Op-Ed: Jeremy Hunt: Honor our heroes by delivering peace through strength
In the first year of the Biden administration’s tenure, the world watched as we disastrously withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving billions of dollars of equipment to the Taliban and losing 13 brave service members in the process. After more than two decades, countless American lives sacrificed, and trillions of dollars of taxpayer money spent, we surrendered the country and our brave allies over to our enemies — and zero accountability has been taken.
In the years since, a new ‘Axis of Authoritarians’ between countries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea have deepened their cooperation, and collectively sought to test the limits of American power.
This is evidenced by Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which has drawn our economic and military resources away from theaters in the Indo-Pacific and Middle East. China has subsequently continued to build its capabilities at breakneck speed and scale, threatening to take Taiwan by force. And Iran, more emboldened than ever by our conciliatory Middle East policy, has taken advantage of its resources to strengthen its proxies and unleash them against U.S. forces, and our allies and partners in the region.
Time and again, the Biden-Harris administration has demonstrated that it has lacked the strength and decisiveness to lead and defend this nation and ensure the safety of our military service members. Take for example the tragic and unnecessary death of Army SGT Quandarius Stanley who succumbed to injuries he sustained while building President Biden’s failed Gaza humanitarian pier, or the recent deaths of 3 U.S. service members killed in Jordan this year by an Iranian-backed militia.
Our country’s veterans have lost faith in our leadership and in turn, trust and interest in our military is plummeting. It comes as no surprise then to see that according to Pew Research Center, 67 percent of veterans had plans to vote for President Trump before Election Day.
Though we are still waiting on the actual numbers, it’s likely that the aforementioned foreign policy failures on the world stage have greatly contributed to the former president’s broad appeal amongst the veteran community.
Furthermore, America has chosen to put more veteran voices in Congress — people like Tim Sheehy and Dave McCormick, who unseated long-time senators in swing races. Their impressive victories are indicative of the kind of leaders our veterans and the American people are demanding: ones who understand the meaning of sacrifice, duty to their nation, and who will lead with an understanding of the threats we face.
It is clear that our veterans are calling for a return of American strength to the White House, and our next Commander in Chief owes it to them to respect their sacrifice and to not give up the security they fought for by allowing our enemies to run rampant.
National security issues are veterans issues — and this Veterans Day, the best way to thank all who have worn the uniform, is by making the right choices for our national security on behalf of the men and women still serving. This is something that President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, Capitol Hill, and America’s veterans can all agree on.
Jeremy Hunt, a West Point graduate, served as a U.S. Army intelligence captain and deployed to Ukraine in 2016. He’s now a media fellow at Hudson Institute and chairman of Veterans on Duty, a nonprofit organization focused on national security.
