War veteran and former Gov. of Texas Rick Perry expounded on his executive experience as the Lone Star State’s longest-serving governor and laid out the ways in which he would combat the rise of radical Islam, in addition to providing his promise of unwavering, tangible support for our country’s esteemed veterans — if he decides to run for president.
“Our army is at the lowest level it’s been since June of 1940. We are down to 10 carriers; 11 is the minimum and I would suggest to you we probably need 13,” Perry explained in an interview with Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon during the South Carolina Freedom Summit this past weekend. He said America looks like 1979 all over again when Jimmy Carter was president and our military and naval forces were utterly diminished.
He compared that with Reagan’s presidency soon after where he single-handedly led the world to defeating Soviet communism and the Berlin Wall fell because he was a commander in chief who “understood these things.”
Yet, he assured Breitbart News that with the appropriate prioritizing of our spending, a great portion of which would go towards building up our military defense again, America could see the best days ahead. “I’m optimistic about the future of this country,” Perry said with conviction.
“What’s going on today at the VA gives me great heartburn,” he told Breitbart News. Simply “giving a sack of pills and a pat on the back” to our veterans is unacceptable, he said; particularly when it comes to treating veterans that have PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.
Perry comes from a lineage of military service. He explained how his own father, who is 90, had to drive over 130 miles in one direction just to get to a VA hospital in Big Spring, Texas before he received his choice card. His dad served in WWII, helping to defeat the Nazis in Germany.
Having served as a pilot during the Vietnam War Perry had the opportunity to live in various parts of the world, including the European Theater, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Bahrain; all of which helped to amplify his understanding of the Middle East and its people. And as commander in chief of the Texas Military Guard, Perry knows a few things about defending the territory over which one presides; a skill set that he has stated before is critical for the POTUS to have and that governors most often have by default due to what their work requires of them.
As for whether or not he will announce for 2016, Perry had this to say:
If I decide to make this race, and if I were in fact to be successful in it, the veterans of this country — and just as importantly their families — are going to know that there is someone who wakes up every day, in the White House, [who will be] going to the Oval Office, [and get] on the phone saying “we getting done to take care of our veterans today.”
Regarding foreign policy, Perry point blank stated that Obama has refused to acknowledge and call the rise of groups like ISIS, the Taliban and Boko Haram, for what they are. “This is a radical, fanatical, religious-based effort and we’ve got to eliminate them.” He then went on the lay out an actual tangible plan of action for eliminating them, which he suggested must start with an Arab coalition consisting of our allies in the Middle East; Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah of Jordan — whom Perry says he is a big fan of — Israel, Turkey and Egypt’s President General al-Sisi.
King Abdullah presented a tremendous display of valor when he suited up in his military uniform recently and led troops into airstrikes against ISIS after they burnt one of the Hashemite Kingdom’s pilots to death in an animal cage. Egypt’s al-Sisi has also called for a “religious revolution” within Islam, stemming from the rise of radical Islamic terrorism; a phrase President Obama has gone to painstaking lengths to avoid using.
As chief executive of the 13th biggest economy in the world — Texas — Perry played up the importance of executive experience “versus this young, inexperienced, U.S. Senator and the economy that we have today.” He said that everybody knows America’s economy is on its back because of President Obama’s politics. “The president wants to raise the corporate tax rate,” when instead the focus should be placed on talking to every blue collar worker and lowering the corporate tax rate which will wind up raising these workers’ wages by 5-10%.
He said that as president he would being in the power of the 10th Amendment, which also happens to be his favorite amendment. As far as the presidency and constitution goes, it is critical to have a strong military and to secure our borders, he said. And when it comes to other things such as healthcare, transportation, and education that are not in the constitution? “Let the states deal with it.”
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz
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