The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

The United States has a history of being a beacon of freedom, liberty, greatness, and garnered respect. One thing that has made America so great is our ability to use our military strength to exterminate evil. This month our country reestablished a healthy respect in the world again by killing Qaseem Soleimani after the Obama administration ruined us.

The Obama administration did a lot to harm America. Obamacare is garbage – few healthcare practitioners accept it, citizens lost their doctors, and premiums went up. The withdrawing of troops allowed ISIS to proliferate, borders were porous, the IRS targeted political 501 C (3) conservative groups, the military was weak, and law enforcement feared to enforce the law. Lastly, President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry gave $1.7 billion in cash to Iran. Obama preferred bribing enemies of America instead of instilling respect.

Obama is not the only reason America has been in decline. Former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush collectively started the process; however, Obama sped it up.

America was in a place it had never been. Obama was supposed to be The Chosen One who would fix everything, but no one could point out how. Despite his lack of plans, Obama was untouchable because of his skin color. This was perfect for the Democrats and their strategy of identity politics. If a policy that harmed America was put in place, you had to stay quiet. Otherwise, you were a racist. Personal merits no longer mattered.

Merits are important. America became a great nation because there were people who had real-life experience and were able to apply it. Obama had ideologues in his administration – not people who were qualified to do the job. Obama's presidential negligence over the country drove us down in world strength and power. The economy and terror attacks on the military abroad and stateside prove that.

One of the biggest sins of the Obama administration was the nuclear deal with Iran. John Kerry was a feckless Secretary of State who preferred pandering to Iranian leaders and struck a deal in 2015. The agreement would allow Iran to further their nuclear developments and eventually get a bomb, but the Left in its defense of Obama denied the accusations.

The Iran deal lifted certain sanctions, and pallets of money were flown to Iran. The money from the Obama administration allowed missile manufacturing and weapon gathering for a country that is well-known for chanting "death to America." Respect for America was absent under Obama's leadership. We were not recognized as a world power any longer.

However, all of this has changed. Since Trump took office, the military has grown. There are better-trained soldiers, more advanced equipment, and more honor.

There will always be countries that do not like American values, but we will be respected. Iran attacked our embassy in Iraq on December 31, 2019. On January 3, 2020, the orchestrator of the assault was killed in a precision drone airstrike. Iran retaliated a few days later with missile attacks on the Al Asad Airbase in Iraq. Sixteen missiles were shot, 12 struck, four failed, and no one was killed or even injured.

By those numbers and results, Iran was scared. They do not like us, but they respect us. The leaders know that if they caused casualties, there would have been a price to pay. Trump has shown that he will not sit back. He is not Obama and never will be.

Now, the world can see that America is not the same as it was under Obama. It took an outsider president that genuinely cares about this country to exemplify that we are no longer weak — not an ideologue with a leftist agenda to push.

Our president has made the United States of America respected once more. One could even say feared. America is great again. Let's keep it that way.