Jeb Bush: A clear choice on national security

The first and most important responsibility of the U.S. president is to protect our national security interests around the world and defend the homeland. After years of reckless defense cuts and a failed lead-from-behind foreign policy from Barack Obama, the global challenges facing the next commander-in-chief will be profound.

The stakes in this election couldn’t be higher because Hillary Clinton will be Barack Obama’s third term.

Clinton was an architect of the Obama foreign policy that resulted in the failed reset with Russia, the infamous red line in Syria that wasn’t enforced and ultimately eroded American credibility throughout the world, and the disastrous strategy in Libya that allowed the assault on the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi and the deaths of our ambassador and three other Americans.

Clinton also launched the negotiations with Iran that culminated in a nuclear agreement that gave the mullahs in Tehran more than $100 billion to continue financing their terrorist activities and paved Iran’s eventual path to acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.

There should be no mistake: Clinton would maintain Obama’s devastating defense cuts that have eroded the readiness of our fighting forces. These cuts resulted in our soldiers being placed into harm’s way with aging equipment that is not worthy of a great nation, which must maintain superior military power to project strength in an increasingly dangerous world.

The question facing Republican voters is who has the proven leadership abilities and a plan we can execute to rebuild our military, repair our alliances around the world and once again strike fear in the hearts of our enemies.

I am proud to have been endorsed by 12 Medal of Honor recipients. I am also honored to have the endorsements of 30 former generals and admirals. These heroes are some of the most highly decorated veterans in America, and I am grateful to have their confidence.

The vow that I have made to them and to the American people is that as president of the United States, I will restore the strength of our armed services by adding manpower and ensuring that our war fighters have the superior weapons and equipment they need to do their jobs effectively and return home safely.

I will also mobilize our European allies and Middle East partners to destroy, not just contain, ISIS and address the underlying conflicts in the Middle East that fueled ISIS’s rise in the first place.

I will regain the trust of Israel and develop a strategy to confront Iran’s aggression in the region, combat its support for terrorism and end Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.

I will bolster NATO and use our abundant supplies of energy to undercut Vladimir Putin’s use of energy as a weapon against Europe, and I will engage Japan, Australia, South Korea and our other allies in Asia to promote stability and security in the Asia-Pacific and deter aggression.

I will work to curtail China’s cyber attacks and theft of intellectual property that endanger our economic and national security interests.

After seven years of weak leadership from Barack Obama, America’s standing in the world has been diminished, and our national security has been weakened. America simply cannot afford to give Hillary Clinton four years to pursue the same national security strategies that have created voids around the world that have been filled by Putin, ISIS, Iran and China.

We need to restore the great American tradition of peace through strength so Americans can pursue their dreams with the confidence that our leaders in Washington are ensuring the homeland is safe.

First published in the Concord Monitor.