By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Purchase at Penquin Books or Amazon.com

Readers of NoisyRoom and Trevor Loudon’s site, New Zeal, know that I feel that Leon Panetta is a radical Marxist, who is also a clear and present danger to the United States of America. Panetta and Obama wish to cut billions from the defense budget – in fact, they have already done so, weakening the US dangerously. With WWIII looming with Iran, this goes far beyond foolishness and moves into the realm of treason.

Recently I was asked to review the book, The Wounded Giant: America’s Armed Forces in an Age of Aus­ter­ity, by Michael O’Hanlon. When I found out it covered our military budget and the consequences of severely cutting it, I couldn’t wait to read it. O’Hanlon goes where evidently our elitist leaders dare not go. He goes through several chilling scenarios on how we would handle catastrophic military events with a downsized military.

While I don’t agree on every issue (for example, I do not see China as a friendly rival – they are our enemy, plain and simple), the book is a great read and on a subject that we as a nation need to confront. O’Hanlon is a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution and I find his depth of knowledge and expertise refreshing and enlightening.

O’Hanlon and I agree that the military could be streamlined. I believe that we should bring our troops home from theaters where we have been for decades – places where we are not needed and should not be – like Germany and other European countries. However, we cannot turn our backs on the likes of Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. It doesn’t matter if we don’t believe in war – our enemies do. The author acknowledges that there are dangers in cutting too much, which is a wise observation in this global life and death Sun Tzu chess match. Whereas, I agree with him on reducing troop sizes, that is only if we can avoid a nuclear Iran. Which, frankly, I don’t see happening.

One area that bears looking at is production for the military and supplying a war effort. Most of that has now gone offshore and it needs to be brought home. This would necessarily increase costs in some areas, but is vital to our military needs and infrastructure.

One other thought here… Though I believe we can cut costs by reducing our global military footprint, there is an argument for increasing military expenditures in light of Iran’s current aggression and the looming threat of a proxy war with Russia and China. Right now, we are viewed as weak because we have a weak and corrupt leader. We need to strengthen our military and not reduce our nuclear arsenal for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who does not live in a hole in the ground. Which may be what Israel and the US look like if we don’t get our act together militarily and soon.

This book should be read by every candidate out there – from the Presidency down to the lowliest of government positions. It is a road map for cutting waste and is well thought out and detailed. Strength through defense has always been the American way and The Wounded Giant stays true to the principle. I recommend the book – it is a subject each of us needs to learn more about and face head on.

TLC Book Tour for The Wounded Giant: