CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, May 13, 2019

WANTED: A "magic wand"

In 2016, President Obama said Candidate Donald Trump would have to possess a "magic wand" to do what President Trump has just done for the U.S. economy. But what if President Trump had a diplomatic/military "magic wand" that would threaten the post-Castro communist regime in Cuba to the point that the 25,000 Cuba troops in Venezuela had to hasten back to Cuba? For sure, the days of Venezuelan dictator, Nicolas Maduro, would be numbered. Consequently, Putin would have to abort the military base he is building in Venezuela.

Currently, the U.S. faces several serious challenges and also opportunities that the U.S. might well address sooner, rather than later. As Brutus said in Julius Caesar Act 4, Scene 3:"There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune..."

Given the right diplomatic/military "magic wand" with regard to Cuba and Venezuela the U.S. might put the Russians and the Red Chinese on notice that the Western Hemisphere is neither the Volga nor the Yangtze Rivers.

Meanwhile, Iran is making war-like threats. But do not worry. The U.S. has forces in place to swat Iran like a fly. For now, Red China and Russia pose the greater threats.

Even though Red China is 700 miles from the Spratly Islands, she wants to lay claim to what could be billions of barrels of undersea oil. And, as usual, the Red Chinese threaten to invade our allies on Taiwan. Fortunately, we, Japan, Australia, France, and the UK are routinely conducting Freedom of Navigation exercises through the Spratly waters, and through the Taiwan Strait.

Meanwhile, the Red Chinese, with their control of the Panama Canal, the ports at each end, their port on Grand Bahama Island, and their Bridge and Road Initiative (BRI) contracts with six Caribbean nations nation are shredding what is left of the Monroe Doctrine.

Apparently, to complicate the U.S.-China trade talks, Beijing ordered Kim Jong-un to test some short-range missiles. Note that "Rocket Man" does whatever Chinese President Xi Jinping orders him to do.

But the most immediate threats to the U.S. involve the humanitarian and security crises on our southern border and the collapse of Socialist Venezuela. Increasing Russian involvement in both Venezuela and Cuba poses a serious security problem for the U.S.

As a result of President Obama’s liberalization of travel between Cuba and the U.S., southern Florida has seen an influx of Socialism-indoctrinated migrants who left economically-depressed Cuba for more abundant living in southern Florida. Once they get the chance to vote, legally or illegally, odds are they will vote for the only system they have ever known, turning Florida from red to blue.

Granted, after 60 years of trying, the U.S. has been unsuccessful in cutting Cuba off from Russia. But one wonders how long President Trump will tolerate what is, in effect, a Russian aircraft carrier afloat just 90 miles from Key West?

If there comes a tide in the affairs of the United States when a diplomatic/military "magic wand" needs to be found, it may well be now under a President who seems determined to put an end to the foreign policy mistakes of the last six decades.

©2019. William Hamilton.

Nationally syndicated columnist, William Hamilton, is a laureate of the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame, the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma University Army ROTC Wall of Fame. Dr. Hamilton is the author of The Wit and Wisdom of William Hamilton: the Sage of Sheepdog Hill, Pegasus Imprimis Press (2017). "Central View," can also be seen at: www.central-view.com.

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com