If we somehow stumble into a war any time soon, it appears that we are not prepared to either gear up for one, or fight one, especially if it is in more than one theater, according to new reports.
The Military Times stared with this frightening sentence: “America’s odds of fighting a major war are the highest in 80 years, and its military isn’t prepared for one.”
This was the finding of a bipartisan panel tasked by Congress to review U.S. defense strategy. Its nearly 100-page report reveals a crisis of confidence in American national security.
The commission chides a Pentagon it considers too plodding, a Congress it considers too partisan and multiple administrations it says have been too complacent to address threats from China, Russia and countries in the Middle East.
“The nation was last prepared for such a fight during the Cold War, which ended 35 years ago,” the report reads. “It is not prepared today.”
Every four years, Congress gathers a group of outside experts to review the country’s national defense strategy. The goal is to have an independent board assess U.S. national security like an accountant audits a company’s books. To do so, the eight commissioners spoke with lawmakers, U.S. allies, members of the administration and leaders in the Pentagon, including the secretary and deputy secretary of defense.
In its new report, the Commission on the National Defense Strategy warns of mounting security threats, stresses innovation, and recommends strengthening the DoD as part of an "all elements of national power" approach to security. https://t.co/5daqljphsp
— RAND (@RANDCorporation) July 29, 2024
And who is beating the tar out of us? You probably can guess.
The Commission finds that, in many ways, China is outpacing the United States and has largely negated the U.S. military advantage in the Western Pacific through two decades of focused military investment. Without significant change by the United States, the balance of power will continue to shift in China’s favor. China’s overall annual spending on defense is estimated at as much as $711 billion, and the Chinese government in March 2024 announced an increase in annual defense spending of 7.2 percent.
We can only hope that China has its financial collapse before we do, or we are screwed.
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