It Takes A Commander In Chief To Keep Taiwan Safe

Newt Gingrich advises the “way to protect Taiwan without going to war with China” is as simple as helping make Taiwan “so formidable it would be hopeless for China to try to conquer it.” He cites the powerful allied defensive umbrella over Britain during WWII as a prime reason Hitler never invaded the island. But, could a bashful Biden bite such a bullet ala FDR?

Ah, there’s the rub. President Biden has shown himself in Afghanistan to prefer retreating willy nilly & at any cost rather than building up an ally’s defenses. And, China certainly noticed. “The threat to Taiwan is real & could come sooner than people expect,” Newt wrote in a recent Fox op ed. “Chinese Communist Party leaders have produced a wave of threatening articles & speeches about retaking Taiwan. The nearly 150 military aircraft that flew near Taiwanese air space this month are signs of Beijing’s growing desperation to conquer what it regards as a breakaway province.” In every war game, apparently, the US loses to the Chinese legions, unless nuclear weapons come into play.

Again, Newt’s answer is to “avoid war” by “preparing for it” per President George Washington’s inaugural advice. “Adm. Jame Stavridis described this as turning Taiwan into a porcupine. Specifically, former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien & Alex Gray recently wrote in the WSJ that the US & its European allies should provide Taiwan with anti-ship weapons, air-dropped sea mines & shoulder fired missile launchers.” Fine. But, didn’t we do a lot of that in Afghanistan & the military hardware wound up in you know who’s hands under the Biden watch? Doesn’t it take a Commander in Chief with the guts to pull off such an “offensive defense” & its promises made promises kept?

Davd Soul