As a Constitutional conservative, I will only work with the powers vested to me in Congress within Article 1, Section 8. I am not conceptually an anti-war candidate. As a commissioned officer in the Navy during the Vietnam era, I believe we must maintain a strong military, superior to that of any other nation, and provide our soldiers the necessary equipment for them to perform optimally and protect them from harm. While war can be considered justified and essential under certain circumstances, the consequences of war – loss of life, disability, displacement of innocents – should be abhorrent to morally principled people. In consideration of the above, war must be constitutionally declared, have specific goals, a realistic plan to achieve success, and an exit strategy once the objectives have been realized.

On September 11, 2001, our nation was attacked with the unacceptable murder of over three thousand of our fellow citizens. I believe it was our right and obligation to locate, capture, and punish the perpetrators by whatever means necessary and without the consent or help of the international community. If that goal had been our focus and had been efficiently and successfully prosecuted, our troops would most likely be at home today. Instead, we embarked on a course of “nation-building” both in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a result, eight years later, our brave men and women in uniform continue to be in harm’s way in foreign countries with no end in sight.

Most importantly, as a nation, we do not have the spare money to prosecute extended military actions overseas. Every dollar we spend in Iraq and Afghanistan is either borrowed from China or printed by the Federal Reserve, neither of which is fiscally prudent for our nation’s future. Since the terrorists can plan and mount attacks against us from anywhere (e.g., Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Yemen), our current mission should be directed efficiently and effectively toward capturing our terrorist enemies, punishing those who harbor them, and crippling their ability to attack us again.

There is a historical parallel here in Jefferson’s pursuit of the Barbary pirates in the early nineteenth century. Our nation undertook successful military action against the pirates and the leaders of the nations that harbored them without rebuilding Tripoli in the image of New York City. To continue this thought process, even Jefferson understood that defense of our nation is not limited to military action only on our own shores. True “isolationism”, maybe possible in colonial times, is not practical or safe in today’s world in which a nation can be destroyed in minutes instead of weeks or months. Our federal government has the absolute right and moral obligation to defend our country and our fellow citizens by all justified actions wherever necessary.

When I am in Congress, I will work to bring our troops home from those military bases that are not necessary around the world and focus on bringing our government back down to the level the founders advise. While I do not believe we should enter into “entangling” alliances that would require our military action without the consent of Congress, our world is too small to exist without friends who might ask us for help. In those instances, the need for military assistance could be decided on a case by case basis.

The issue of preemptive military action is more difficult in our times. To use a “real world” example, an aggressor 10 feet away or a sniper 400 yards away both pointing a loaded gun at you represent an immediate risk of death. An aggressive bully 10 feet away, armed or not, shouting insults and threats represents a much lower risk of death or injury. You would most likely agree that different responses are required for each of the above circumstances. As your Congressman, it would be my obligation to evaluate the true risk to our nation before choosing an appropriate course of action to protect our nation and its citizens.

I hope you will join me in my fight to bring founding principles back to the capitol.

Trust In Freedom,
Dr. Dan Eichenbaum