Marta Gichko15:21, 30.07.24

In addition, the commission found that the United States is losing ground in military rankings of the world’s armed forces.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the US Army’s top military officer , General Charles Brown, told the Aspen Security Forum that the country’s armed forces are “the deadliest, largest and most respected fighting force in the world.” But in fact, the US is losing ground militarily, The Economist writes .

With a steely face and cheers, the general declared, “I’m not playing for second place.” But America’s military posture is eroding, according to a July 29 report from a bipartisan commission tasked by Congress to scrutinize the Biden administration’s national defense strategy.

Conclusions of the commission

The commission is led by former congresswoman Jane Harman and George W. Bush deputy secretary of defense Eric Edelman. In 2018, a similar commission warned that the U.S. “could be hard pressed to win, and possibly lose, a war against China or Russia.” This time, its findings are starker. The threats to America, including “the potential for a major war in the near term,” are the most serious since 1945, it says. The country neither understands their scope nor is prepared to meet them. The most serious problem is China.

“At least now we’ve checkmated China,” Joe Biden boasted on July 6.

In fact, China is “ahead” of America not only in size but also in the “capability” of its military and defense production, and is likely on track to achieve its goal of invading Taiwan by 2027, the commission says. In space and cyberspace, the People’s Liberation Army is either equal to or nearly equal to the U.S. military.

Russia is less of a concern, but still poses a serious threat. On July 19, Vipin Narang, a senior Pentagon official, confirmed reports that Russia was seeking to place nuclear weapons in orbit, describing it as “a threat to all humanity and a catastrophe for the world.” The report said America should increase its presence in Europe to a full armored corps, much larger than it has today, accompanied by assets such as air defense and air power.

These threats are compounded by growing political and military alignment among China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, including the transfer of weapons, technology, and combat experience. This poses “a real risk, if not the likelihood, that a conflict anywhere could escalate into a multi-theater or global war.” In 2018, a Trump administration commission reversed a previous requirement that the Pentagon be prepared to fight two major wars simultaneously, including one in Europe and one in Asia. The Biden team has stuck with that limited ambition. The result is that a single-theater war would “dangerously stretch America, forcing it to rely on nuclear weapons.”

“A major war would impact the lives of every American in ways we can only imagine. Cyberattacks would destroy critical infrastructure, including power, water, and transportation. Access to critical resources for civilian and military industries would be completely cut off,” the commission warns.

What does the commission recommend?

Casualties would be far greater than any Western experience in recent memory. Recent army simulations show that in battles involving corps and divisions – the larger formations that the army prioritises over brigades and battalions – casualties have reached 50,000 to 55,000, including 10,000 to 15,000 killed. The commission does not call for a return to conscription, which was abolished in 1973, but hints at it, saying volunteer forces face “serious challenges”.

In response to these problems, the commission makes several recommendations. One is to strengthen alliances. On July 28, the Biden administration took a big step in that direction, announcing the creation of a new “warfare” headquarters in Japan to command all of the country’s army, air force, and navy. Another is to reform the Pentagon, whose procurement and research and development practices have been called “Byzantine.”

Third, there is a sharp increase in defense spending, which is projected to remain flat in real terms for the next five years, despite the previous commission’s recommendation of 3-5% annual real growth. That specific figure is somewhat arbitrary. Still, the commission calls on Congress to lift existing spending caps, pass a multiyear supplemental budget to strengthen the defense industrial base, and open the fiscal spigots to put defense “on a path to supporting efforts commensurate with the U.S. national effort seen during the Cold War.”

“There’s plenty to irritate everyone here. To pay for it all, the report proposes additional taxes and cuts to Health and Social Security. Both sides will oppose it. Democrats shy away from increasing defense spending. Republicans are allergic to tax increases. Defense policy advocates in Donald Trump’s orbit will like the idea of ​​strengthening the military, but many will be put off by the idea of ​​sending more troops to Europe rather than Asia,” the publication writes.

The commission notes that the United States has no time to waste.

“The U.S. public is largely unaware of the dangers the United States faces or the costs required to prepare adequately. They do not appreciate the strength of China and its partners or the consequences for daily life if conflict breaks out… They have not taken into account the loss of the United States’ position as a global superpower,” the commission said.

The US is not ready for World War III

As UNIAN wrote, the West is categorically not ready for a full-scale war of attrition, as in Ukraine. According to analysts, the problem lies both in the wrong military doctrine, focused on a fast-moving maneuver war, and in the unpreparedness of the industrial base to produce large quantities of weapons.

One of the most pressing problems for the US Army is its complete vulnerability to the drone threat . The Pentagon is now urgently looking for a way out of the situation, but at best it will take several years to provide the US Army with the simplest defense systems against drones.

(C)UNIAN 2024