Defend Freedom

By LtCol Dominik George Nargele

"Defend Freedom, well done." -- General P.X. Kelley USMC (Ret).
Nargeles book is pure platinum that vividly describes the impact of Communist oppression on him
and his family as WW II ended, and his journey to and through the Marine Corps ... a journey
that included combat service in Vietnam and sensitive challenging diplomatic assignments that
followed. - Lieutenant General Stephen Olmstead USMC (Ret).
The book Defend Freedom is an insightful look at the adverseries we have faced when we joined
the Marine Corps in the 1960s. - Major General Donald R. Gardner USMC (Ret), President
Marine Corps University.
Lieutenant Colonel Nargeles book is an absorbing and engrossing story of a Marines service to
his country and Corps. Well done, Marine!- Major General W. H. Rice USMC (Ret).

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481728232

LtCol Dominik George Nargele

"Dominik G. Nargele, LtCol USMC (Ret), MA, MSA, PhD, was born in Kaunas and grew up in New York. Entered service in June 1957 and retired in February 1985. Completed 28th OCC and Basic School 2/61. Served as platoon leader and XO, Co H, 2nd Bn, 6th Marines before being assigned to 5th Marines in Camp Pendelton. Transferred in 1965 to Okinawa with 1st Bn, 5th Marines and landed in Vietnam on 6 July 1965 as platoon commander, Communications Platoon, 2nd Bn, 9th Marines operating against Communist forces until 4 June 1966. Was awarded the Purple Heart, Navy Commendation Medal and Presidential Unit Citation. Returned to Vietnam for second tour on 13 March 1969, served with G-3, 1st Marine Division and was awarded second Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V. Served from 1971 to 1974, in Potsdam as Naval Representative and from 1982 to 1984, in Santo Domingo as Defense Attache. Received MA and MSA from George Washington University and PhD from Georgetown University."

Book preview

© 2013 by LtCol Dominik George Nargele USMC(Ret). All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/08/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-2826-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-2822-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-2823-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013904593

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Introduction and US Marine Leadership

Chapter 2: The Lethal Death Memorial for Over 100 Million Victims of Communism

Chapter 3: Eyewitness Dresden Survivors

Chapter 4: Communist Terror In Finland, Lithuania, Poland, and Unknown War

Chapter 5: The American Interventions in Russia against the Bolsheviks and Murder of My Cousin by Soviet Communists

Chapter 6: Unknown Famine after World War II

Chapter 7: Communist Terror in China and Vietnam

Chapter 8: First Tour Contacts and Operations in Vietnam

Chapter 9: Observations during Second Tour of Duty in Vietnam

Chapter 10: The Cold War in East Germany

Chapter 11: Perspectives during Cold War Okinawa and Korea Service

Chapter 12: The Wars in Cuba and in the Dominican Republic

Chapter 13: War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran

Chapter 14: Analysis and Lessons Learned

Epilogue

Sources and Bibliography

This book is most respectfully dedicated to the victims of communism and terror and to the freedom of all captive nations and people.

Acknowledgments

A special thanks must go to the distinguished reviewers and those who made helpful comments: General P. X. Kelley, USMC (Ret); Ambassador Lev E. Dobriansky; Ambassador William A. Brown; Lieutenant General Stephen Olmstead, USMC (Ret); Major General Donald R. Gardner, USMC (Ret); President of the Marine Corps University Father Francis Giedgautas, OFM; Major General W. H. Rice, USMC (Ret); Major General John Cox, USMC (Ret); Brigadier General Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret); Charles Krutz, SES (Ret); Richard Hines, Foreign Service (Ret); Colonel William K. Rockey, USMC (Ret); Colonel Frederick C. Turner, USA (Ret); Captain Charles Chadbourn, USNR, Naval War College; Colonel John Keenan, USMC (Ret), Editor, Marine Corps Gazette; Colonel Paul Nikulla, USAF (Ret); Colonel L. G. Kelley, USMC (Ret); Colonel James Quisenberry, USMC (Ret); Colonel William V. Bournes (Ret); Captain Samuel F. Wright, USNR; Bebe F. Rice, author; Trudy Wilkinson; Lieutenant Colonel Con Silard, USMC (Ret); Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Guiler (Ret); Lieutenant Colonel Russel Lloyd Jr., USMC (Ret); Lieutenant Colonel John Guenther, USMC (Ret); Lieutenant Colonel Frank Kelly, USMC (Ret); Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Metzger (Ret); Lieutenant Colonel Roger Clawson, USMC (Ret); Lieutenant Colonel Paul Grant (Ret); Commander John Gallagher, USN (Ret); Major Franklin Broadwell, USMC (Ret); Elizabeth R. Birkhimer; Gediminas Indreika; Jurate Micuta; Patricia Snellings; Ann Capps; Kimberly Capps Cerda; Gwen Cody; Xenia Jowyk; Cynthia, Jana and Rocky Meskauskas; Ella Waller Nargele; Nora and Tim Cullen; Christine and William Marks; Lelia Belle Waller; Karen and Eric Meskauskas; Elaine Gardner; Audrey and Lacy Powell; Britton Warfield and Virginia Morgan.

Ultimately, I am responsible for the contents and any errors. Thanks to Marel Mallari for her help with the preparation of this manuscript.

Chapter 1: Introduction and US Marine Leadership

United States Marine Commanders Lead from Up Front

After taking the oath to support and defend the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, no greater honor exists than to serve our country and freedom. My last oath of office on active duty, while being promoted, was administered by Lieutenant General A. G. Dolph Schwenk, USMC, a great leader and an outstanding example of Marine generalship. When he commanded the Twenty-sixth Marines, he led from up front with distinction. One story told by Marines was that when he was pinned down by heavy automatic weapons fire, he kept moving forward, but a subordinate commander who was also pinned down called on the radio and said he could not move and wanted instructions. Colonel Schwenk said over the radio, This is six actual; put your left foot in front of your right foot, put your right foot in front of your left foot. Six actual, out.

During my service as his assistant chief of staff G-2, I learned to observe not only our enemies abroad but increasingly within. Alarm bells went off for me from the first day Democrats took over Congress in 2006 and when a radical leftist president with his lawless administration took over our whole government in 2008. Incalculable damage was done to our country during four years by the administration, as our constitution and our country were denigrated. Most Marine Corps leaders remained silent, but as a legal immigrant and escapee from Soviet communism, I tried to write letters to the editors to speak out in retirement against neo-Leninist and quasi-communist politicians. By law, retired veterans are allowed to do that in defense of our country. Having observed the attack on America, which began in 2006 and has been in progress since then, I joined many veterans and veteran organizations to defend freedom.

Other general officers whom I observed were outstanding leaders, and they include Major General Donald R. Gardner, USMC, who flew with his reconnaissance battalion teams by helicopter to lead them during insertion and extraction missions deep in enemy territory. Prior to that, I observed his leadership and his care of his Marines early in our careers with Company H, Second Battalion, Sixth Marines, during training in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. I also observed him during our Mediterranean cruise service with the Sixth Fleet, and then during the great Cuban Missile Crisis, when we were off the coast of Cuba waiting for weeks to conduct an amphibious landing against Soviet and Cuban troops near Havana (which was rescinded by President John F. Kennedy).

A few years later, among the many examples of the great leadership of Lieutenant General Stephen Olmstead, USMC, as Director of the development center and top-level assignments in the Pentagon, I became familiar with his outstanding service as the S-3 of the Sixth Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) during 27-28 April 1965, amphibious landings, and subsequent combat operations in the Dominican Republic. In December 1965 in Vietnam, I observed during Operation Harvest Moon the up-front leadership of then Brigadier General Jonas Platt, who had been my regimental commander at Sixth Marines before commanding Task Force Delta and closely supervising from the air by helicopter, the heavy engagements of Company H, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines and Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, as well as other units under his command during ambushes by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) units. While I was ready to go and waiting with the tactical command group, Commanding Officer LtCol William Donahue, S-3 Maj Angelo and CommO Capt Dominik Nargele (author), Second Battalion, Ninth Marines and the rest of our battalion to enter the fighting, I listened to the radio traffic with Captain Paul Gormley, who commanded Company H and was hit in the legs by a 57mm recoilless rifle round. Then First Lieutenant Harvey Barnum, the artillery forward observer, communicated with supporting units and the ambushes were broken up and the enemy was defeated. One of my radio operators with Captain Gormley, PFC Lucas, received the Bronze Star. General Platt received the Silver Star, and Lieutenant Barnum received the Medal of Honor.

In 1978, Major General W. H. Duff Rice was my commanding general, and he was a great leader while I was serving as his assistant chief of staff, G-2, of the Ninth Marine Amphibious Brigade (MAB) in Okinawa and Korea. He led combat reconnaissance teams on classified black operations while serving with the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Vietnam. Earlier in his career he commanded as a major the Second Force Reconnaissance Company during operations in Central America. Those are a few of the many examples of his distinguished service involving leadership up front and by example.

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Lieutenant General A.G. Dolph Schwenk administered my

oath to support and defend the Constitution during promotion ceremony at Headquarters, US Marine Corps, 1978.

Leadership of Commandants Paul X. Kelley, Al Gray, Carl E. Mundy Jr., and Charles Krulak

Leadership by example and consideration of others has been a hallmark of distinguished generals and commanders. The great leaders that I have known and read about have had similar traits that have distinguished them above others. They had a sense of fairness in dealing with people, and they did what they thought was right using common sense, despite conflicting priorities and not easily known consequences.

Honor, courage, and commitment is much more than a slogan in the United States Marine Corps—it is a way of life, according to General Alfred M. Gray, USMC (Ret), Twenty-ninth Commandant of the Marine Corps. For all Marine leaders, the thought is to try to do as much good as you can, for as many people as you can, for as long as you can. The reward will be very, very special. Leadership by example and consideration of others were a hallmark of distinguished generals. General Paul X. Kelley distinguished himself in Vietnam as a lieutenant colonel commanding Second Battalion, Fourth Marines and as a colonel commanding the First Marines. During the Beirut tragedy of 23 October 1983, when 241 Americans were killed (220 of which were Marines who were serving as peacekeepers), General Kelley, the twenty-eighth Commandant demonstrated great leadership during the crisis by remaining steadfast and faithful in caring for his Marines, refusing to take the easy way out, to protect himself, or to victimize others by seeking scapegoats. Commandant Kelley was a fighter and executed his responsibility as a great leader, which was implicit in command while politicians and media were looking for someone to blame during the crisis. He said that he was responsible for the conduct of every Marine even though he was technically not in charge for what happened under a complicated chain of command that included the state department, NATO, European Command, US Army Europe, the Sixth Fleet, and others, according to historian Edgar F. Puryear.

In November 2012, Commandant Kelley stated at the Amphibious Warfare Conference, Department of State, that our challenge is to project and sustain essential combat power across the oceans of the world. Only with the help and support of American people, the dedication, loyalty and hard work of many can we give this Nation and the free world a viable and flexible amphibious capability it richly deserves. Commandant Kelley stated a long time ago that when Marines look at the world’s map, they see that 75 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water with 272,000 miles of coastline. Marines see 34,000 miles of coastline in Europe and 31,000 miles in Africa, which represent our most realistic battlefields of the future.

A great leader who served with distinction at Khe Sanh was Commandant Carl E. Mundy Jr. He received orders to active duty in June 1957 and began a thirty-eight-year career that culminated in his selection to be Commandant of the corps. He became Commandant on 1 July 1991, retiring from that position on 30 June 1995. It has been my honor and privilege to meet the general and to hear him speak to Marines.

Commandant Charles C. Krulak was known to me from Vietnam, when he served in 1969 as S-3A, Seventh Marines at a time when I had to call at night on the phone from the G-3, First Marine Division to ask about contacts, spot reports, and sit-reps. Days before he became Commandant, during a chance brief passing, then Commandant Leonard F. Chapman told me that because I knew his son from our service with Second Battalion, Ninth Marines in Vietnam, General Krulak had been selected for Commandant. Commandant Krulak once talked about the leadership trait of selflessness and said,

When you’re in the military, active duty, you willingly give up many of your rights. You give up the right to live where you want to live. You execute your orders and go where people want you to go. You give up your right to not get shot at. You give up your right to speak out on political issues. You give up your right to campaign and you do that freely. But when you retire after having fought for and served the Constitution of the United States, you pick up the rights you so willingly put aside. I never felt bad about it. As a matter of fact, I question those who would watch their country and their military have the opportunity to choose between two people, one of them who represented years of degrading of the military combat effectiveness and another who said I’m going to reverse that degradation. Not to speak up to me was a lack of moral courage and a lack of doing what is right for our nation. When you’re on active duty you keep your council to yourself. But when you’re retired, not only do you have the right but also you need to execute that right. (General Charles C. Krulak, oral history of Marine Corps historical center)

Appreciation for Commandant Robert H. Barrow’s Leadership

Having served as an escort officer in March 1970 to General Robert H. Barrow in Subic Bay, Republic of Philippines, I learned that he was a three-war Marine who provided great leadership based on combat valor, and he maintained an abiding love and respect for Marines. In December 1950 in Korea, he led Company A, First Battalion, First Marines in subzero temperatures fighting against Chinese Communist Forces, secured Hill 1081 at Funchilin Pass, and covered the fighting withdrawal of Marines, for which he was awarded the Navy Cross. While I was assigned in 1969 to the Combat Operations Center, First Marine Division, I followed then Colonel Barrow’s reports as he commanded the Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division. From January to March 1969, the Ninth Marines swept the A Shau Valley, attacking a series of enemy bases along the Laotian border in Operation Dewey Canyon and denying the enemy sanctuary. The highly successful operation resulted in 1,617 enemy KIAs (Killed in Action) and 1,461 enemy weapons captured. For his combat leadership of the regiment, General Barrow received the US Army’s second highest award for valor, the Distinguish Service Cross. He once said that in any undertaking or institution, the importance of people transcends all else. As commander of Parris Island, he sometimes questioned graduating Marines as to what they had gotten out of their training, and he said the best answer he’d received was when a Marine answered, The private will always do whatever needs to be done. On 18 April 1979, he was appointed as the twenty-seventh Commandant of the Marine Corps. The turnover ceremony of the commandancy to General Kelley took place on Sunday evening, 26 June 1983, with President Ronald Reagan in attendance at Marine Barracks, Washington, DC. According to President Reagan, Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But the Marines don’t have that problem.

Appreciation for Marine Corps Leaders and Commanders

No matter how difficult combat may have been sometimes, leadership by great Marine commanders has made it seem easy with high morale at all times. Some examples of which I know and remember are:

1) Lieutenant General Clyde Dean as a captain leading Company E, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines, with Colonel George Scharnberg, then the battalion commander. Also Major Joe McClernon and captains Cliff Rushing, Joe Guggino, Lynn Orsborne, Russel Lloyd Jr., and Roger Clawson, and Second Lieutenants Buzz Buse and Leonard Chapman Jr. (son of Commandant Chapman).

2) Lieutenant General William K. Jones, Third Marine Division and Third Marine Amphibious Force commander.

3) Lieutenant General Robert Neller, Third Marine Division in Iraq.

4) Major General Ross T. Dwyer, my commander with Second Battalion, Sixth Marines and later Task Force Delta.

5) Colonel James Ord, G-3, First Marine Division and Commander, Fifth Marines; Fifth Marine battalion commanders Colonels William K. Rocky and Peter L. Hilgartner; and Lieutenant Colonel Frank Pacello, commander of Company M, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines.

6) Lieutenant Colonel Con Silard, Executive Officer, Cobra Squadron in Vietnam.

7) Colonels James Quisenberry and Wayne Burt in Vietnam operations.

8) First Sergeant Stiles, Gunnery Sergeant Subjanits, and Staff Sergeant Carpenter of Company H, Second Battalion, Sixth Marines; Staff Sergeants Heriberto Gonzalez, Herbert Wells, Edward Peterson, and Bill Duval of Communication Platoon, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines; and numerous officers of Second Battalion, Ninth Marines.

9) Sergeants Charles Krutz and Peter Samuelevich, US Military Liaison Mission to Commander in Chief, Group of Soviet Forces, Germany, and all other Noncommissioned Officers, Communications Platoon, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines (1965-1966) in Vietnam.

10) My adopted son, Corporal Britton Warfield Company C, First Battalion, Third Marines, in Afghanistan and Iraq; Corporal Dakota Meyer in Afghanistan; and Corporal Leland Skipper Albury, Wire Section, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines, after whom the Memorial Tennis Courts in Key West, Florida, are named. Last, there are Captain Bing West of the Defense Department and Major Jim Cox, Third Reconnaissance Battalion; Major Generals John Cox, Third Marine Amphibious Force and Bill Eschelman, First Marine Amphibious Force, and David Mize, Fourth Marine Division.

Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, speaking of the Marines on Iwo Jima in 1945, said, Uncommon valor was a common virtue.

Leading from Behind Means Being in the Rear with the Gear

According to many published sources in 2012, the Obama administration’s foreign policy of replacing friendly dictators in the Middle East with terrorists, and placing those terrorists in positions of power, has ushered al Qaeda, al Sharia, and the Muslim Brotherhood into control, backed by Iran, Turkey, Russia, and communist China. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been pulling the strings behind Iran and Syria in an effort to oust America from the Middle East. In their Russia- and China-supported positions of power, the Islamist terrorists have conducted many attacks against Israelis, NATO forces, and Americans, which may be a harbinger of much more to come. The Obama administration’s explanation of the Benghazi attack was designed to validate President Obama’s worldview by claiming al Qaeda had been destroyed. It played politics and misled Americans into believing there was no escalation in war and that there has been no unraveling of American power. Mr. Obama’s visit to Burma while war was imminent in the Middle East was not a sign of active leadership.

At the same time, Mr. Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid continued to raise the national debt beyond sixteen trillion dollars, crippling our military and slashing military maintenance and research and development. Their policy of redistribution of wealth and class warfare continued to decimate businesses and our economy. The national debt, described repeatedly by many as the greatest threat to our country, must be reduced by bringing back our private sector and industrial might. We need to restore capitalism in order to reduce unemployment. Instead of doing any of this, Mr. Obama continued to lead from behind. He was absent without leave while Iran was obtaining nuclear weapons and while the Middle East was going to hell in a hand basket, in my opinion.

Background to the Political War at Home and Never-Ending Cold War Overseas

In four short years from 2008 to 2012, President Obama and his administration, following a radical left agenda and the principles of Karl Marx instead of those of James Madison, reportedly destroyed much freedom, the American dream, the constitution, and economy. They doubled our national debt and hollowed out our armed forces, according to many distinguished authors, scholars and members of Congress. According to a Dutch parliamentarian, freedom in the Western world dies under an onslaught of communist principles every day as a terrorist and quasi-legal jihad is waged against Europe and America. For many American doctors, businesses, and patients, the Obama health care law has been a disaster and a crisis caused by government; it is a threat to the practice of medicine and is so complex that it could not be complied with by many businesses. Some voters had to ask themselves what was wrong in their thinking when they elected the failed president, who followed the image of his third-world father and conducted full-blown class warfare, redistribution of wealth, and the establishment of European socialism in America while spending 24 percent of GDP.

According to President Ronald Reagan, we must struggle to preserve freedom continuously since it is never more than one generation away from extinction. Freedom is not something achieved at one point in time; it has to be kept alive ever since the founding of our country against the forces of evil overseas and at home. There are jihadist, communist, and socialist forces at home that are trying to destroy our exceptional society. While America leads the world, is a beacon for freedom for all mankind, and is a shining city on the hill, radical leftists have been dragging it down in to the socialist European model and the gutter of failed states.

President Reagan taught us to always put freedom first. He stood squarely on his principles, strongly promoted his pro-American philosophy, and made clear to all of us that every generation must defend freedom—or lose it. According to Patrick Henry, our constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain and enslave our people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government, preventing it from dominating our lives and interests. Between 2008 and 2012, hardcore ideologue President Barack Obama, with Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has created an economic crisis by adding five trillion dollars to our national debt and increasing its total to over sixteen trillion dollars—while blaming others for economic and social failures caused by their own failed ideology, and never taking responsibility for disastrous and lawless policies against our private sector and economy. According to nationally syndicated, distinguished media personalities and authors like Mark Levin and David Limbaugh, President Obama has in effect waged war against our nation and has not been a legislator but instead been a dictator in many aspects of governance. According to popular author Laura Ingraham, during a second term, President Obama will add a trillion dollars to the national debt every year above what the government would take in, based on his own projected spending estimates.

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President George W. Bush’s letter to the author, Virginia, 2004.

After destroying our economy by regulating and taxing small businesses out of existence, the Democrats and radical leftists have falsely blamed others, especially President George W. Bush, for their mistakes and their addition to the US deficit. The false blame narrative against President Bush by Democrats and their allies have alleged that the economic collapse of September 2008, which they caused by destroying the housing market, was due to President Bush and not them. The day the Democrats took over was not January 22, 2009—it was actually January 3, 2007, when the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. At the very start of the 110th Congress, the Democrats controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995.

For those who have listened to the fallacy that everything is Bush’s fault, the following facts apply on the day the Democrats took over the Senate and the Congress:

(1) The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77.

(2) The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%.

(3) The unemployment rate was 4.6%

(4) George Bush’s economic policies set a record of 52 straight months of job creation.

The day of infamy was January 3, 2007, because that was the day when Congressman Barney Frank took over the House Financial Services Committee and when Chris Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee. The economic meltdown that happened fifteen months later was in their part of the economy, banking and financial services.

We have to thank the Democrats (especially Congressman Frank) for taking us from 13,000 DOW, 3.5 GDP, and 4.6 percent unemployment to economic crisis by (among many other things) dumping five to six trillion dollars of toxic loans on the economy from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fiascoes.

Bush asked Congress seventeen times to stop Fannie and Freddie, starting in 2001, because it was financially risky for the US economy. Barney blocked it and called it a Chicken Little Philosophy—and the sky did fall. The third highest payoff from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was taken by President Obama. He fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie along with the Democrat Congress, especially Congressman Frank. When someone tries to blame President Bush, they should remember January 3, 2007, the day the Democrats took over. In addition, it was President Bill Clinton who caused the beginning of the housing and finance crash, which was falsely blamed on President Bush.

Bush may have been in the White House, but the Democrats were in charge of the economy’s gas pedal and steering wheel, and they drove the economy into the ground. Budgets do not come from the White House; they come from Congress, where the Democratic Party was in control since January 2007. Furthermore, the Democrats controlled the budget process for 2008 and 2009, as well as 2010 and 2011. In 2006, they had to contend with George Bush, who caused them to compromise on spending when he somewhat belatedly got tough on spending increases. However, for 2009 Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama could take office. At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the 2009 budget.

In foreign policy, during a November 2011 Republican Party debate, Presidential White House candidates touched upon President Obama’s failure to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. It appeared that Mr. Obama refused to stand up to the Ayatollahs; was retreating in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Libya; and was abandoning our allies in the region to Iran. As Mr. Obama withdrew from Iraq and Afghanistan based on polls for Democratic party re-election reasons, our allies were being forced to come to terms with the Ayatollahs who dominated Iran. Mr. Obama sacrificed our country’s interests overseas for his re-election priorities, just as he sacrificed the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline project for the same end. In both cases, he did this against the best interests of the American people and our country. Also, Mr. Obama was wrong not to hammer out a status of forces agreement in Iraq to protect what was won with US lives, blood, and treasure there. Since then, according to distinguished journalist K. T. McFarland, we have been losing the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

It appeared that to maintain peace with Iran, we needed to be prepared for war, and a new policy toward Iran was needed. Specifically, we required far tougher economic sanctions, a unified NATO stance, much more support for the Iranian dissidents, forceful diplomacy with a serious military option, restoration of aircraft-carrier groups in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean, an increase in military assistance to Israel, and a clear message to Iran that the United States would not tolerate its acquisition of nuclear weapons.

What Wasn’t Discussed at the Sioux City Primary Debate

Some important topics were omitted from a Republican discussion at a 2012 presidential candidate debate. Although the Fox News-hosted debate was the best up to that point, according to many the following was not mentioned: Communist China made a $350 billion profit off the United States during 2011, and we paid in part for China’s largest ever military buildup. The US stealth drone that went down in 2011 in Iran should have been destroyed or taken back without twenty years of technology falling into enemy hands. China added a 22 percent sales tax to American cars and other US products sold in their country. OPEC, along with Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, have been sapping our wealth by manipulating our oil prices—while President Obama blocked or delayed use of our vast oil, natural gas, and coal resources.

The Obama administration deliberately destroyed parts of our economy in order to get the president re-elected, because this was in line with the ideological agenda of radical voters. In a speech the president delivered at Fort Bragg to appease anti-war leftists, he did not acknowledge the victory won in Iraq by 1.5 million Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen during almost nine years of fighting, with more than 4,400 US troops killed in action and more than 30,000 US troops wounded. In that speech, President Obama also failed to mention to the troops the large budget cuts that would affect the Pentagon in the 2013 year under a deficit reduction agreement he’d made with Congress. Spending reductions became inevitable after Mr. Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi added trillions of dollars to the