In their 1998 book, "A World Trans­formed," George H.W. Bush and Brent Scow­croft re­count the events that fun­da­men­tally changed the world dur­ing the Bush pres­i­dency. At the end of the last chap­ter Bush ob­serves: "The im­por­tance of Amer­i­can en­gage­ment has never been higher. If the United States does not lead, there will be no lead­er­ship. . . If we fail to live up to our re­spon­si­bil­i­ties, if we shirk the role that only we can as­sume, if we re­treat from our oblig­a­tion to the world in in­dif­fer­ence, we will one day pay the high­est price once again for our ne­glect and short­sight­ed-ness."

For all the chal­lenges the past 20 years brought on this coun­try—for all the loss, the heartache, the hubris and the er­rant de­ci­sions—in times of cri­sis, the world still looked to Amer­ica to lead. They be­lieved that in spite of our po­lit­i­cal dif­fer­ences, our do­mes­tic tur­moil, the ug­li­ness of our de­mo­c­ra­tic process and some bad de­ci­sions, Amer­ica in the end would do the right thing. That we would stand up to tyranny, lift up the down­trod-den, free the op­pressed, and fight for the right­eous.

Now, the world no longer looks up to Amer­ica. They have been wit­ness to our dis­mis­siveness, our lack of re­spect and our trans­ac­tional ap­proach to global is­sues. They have seen us tear up our treaties, leave our al­lies on the bat­tle­field and cozy up to despots and dic­ta­tors. They have seen our in­com­pe­tence in han­dling the pan­demic and the wild­fires. They have seen us strug­gle with so­cial in­jus­tice. They no longer think we can

This could all change in No­vember.

We need a pres­i­dent who un­der­stands the im­por­tance of Amer­i­can lead­er­ship, at home and abroad. We need a leader of in­tegrity whose de­cency and sense of re­spect re­flects the val­ues we ex­pect from our pres­i­dent. We need a pres­i­dent for all Amer­i­cans, not just half of Amer­ica.

This week I went to the polls in Texas. Truth be told, I am a pro-life, pro-Sec­ond Amend-ment, small-gov­ern­ment, strong-de­fense and a na­tional-an­them-stand­ing con­ser­v­a­tive. But, I also be­lieve that black lives mat­ter, that the Dream­ers de­serve a path to cit­i­zen­ship, that di­ver­sity and in­clu­sion are es­sen­tial to our na­tional suc­cess, that ed­u­ca­tion is the great equal­izer, that cli­mate change is real and that the First Amend-ment is the cor­ner­stone of our democ­racy. Most im­por­tant, I be­lieve that Amer­ica must lead in the world with courage, con­vic­tion and a sense of honor and hu­mil­ity.

If we re­main in­dif­fer­ent to our role in the world, if we re­treat from our oblig­a­tion to our cit­i­zens and our al­lies and if we fail to choose the right leader, then we will pay the high­est price for our ne­glect and short­sight­ed­ness.

I voted for Joe Biden.

Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2020

William McRaven, a re­tired Navy ad­mi­ral, was com­man­der of U.S. Spe­cial Op­er­a­tions Com­mand, 2011-14. McRaven's 36-year military career was marked by several high-profile accomplishments, including his leadership role in Operation Neptune Spear, targeting al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in 2011.

###

October 21, 2020

Voices4America Post Script. Admiral McRaven, who lead the raid on Bin Laden, wrote this op- Ed in the WSJ. Additionally, more than 200 retired generals, admirals endorse Biden, including some who served under Trump. Link in post. #MakeAmericaRespectedAgain #SaveDemocracy #BidenHarris2020

"Our allies no longer trust or respect us, and our enemies no longer fear us," the former officers and officials wrote in a letter released Thursday. https://www.nationalsecurityleaders4biden.com/