A Presentation by John Warren to Republican Women and their Guests
Lima One Capital CEO John Warren, who served as a United States Marine Corps officer in Iraq, was the featured speaker at the Greenville County Republican Women’s Club Annual Americanism program at the Poinsett Club.
Warren discussed how the United States could defeat ISIS and restore our nation’s greatness.
Since the economy is the engine that fuels our national defense, Warren said we must first “control federal spending, reform the tax code and entitlements and repeal damaging regulations.”
He discussed the importance of small business in the economy. He said the 26 million businesses with 500 employees or less employ half of the working Americans.
If we are to defeat ISIS, we must repeal the $492 billion in sequestration that has gutted the United States military. Unless repealed, this cut in the military will result in the smallest Army since WW I, cut the number of ships down to pre-WW-II levels and reduce the number of aircraft to the level before the United States Air Force was created. The forces will be so small that we will no longer be capable of engaging in a two front war.
The forces must be configured to deal with insurgencies. It is not possible to defeat an insurgency with air power alone. Warren said he has been informed by pilots that many planes that are loaded with bombs and sent on bombing runs and return with their weapons because there is no one on the ground to direct them to targets. Not only is there need for troops on the ground, it is also necessary to have support of the local population.
The President of the United States must exhibit strong leadership. If he makes promises or issues threats and does not keep his word and follow up, our allies will not trust us and our enemies will not fear us.
We must abandon the policy of trying to democratize the Middle East. He said, “invading Iraq was a disaster.” We lost the effort after losing 5,000 KIA and 30,000 wounded. As a result regimes supportive of the USA were toppled and Iran became the ultimate winner.
“Anyone who says they would still invade Iraq is either delusional, not very bright or lying,” Warren concluded.
ISIS gets its money by stealing or selling oil. The oil is sold to Turkey. This must be curtailed.
We need to freeze ISIS funds, put special forces on the ground, expand specialized training, create a strong public relations program and secure the borders of the United States if we are to defeat ISIS.