Cross the wire

[masterding]

Quotes from VOA News:

"Did you hear what I just said? I said, 'We should draw down from 100,000.' We don't need 100,000 troops," said Hunstman. "We don't need 100,000 troops, many of whom can't even cross the wire."
But the Heritage Foundation's Jim Carafano says global issues will change before any of these candidates can become president.
"The most important thing in the debate is listening less to say 'What would I do if I were president today' - which is irrelevant - to what kind of character do they have," said Carafano. "What kind of commander-in-chief they are going to be. Are they going to put what's right overhead what's easy."

...
The Republican candidates criticized current U.S. foreign policy, even though opinion surveys show it is President Barack Obama's strength.
"There's going to be a referendum on that on how well it's worked," said James Carafano. "I think what's important is people have to distinguish what that is and how what they want to do is different than that. And, I don't think I heard that yet from any of these candidates."

My questions:
1.What does " cross the wire" mean?

2.What does " listening less to say" mean?
3.What does " easy" refer to in the sentence?
4.Does "strength" mean something like strong suit, strong point? Can "strength
be used in this way?
5.do we have to add "between" after "distinguish"?
Thanks.

[SlickVic9000]

(Not a Teacher)

I think he means many of the troops deployed aren't in a combat MOS, and so, don't have the training to "go outside the wire" on patrols, searches, or convoys.

For the rest of the underlined parts, I'm just going to say that Mr.Carafano does not strike me as the most glib speaker. Let me rephrase some of it:

"The most important thing in this debate is not what a candidate will do when he becomes president -- which is irrelevant -- but what sort of character they have."
"Are they going to put what's right before what's easy?"
"I think what's important is people have to determine what that is and how what they want to do is different from that."

For #4, my answer is "yes" to both questions.

[masterding]

(Not a Teacher)

I think he means many of the troops deployed aren't in a combat MOS, and so, don't have the training to "go outside the wire" on patrols, searches, or convoys.

For the rest of the underlined parts, I'm just going to say that Mr.Carafano does not strike me as the most glib speaker. Let me rephrase some of it:

"The most important thing in this debate is not what a candidate will do when he becomes president -- which is irrelevant -- but what sort of character they have."
"Are they going to put what's right before what's easy?"
"I think what's important is people have to determine what that is and how what they want to do is different from that."

For #4, my answer is "yes" to both questions.

1. "cross the wire" means " go outside the wire",so what does "wire" mean?
2.You said Mr.Carafano is not a glib speaker, and rephased the speech , does that mean there's no such expression as "listen less to say"?
3.What I actually asked is what does "easy" refer to" ,Does "easy" mean "what is easy for them to win?"
4.I have checked the defitions of "strength" in all the dictionaries I have ,I just didn't find "strength" has the meaning of " strong suit".
5.Do you think distinguish is not an appropriate word, so your replaced it with determine?

[5jj]

4.I have checked the defitions of "strength" in all the dictionaries I have ,I just didn't find "strength" has the meaning of " strong suit".

It was you who used this expression. It has the idea of meaning #4, here:

strength - definition. American English definition of strength by Macmillan Dictionary

[masterding]

It was you who used this expression. It has the idea of meaning #4, here:

strength - definition. American English definition of strength by Macmillan Dictionary

I didn't use it ,I just quoted it.

[5jj]

I didn't use it ,I just quoted it.

If you are quoting something, it would be helpful to let us know,

[masterding]

If you are quoting something, it would be helpful to let us know,

Did you not see the headline"Quotes from VOA News:"?

[SlickVic9000]

(Not a Teacher)

1- Most American military bases and outposts are enclosed by a fence topped with some type of razor or barbed wire (though outposts may not have a fence). So when you "cross the wire" you're leaving the relative safety of the base or outpost to perform a mission.

2- "Listening less to say" doesn't really make sense there, though I know what he's trying to say.

3- He's saying that you want a commander-in-chief who will make difficult decisions based on what's best for the country, not for his career or public image.

4- Well, I can tell you that "strength" is definitely used the way you see it here in the passage. In fact, that is a fairly common usage.

5- I didn't feel that "distinguish" was quite the right word for that sentence. It was certainly understandable, but I favored "determine". You don't always need "between" when using "distinguish", but when you have two objects, its best that you do. If you're still unsure, dictionary.com has some example sentences at the bottom of every entry.

[5jj]

Did you not see the headline"Quotes from VOA News:"?

Sorry if I was not clear. I should have written, "It was you who used the expression 'strong suit' It has the meaning #4 of 'strength' here: (link)

[masterding]

Sorry if I was not clear. I should have written, "It was you who used the expression 'strong suit' It has meaning #4 of 'strength' here: (link)

I thought you refered to the expression " listen less to say", I'm sorry I misunderstood you,