From his mail page. Pournelle is replying to a long critical letter, and towards the end of his comments he comes up with:

...So: to summarize what I would do were I in charge:



Begin to develop the means of energy independence. That includes new nuclear power plants (which need no R&D), and a vigorous R&D program to make access to space dependable and cheap. Use space access to develop an ICBM defense proof against a dozen or so missiles fired at us without warning.

Build up the Border Patrol and get actual control of the borders. Build up the Customs Service to make smuggling mass weapons into the US more difficult. Build up the intelligence services.

Make it clear that an attack on the US will bring retaliation against the ruling class of any country that encouraged it, or failed to discourage it. The Afghan example is clear enough.

Starting bringing our armies home, and minding our own business: the above program will be cheaper than a war, but it's not free and it will need considerable attention and management. But if we make it clear we are no threat to those who leave us in peace, we remove much of the incentive to those who would invest resources into destroying us -- and we give a lot less incentive to their potential allies in the US itself, and alas, there are many of them, all more likely to help the enemy if they think us immoral and dangerous.

Will that bring about perfect safety? I don't know. It seems as likely to work as would conquest, and it has the merit of being something justifiable on both moral and expedient grounds.

Will we do that? Not likely.

Will what we will actually do make us safer? We can pray so. My analysis is that it will not; but I am hardly omniscient.



This is admittedly appealing to my libertarian sensibilities, and the Founding Fathers probably would have agreed. But again, the oceans were wider in those days.

Pulling back out of the world, and building Fortess America has a lot to recommend it. But there are flaws, too. When North Korea inevitably pours over the border and obliterates South Korea; when China comes down and eats Taiwan; when the Arabs, now armed with atomic weapons, finally do what they have tried several times before and obliterate Israel, after absorbing whatever nuclear hell Israel is able to muster in return...

Do we have what it takes to sit on our hands and just keep our powder dry?

Europe certainly seems to.

Say what you will about our moral right to be the World Policeman, the threat of American armed force is the only thing restraining many tyrannies now. Certainly this was true during the Cold War. If this is removed, then what? Even assuming that we can survive the Empire of Hussein having a hammerlock on all Mideastern oil, what other economic consequences would there be when one Western advanced nation after another is wiped out?

If we don't protect Western civilization around the world, who will? The United Nations, which would probably be perfectly comfortable if every nation on Earth was totalitarian?

I don't have answers to this. Does anyone?