America and the World: National Security for a New Era

The next president must set a high bar on the use of force, and an exceedingly high bar on doing so unilaterally. When America acts alone, it can only be because core interests are at stake and because there is no alternative. Notably, this is not currently true of the situation in Venezuela. It is not currently true of the situation around Iran. It is the difference between the necessary response to 9/11 in Afghanistan and the self-defeating invasion of Iraq. It is, in short, the difference between Normandy and Saigon.

We should never again send troops into conflict without a clear definition of their mission and an understanding of what will come after. We should never again find ourselves in a situation like we did in 2017, when four U.S. soldiers were killed on a counterterrorism mission in Niger, only to have senators from both parties admit that they didn’t even realize that we had 1,000 troops stationed in that country.

Correcting this is not only a matter of presidential restraint but of renewed congressional oversight. The time for a Congress asleep at the switch must come to an end. If members of our military can find the courage to deploy to a war zone, then members of our Congress ought to be able to summon the courage to take tough votes on war and peace.

Now, our military capabilities exist, of course, for a reason. We stand ready to use force — under specific, lawful circumstances and when there is no peaceful alternative. I believe we should use force when there is a clear and present threat to the U.S.; when it’s necessary to deter and defend against an attack on or imminent threat against the United States, our citizens at home or abroad, or our treaty allies; and when we act as part of a legitimate international coalition to prevent genocide or other atrocities. But when we must use force, we must also have an end game. Before, during and after a deployment of troops, we should also deploy diplomatic, development and security assistance to guard against future instability
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Pete Buttigieg - Foreign Policy

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