Op-Ed

The shutdown may be over, but the same entrenched division, weak leadership, and political gamesmanship that brought us to the brink are still eroding our national security from the inside out.

As a military commander who swore to provide for those under my charge, I find it unforgivable that elected leaders would let a shutdown — and the halting of SNAP benefits — become a political cudgel, abandoning the most vulnerable when duty demanded action.

From the economy to foreign policy, this presidency has traded unity for grievance, competence for chaos, and American strength for a politics of division that leaves our people paying the price.

In a sunlit Kyiv shop three months after Putin’s invasion, a stranger kissed my hand and thanked America, a small human moment that crystallized why Ukraine’s fight for hearth and home deserves unwavering support even amid the Kremlin’s reckless threats.

Claiming the War Powers Resolution does not apply to strikes on drug cartels sidesteps Congress, erodes transparency, and risks turning American military power into an unaccountable tool.

Since World War II, Congress has steadily abdicated its constitutional duty to declare war, allowing presidents to launch and prolong conflicts on elastic claims of “national interest” under the flimsy cover of the War Powers Resolution and expansive AUMFs, eroding the checks and balances the framers intended.

In Lawton Fort Sill, where neighbors treat Soldiers like family, this government shutdown exposes the emptiness of polite slogans and demands that America guarantee pay and steadfast care for its warriors—always—so we can keep the faith.

Organizing 500-troop quick reaction forces in every state betrays our constitutional separation of military and civilian authority, invites the militarization of civil life, and imperils the very rule of law American soldiers are sworn to defend.

We’re not waging a war on drugs so much as carpet-bombing our own reflection—sanctifying punishment while mainlining denial—drones humming like church organs as we tithe to the same appetite we pretend to exorcise.

By gagging commanders from speaking to Congress, Pentagon leadership trades trust for control, leaving lawmakers blind to battlefield reality and the force less ready to defend the nation.

You cannot make peace with a group that rejects it, you cannot stabilize Gaza with foreign troops the region distrusts, and you cannot replace political courage with cash.

Terrorism isn’t an enemy to be defeated, it’s a symptom of despair and miscalculation—and until America accepts that truth, every strike it makes will plant the seeds of the next war.