Center Calls on Presidential Candidates to Endorse the ‘Peace through Strength’ Platform

Washington, DC: The Center for Security Policy announced that it has invited nine major current 2012 Presidential contenders to endorse the 12-point Peace Through Strength Platform, in advance of the next Presidential Republican primary debate on September 7th. The candidates are: eight Republican primary candidates, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum, and the current Democratic candidate, President Barack Obama.

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Regarding the importance of the platform, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President of the Center for Security Policy said:

“Our nation faces multiple fiscal and other crises, all linked – but we can’t solve any of them unless we remain safe from attack by our enemies. What is most worrying is that such foes are being emboldened by what they correctly perceive as yawning shortfalls in our military preparedness and homeland security. These deficiencies greatly magnify the risks associated with present and emerging threats.”

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“Now more than ever, we need to be guided in such matters by the time-tested philosophy Ronald Reagan dubbed “Peace through Strength.” It has served us well in the past. To realize its benefits for our country and her people in the future, Americans must insist in the run-up to the 2012 election that we adhere to the “Twelve for ‘12” policy platform.”

Last year, a number of other candidates, including 2011 Iowa straw poll winner Michelle Bachmann, as well as other national security and public policy figures, lent their names to the Peace Through Strength Platform, and its objective of applying that Reagan philosophy to contemporary challenges. In the letter below, the Center for Security Policy asked all candidates to associate themselves with that time-tested approach – or identify an alternative to which they subscribe. The Peace Through Strength Platform encourages the sort of clarity about national defense and foreign policy that the times urgently require of would-be Commanders-in-Chief. The current Peace Through Strength Platform is comprised of twelve principles, dubbed the “Twelve for ’12.” These principles address a wide range of national and homeland security issues directly relevant to the safety and well-being of American voters:

1. Maintain a robust defense posture.
2. Invest in our national security.
3. Preserve American sovereignty.
4. Insist that arms control accords enhance America’s security.
5. Preserve and Protect the Constitution of the United States.
6. Assure America’s energy security.
7. Secure America’s borders.
8. Protect America from unlawful enemy combatants.
9. Protect the military culture essential to the All-Volunteer Force.
10. Pursue a foreign policy that supports our allies and opposes our adversaries.
11. Enlist judicial and educational institutions in defending America.
12. Use force only where appropriate and, where that is the case, commit to victory.

The 2012 Peace Through Strength Platform is offered as a catalyst for voters’ conversations with the presidential candidates who are campaigning now in earnest in key states across the country. It provides a particularly useful context for the next Republican debate scheduled to be held September 7th at the Reagan Presidential Library in California. Candidates for House and Senate seats will also be asked to endorse this platform to define for their constituents where they stand with respect to ensuring that those we ask to defend this country, whether at home or abroad, have what they need to perform their vital missions. Such clarity is particularly essential as Congress considers this fall making possibly draconian cuts in defense spending, reductions that will only exacerbate the hollowing out of our military that has taken place in recent years. For the full version of the 2012 Peace Through Strength Platform and more information about its principles and the necessity for their implementation, please visit: www.peacethroughstrength.com *********************************************

LETTER TO CANDIDATES

Dear [Candidate]: In a world characterized by growing threats to the U.S. Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees, the safety and prosperity of Americans – and perhaps our country’s very existence – are ever more at risk. We believe such times demand a robust, national security posture sufficient to contend with the dangers our nation will face in the coming years. They also require thoughtful, principled leadership to mitigate those dangers and assure our nation a future as bright as its storied past. To those ends, the Center for Security Policy has proposed a Peace through Strength Platform for 2012. We are inviting each of the presidential candidates of both parties to endorse its common-sense planks and, by so doing, to clarify for the American people the philosophy, vision and quality of those who would serve as our Commander-in-Chief for the next four years. This Platform updates and expands an earlier version developed and endorsed by a number of candidates in the 2010 cycle and by many of our nation’s top national security and public policy authorities. As with its predecessor, the “Twelve for ’12” program is rooted in the time-tested approach to defense and foreign policy that President Ronald Reagan dubbed “peace through strength.” As you know, that Reagan philosophy has served this nation well in the past. It seems likely to be needed more in the future than ever before. Voters need to know whether you share that sentiment or would, if elected, seek to secure the peace through some other approach. Please let me know as soon as possible whether you espouse the “Twelve for ’12” principles outlined in the attached Peace through Strength Platform. I can be reached via info@securefreedom.org or 202-835-9077. Sincerely, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. President and CEO

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