On display during a People's Liberation Army Air Force parade are Shenyang J-16s, foreground, and J-11Bs, background. (China's Ministry of National Defense)
Defense News: The Pentagon is planning for war with China and Russia — can it handle both?
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is in the opening stages of “redesigning the force” around the challenges of Russia and China, the department’s No. 2 uniformed official said Tuesday — while warning that America may not be able to afford preparing for two unique problem sets.
The recent National Defense Strategy identified great power competitors as the major challenge facing the Pentagon, but Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted that the plans required to counter each nation are naturally “in tension with one another” for resources.
“Here’s why they will be in competition with each other: They are not the same,” Selva explained during an event hosted by the Defense Writers Group. “There are two unique competitions that we have to deal with, and the elements are overlapping but not the same.”
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"Can the US handle a war against Russia and China at the same time?" While anything is certainly possible and we can't "know" the outcome of a war unless and until it actually hapoens, this doesn't even seem like a realistic goal. To set such a goal would be a bit like a 5'0" in man setting a "goal" to play center in the NBA. Part of success in life is setting realistic goals based upon our abilities and our opportunities. While opportunities can to a degree be created, innate abilities are not so easy to create.
ReplyDeleteSuch a goal would not even be realistic. In the example of the 5'5" inch man dreaming of playing center in the NBA, such a thing might be comical. In fact, cartoons have been themed around silliness in such a manner. In this case, this is no cartoon and not a mere intellectual exercise, by posing policies these people are putting the American people in grave danger. Tussling with the world's top powers is no small matter and should be approached with extreme caution and sober mindedness.
By posing such a question as "can we fight a war with Russia and China at the same time and win" is a bit like asking "can I jump off of a 1,000 foot cliff without a parachute onto the jagged rocks below and not only live but emerge from this completely unscratched?" Other equally absurd premises and questions could be posed but the idea is clear. I
In fact, by posing such a scenario as a realistic possibility of ever expecting to beat both Russia and China at the same in anything like a normal time period it could be argued the leader/leaders are insane. Of course I've long suspected American leaders have gone insane!!
As for the American people, they did elect Donald Trump. While he has certain flaws, he has shown flashes of sanity. As such, there may be hope and with hope means the possibility that the current insane leaders cwn be removed before their policies bring down destruction on all Americans. I wouldn't expect Russia and China to strive with us forever.
A better more realistic question to ask "is can we beat either of these countries in a military conflict?" To do so, we must take realistic stock of where are and what capabilities we have. Due to a series of non ending fruitless wars around the world our military has been ground to powder. Training, leadership, morale, and equipment readiness are horrible. We don't have reliable allies who will stand with us. Our debts are nassive and this isn't even exhaustive of the challenges America has. As suvh, a tussle with a major world power isn't sonething we need!!
Take away the nuclear deterrent and America probably isn't even a middle of the riad military power. This assumes the arsenal works and given poor maintenance and training in recent years there's reason to doubt that it would work. Given realistic assessments, our best choice is to properly deploy our forces to maximize our defense making an invasion so costly an adversary wouldn't cobsider it.
Russia is not the sovietvunion The u.s can definitely beat Russia in any conventional war and Putin knows it.
DeleteLook at the numbers ,attrition alone heavily favours the u.s.