“When did keeping our families safe and ensuring that future generations inherit a secure nation become a partisan issue? The next president of the United States and Congress have to work together to forge long-range solutions in order to protect our country from radical Islamic terrorism and future threats that we will face as a nation.
As your representative, I will work to strengthen our relationships with our allies and NATO partners in the region, show leadership and stand up for America’s interests in order to ensure safety for our families and certainty for our future generations.”
We Can’t Afford To Ignore Foreign Policy
By Justin Fareed
Santa Barbara News Press
February 28, 2016
In the height of this presidential election season, it’s easy to be blinded by the mud-slinging. The gloves have come off on both sides of the aisle, but one consequential difference in platforms between the Republicans and Democrats is the topic of foreign policy.
Foreign policy used to be a bipartisan issue where both sides of the aisle focused on protecting our nation. Today, the Democrats avoid the issue and Republicans focus debates on repairing the damage done by the Obama administration’s lack of sound foreign policy.
If our leaders can’t discuss their plan to keep us safe — the most essential responsibility of the federal government — how can we expect them to tackle other serious issues we face as a nation?
As a legislative aide to a senior member of Congress, I led an international delegation to the Republic of Turkey and saw firsthand the implications of this administration’s failed foreign policy.
While President Obama tiptoes around the issues and ignores the rise of radical Islam, the Islamic State proceeds to carry out barbaric attacks on innocent people, beheading them in the streets and selling women and children as sex slaves.
It’s one thing to ignore the humanitarian component in the region, but to mask the shortcomings for political expediency threatens the livelihood of us here at home.
It is undeniable that there is instability in the world with threats to our nation’s security both at home and abroad. As we have seen through the tragedies that occurred in Paris and San Bernardino just one week after the president told the American people that they were contained, ISIS is most certainly not a JV team and radical Islamic terrorism is a threat to western culture that cannot be tolerated.
Additionally, the Obama administration’s refusal to work with Congress on a vital nuclear deal with Iran has put our nation at risk and further amplifies the volatility within the Mideast.
The partisan battles in D.C. have hindered our nation’s relationships with our most trusted allies, especially our closest ally in the Mideast, Israel. If we are going to defeat ISIS, ensure that Iran doesn’t obtain a nuclear weapon, stand up to Russia and China, and restore our standing in the world, leaders will have to put partisan politics aside.
When did keeping our families safe and ensuring that future generations inherit a secure nation become a partisan issue? The next president of the United States and Congress have to work together to forge long-range solutions in order to protect our country from radical Islamic terrorism and future threats that we will face as a nation.
As your representative, I will work to strengthen our relationships with our allies and NATO partners in the region, show leadership and stand up for America’s interests in order to ensure safety for our families and certainty for our future generations.
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