The Hill News

On March 21, the United States entered its third “unexpected” war in less than a decade. President Obama announced that, while the U.S. would initially take the lead role in the Libyan operation, we would quickly turn over operations to other powers.

Still, the White House acknowledged that the operation could not have gotten off the ground without American military might. Only our armed forces could do the heavy liftingâ€"grounding Gaddafi’s air force and turning back land assaults on the rebels. This hard fact should serve as a reality check for any impulse to gut the Pentagon budget, regardless of where you stand on the appropriateness of this particular mission.

Recently my colleagues at The Heritage Foundation undertook an important exercise. The Heritage team identified, one after another, all the vital national security interests of the United States. These are the military missions where failure is not an option and “soft power” ! (diplomacy or what have you) can’t substitute military force in controlling ground, air, sea, cyberspace, and outer space. They considered five different regions: Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the American homeland, and space. Then they identified the military assets required to support our vital interests in each domainâ€"and the assets on hand.

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