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Have you asked yourself why Somali pirates felt free to execute four Americans even though we know where their bases are? Or why we had to rely on a barely-seaworthy ferry to evacuate our citizens from Libya while other nations sent their naval forces?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s called “the Decline of U.S. Naval Power.” That\u2019s also the headline of an op-ed written by Mark Helprin in the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n
Mr. Helprin notes that we now have the smallest Navy in almost a century. Fifty years ago, we had 1,000 combat vessels at the ready today – we have 286. After the Cold War, we reduced the Navy and since then we\u2019ve made reductions, upon those reductions.<\/p>\n
Yes, our ships today are more powerful than in the past – but we cannot project naval power in as many places as before. Any losses could be catastrophic – especially since we\u2019ve shut down so many military bases around the world.<\/p>\n
Before 1998, we commonly had 60 ships in the seaward approaches to our mainland. Today we have just 20. Another fact of life: 90 to 95 percent of all the products we trade travel by sea – a vulnerability our enemies could well exploit. “Maritime interdiction,” writes Mr. Helprin, “is the quickest route to both the strangulation of any given nation and chaos in the international system.”<\/p>\n
Bottom line: we\u2019re abdicating our role on the oceans, while China invests heavily in its navy. Consider this a wake-up call. We\u2019d better hope somebody is paying attention for America\u2019s sake!<\/p>\n
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you asked yourself why Somali pirates felt free to execute four Americans even though we know where their bases are? Or why we had to rely on a barely-seaworthy ferry to evacuate our citizens from Libya while other nations sent their naval forces? It\u2019s called “the Decline of U.S. Naval Power.” That\u2019s also the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n