span>say that the government should not “simply throw money at” its national security challenges.
“We need to reform the Pentagon, shedding overhead passed down from a different generation and adapt it to our 21st Century challenges,” Bush plans to say, according to the excerpts.




Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed