Page 8 - Carafano News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Today one general stands watch over America. He runs the United States Northern Command. That sounds impressive, but he has little real authority.

War, ever destructive, also spurs creativity. The high stakes involved spark technical as well as tactical innovation.  Technology advances change the face of war. The siege wars of the ancients, the trench warfare of the early 20th century are wholly outmoded due to advanced technology that allows today's battles to be fought at great distances.

By all reports, when President Obama's budget is released today, it will envision spending more money on defense. The figure thrown around most is an 8 percent increase over last year. But that doesn't necessarily mean more money to support our men and women in uniform - and there's good reason to fear otherwise.

The day after the Pentagon announced it would be charging six of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay with crimes (including plotting the 9/11 strikes on Washington and New York), the congressional House leadership signaled again that it wants to push off legislation authorizing the terrorist surveillance program used to prevent future attacks. Even more frustrating, the House continues to dither even after the Senate finally and handily passed its version, The Protect America Act, on a bi-partisan vote.

As the hearings of the 9/11 Commission have reminded us, it's time to place a much higher priority on improving our ability to fight terrorism here at home — to stop terrorists before they launch their deadly attacks.