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I learned long ago on the battlefields of Vietnam that in a crisis, there is no substitute for clear-eyed leadership.

We're in danger of breaking our army and preventing our national leaders from having the flexibility to confront not just Iraq and Afghanistan, but crises around the globe.

Because our homeland and very survival are once more at stake, the American people can't afford to treat this new war against terrorism like they did Vietnam.

If we are to maintain our position as a global economic leader, we've got to end the govern-by-crisis mentality that sets us back instead of moving us forward.

The lesson of the Cuban Missile Crisis is plain: Strength prevents war; weakness invites it. We need a commander-in-chief who understands that - and who won't leave us facing a foe who thinks he doesn't.

Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place.

I am struck that so many of our leaders in the U.S. forget how strong our country can be.

America is best when we come together with clear leadership, expertise, and the political will to take on difficult challenges and get things done. No one should ever doubt the strength and resilience of our country and our democracy.

We can't have a failure in Iraq, but we also can't be there for the next 10 years because if we are, it's going to become, I think, a failure in and of itself.

The crises in North Korea, Iran, the Middle East, show how quickly things can change and how they can go wrong. We must be prepared. And right now the Army is not.