THE NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY: Condoleeza Rice addressed a meeting of the Manhattan Institute last week and
her speech was adapted into a column by the New York Post. The key excerpt:
President Bush's new National Security Strategy offers a bold vision for protecting our nation that captures today's new realities and opportunities.
It calls on America to use our position of unparalleled strength and influence to create a balance of power that favors freedom. As the president says in the cover letter: we seek to create the "conditions in which all nations and all societies can choose for themselves the rewards and challenges of political and economic liberty." This strategy has three pillars:
* We will defend the peace by opposing and preventing violence by terrorists and outlaw regimes.
* We will preserve the peace by fostering an era of good relations among the world's great powers.
* And we will extend the peace by seeking to extend the benefits of freedom and prosperity across the globe.
Defending our nation from its enemies is the first and fundamental commitment of the federal government. And as the world's most powerful nation, the United States has a special responsibility to help make the world more secure.
It's a pleasant surprise to see a senior member of the administration acknowledge that defense — rather than redistribution of income — is the federal government's primary duty. Now if only the federal budget would reflect that fact.
