“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” – words that have been attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Two centuries later, Gen. Douglas MacArthur stated “no man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.” We often hear these words paraphrased during times of great challenge (e.g., 9/11), but the attention level is often too short and the message is sometimes completely lost.
Today, the economy is in crisis and it’s easy to allow it to monopolize the news and all of our efforts, but we still have a persistent cyber and physical threat that can not be left unattended.
In many contact sports, it’s not a good strategy to go in thinking you are going to deliver a knockout punch or a submission hold to win right away. You need to break down your opponent’s defenses, hurt him, then go for the knockout or submission.
The economic crisis has broken down our “defenses”. We are down and hurt, but far from out; however, our enemies are seeing an opportunity. They know they can’t deliver the one shot knockout or submission – they tried and failed on 9/11, but if we are already hurt, they have a better chance at coming in for that shot or two and getting closer to a victory.
Maybe it’s a coincidence that we are seeing increased provocation. Maybe it’s a strategy to see if America is still powerful enough (or willing) to keep the world’s troublemakers at bay. Regardless, there are threats that we can’t ignore. Iran has helped create and sustain crises in the Middle East while they continue to pursue a nuclear weapon. North Korea is preparing to take their next step in testing a long range missile and Venezuela and Russia continue to provoke us any way they possibly can.
We’ve often heard it’s not a matter of “if”, it’s “when”…I submit that it is also “who” is going to be the first to test us and see if we can handle another crisis.
We must take every threat as a clear and present danger or we will pay the price. None of us know what the next attack will be, but it will probably be something asymmetrical and we better be ready to respond with speed, agility and decisive fury.
All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. Sun Tzu – The Art of War
