The Biden administration continues its foolish effort to declare the Afghanistan withdrawal a success. Those of us in the real world, who think America is more than "systemic racism," must face the task of rebuilding our nation's security.

Our military is still awesome. Our enlisted ranks are the best in the world. Our technology is second to none. But our officer corps has become decadent and politicized. Many retired military leaders backed the ouster -- not just electoral defeat -- of President Donald Trump; hundreds beclowned themselves with an endorsement of Joe Biden in 2020; and today's senior leaders are obsessed with Critical Race Theory and rooting out suspected domestic "extremism."

So we need a complete shakeup. The top ranks at the Pentagon and the State Department need to go, along with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. So, too, do all the policymakers at the White House responsible for the most humiliating defeat in American history including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and possibly "domestic" policy chief Susan Rice, whose signature incompetence and dishonesty are all over this failure. CIA chief William Burns is widely respected but he, too, should probably resign: the failure to anticipate the collapse of the Afghan military is on his shoulders. If he gave Biden advice that was ignored, that's all the more reason to step aside.

We also need a ban on political indoctrination in the military -- other than in the love and patriotism that is necessary to sustain the will of any fighting force.

Strategically, the era of "nation-building" is over. There is bipartisan distrust of any military mission that involves large-scale troop deployments, particularly in -- it must be said -- Muslim countries. We are now going to be relying heavily on special forces, the Navy, and so-called "over-the-horizon" technology. These tools, however, effective, are insufficient. They will not reach all of the threats against us -- and our determined enemies, including rival powers, will quickly devise strategies around them. We need creative thinking about how we are going to be able to maintain a "rules-based order" that benefits America without the advantage of land bases or allies willing to put themselves at risk.

Finally, and crucially, we are in a far more precarious fiscal position than we were twenty years ago. In several years leading up to 9/11, we had enjoyed budget surpluses, and there was talk of paying down the national debt. Now, we are deeply indebted and facing rising inflation. It is fitting that the very week we left Afghanistan, we were warned that the Social Security Administration will no longer be able to pay full benefits as of 2034. If you're 52 or younger, you can lo longer expect a return on the payroll taxes leaving your paycheck.

We need a frank assessment of our fiscal situation, and all options need to be on the table. Raising taxes would hurt the economy, and probably would not work. But perhaps we can substitute taxes on work, such as payroll taxes, with taxes on carbon (yes, this irritates conservatives, but I'm not opposed to it in theory). We should consider the option of long-term bonds, to restructure our debt. We need to think about entitlement reform, which can relieve some of the costs of mandatory spending. We need to take an axe to domestic programs that the Democrats have used, like a drug to create government dependence. We need to think about infrastructure that actually creates a return on investment.

Finally, we need to restore faith in ourselves. The new generation of American youth has been indoctrinated to doubt the country, if not to hate it outright. Not only don't they believe in America's past; they don't believe in America's future, either, since they are choosing not to have children. Many have also abandoned religious faith. We need a cultural revival -- and, yes, a religious awakening -- to restore the idea that who we are, and what we believe, are worth fighting for. Otherwise, we will never withstand an enemy challenge.