Protection of Our National Security

___In the 1950s the United States under Eisenhower had several hundred military advisors in Vietnam. Kennedy raised that to several thousand. Johnson intervened in a civil war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and increased our numbers to several hundred thousand. Over 48 thousand of my generation died in this political and military intervention. I was in college during the 1960s, and my career choices were limited to the branches of the military. In 1967 when I graduated, there were over 700,000 American military personnel in Southeast Asia. I joined the U.S. Air Force in August.

___I served in Space Systems and Missile Warning. I had a Secret security clearance, and I received classified information about our enemies and their capabilities. I had sworn to protect that information, and I have.

___In our representative form of government, we elect those who will get the security clearances and make decisions based on the classified information they receive. It is vital to the national security that we choose well. If revealed, Top Secret information can cause “exceptionally grave damage to the national security.” Our methods and key people could be revealed and intelligence could be compromised for decades. George W. Bush was criticized for using human intelligence data that indicated “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq. By the time Iraq was invaded, these weapons had been moved or never existed. Our human intelligence is imperfect. The enemy does not post their plans and capabilities on Facebook! If our methods for obtaining human intelligence are compromised, then we will be blind, and our operatives may die.

___Hillary Clinton, the Democrat candidate, is being investigated for failure to secure classified – including Top Secret/Special Access Required – data. General Petraeus was convicted for far less. It is amazing that over 70% of my fellow South Carolinians believe that Clinton should be the next President! As if Barack Obama – surrounding himself with high-level Muslim advisors like Valerie Jarret – hasn't done enough damage already!