have a draft anymore, that we have an all volunteer service because we know we can tap into that reserve of americans who believes in what our nation stands for and serve. david: colonel shaffer, it seems to go in waves. we had, of course, ronald reagan, who was very tough in the military and won the cold war essentially, even though it happened after he left office and then we got lazy about things, and cut way back called it the peace dividend during the clinton years and some say it led us to leave down our guard which gave room for the terrorists to make their move. then with gw bush, we got very active in the military and president obama s era we pulled back again and now it seems we re building up again. so it s like a rollercoaster, isn t it? look, to your point, i enlisted in 81 and i fully thought that i would die in germany for those who remember
fail to give me the shivers. if they don t pull at your heart strings, then you really are just devoid of emotion. i mean, i have attended services at arlington cemetery where we have buried those who have paid the sacrifice for our nation and every time that song plays, it just tears at my heart and you have a tear in your eye because it truly is that last and final note of thanks that we, as a nation, give to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. david: colonel shaffer. well, look, i have a hard time after everything i ve been through not tearing up when i hear it by the fact that it represents, as kirk said, that last full measure of devotion to the duty of the country and obviously, for those families who stay behind. i mean, that s one of those things, too, that often, you know, we forget that as much as we wish to honor the dead, we
of ceremonies himself, mr. matthew webb and then, of course, we ll be hearing from the vice-president. we want to bring all of that to you as soon as it begins. they had to get to a slightly different local, it s again, in arlington national cemetery, but that s where they re getting ready to speak. colonel shaffer, again, we have two big memorials every year for veterans, for those who have fallen and for those who have served, memorial day and veterans day, is that enough? i think it s you don t want to go over the top, david. look, as kirk was just pointing out, we honor the service of those who have given everything they can for the country and many of us are very humbled by our service. we talked about who enlists. the military is the great equalizer, in 1981 when i enlisted i pulled kitchen patrol scrubbing pots as a private e-2. and i think we all have adequate representation, i think this
isis. watch. it is very difficult for us to detect lone wolf plots or plots involving a husband and wife in this case because despite the incredible vigilance and professionalism of all our law enforcement, homeland security, et cetera, it s not that different from us trying to detect the next mass shooter. you don t always see it. they re not always communicating publicly. if you re not catching what they say publicly, then it becomes a challenge. with reaction, senior fellow with the london center for policy research, tony shaffer, colonel david hunt, and bob scales. i want to start with you, the president saying it s difficult to detect these attacks and p preempt them. that sounds like an excuse.
interference going back to war general scales and i fought. there s nothing new about political interference. the problem is we as a country have not signed up for the fact that we re in a total war. whether you call it fascist islamists or terrorists, we have a country that is not awake to this and is fully willing to allow the american soldier, which i have friends going back on their eighth tour to do all the fighting. such a small group who shoulders the whole burden. colonel shaffer, i hate to those theefore these stories out, but this is from the new york times. he gathers like-minded writers. in his meeting with the columni columnist, mr. obama said he didn t see enough cable television to fully appreciate the anxiety after the terrorist attacks in paris and san bernardino and wants to step up his arguments. they later stripped that line