Gary Hart in Cheyenne (cont.)

During his talk in Cheyenne Thursday evening, Gary Hart provided a quick survey of U.S. national security efforts since World War II.

"National security was the focus of almost all of our endeavors from 1947-1991," Hart said. Containment of communism was that era's operating phrase. To that end, we built NATO in Europe and formed other treaties. The U.S. built a formidable nuclear arsenal, a good portion of which still lurks in launch sites in the prairie around Cheyenne. This was part of a huge investment in the defense budget, prompting Pres. Dwight Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial complex.

There were many excesses during that era. But Hart's point was this: during 8-10 presidential administrations over 44 years, the U.S. focused on "containment" and "deterrance."

Then came the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of The Cold War. It was a long time coming, an effort that involved much treasure and the efforts of millions of Americans, including my father, builder of nuke missile silos, many civilians and soldiers and politicians, including Ronald Reagan, who was part of the effort but not its chief architect as his acolytes assert.

The U.S. was left looking for a new enemy in the early 1990s. Many Americans thought it would be better to find a new direction for the country rather than a new enemy.

Gary Hart said he urged Pres. Clinton to do what Pres. Truman had done at the beginning of The Cold War -- form a commission to study America's role in this new world. It was to be an effort to "find out what the U.S. could be 'for' instead of what it was 'against.' "

The commission was appointed in 1998 and Hart served on it along with Newt Gingrich and a gaggle of politicos and statespeople of all stripes. Pres. Clinton mandated that the commission report its findings at the end of two-and-one-half years.

It made its report in spring 2001 to a new presidential administration. It reported that the greatest threats came from jihadist acts against the U.S. A "consolidated federal response" was needed for this threat. The commission made 49 other recommendations to the Bush people.

"None of them were adopted," said Hart. "The president and vice president would not meet with us. We did meet with Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, and Condaleeza Rice. And then the commission went out of existence."

Hart and some of his colleagues continued to give speeches about the coming terrorist threat. On Sept. 6, 2001, Hart gave such a speech at a conference in Toronto.

Five days later, those "the-sky-is-falling" speeches were no longer necessary.

Containment of communism was instantly replaced by the war on terrorism.

And none of us have been safe since.