National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Justin Poole calls the current world situation "a sort of reawakening of times of old." NGA
Tim Johnson, Stars and Stripes/McClatchy Washington Bureau: US spies see new threats from global rivals, say it could be Cold War 2.0
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) — As the intelligence community shifts its primary focus from counterterrorism to threats from Russia and China, some leaders voice a sense of deja vu and even eagerness at the challenge.
“It has been a sort of reawakening of times of old, I will say,” said Deputy Director Justin Poole of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, one of the 17 agencies and offices that make up the U.S. intelligence community. “It’s a little more cold warrior-y.”
President Donald Trump singled out China last week for what he said was an intent to interfere in upcoming midterm elections. In separate speeches, the national intelligence director and the CIA director also emphasized the shift in strategy toward China and Russia, both of which seek to rival the U.S. on the global stage.
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WNU Editor: I do not see a new Cold War developing between the West and Russia .... at least not to the levels that existed between the Soviet Union and the West decades ago. But China is a different story, primarily because the Chinese are prepared to use their military to directly confront the U.S. military that can easily precipitate into a dangerous confrontation. Case in point .... Chinese Warship Purposely Came Within Yards From Ramming A U.S. Destroyer In The South China Sea (Update).
ReplyDeleteThe fortifying of the South China Sea after signing and reneging on the agreement over that area[whose details I don't recall] should tell anyone that the Chinese are not trustworthy and to act accordingly when negociating[sp] with them.
Their loaning money in amounts to countries that they know are financially weak and which likely will experience difficulty in paying off that debt is a means to get not one but both feet in the door. Something I expect to be on Trump's manure list. I look for more pressure on the yellow peril.
They are not an ethical bunch. The hospital ship to Maduro is a inexpensive stunt #1, and as a goodwill gesture is a far distant #2. It's Maduro's oil they are eyeing.
WNU,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you: we have differences with Russia, but no cold war. Russia know better than China what the cost of a cold war is, and it has no appetite for it.
China is also very different than USSR. China want a revenge against the West. "Centuries of humiliation" is on the root of the behavior of China. Sad to say, but there are a lot of similarities with the way of Hitler. This was not the case of USSR.
This new cold war will be followed by a hot one and it will be very ugly.
We've been in this so called Cold War 2.0 for a few years now. History would place it at he beginning of when China started its South China Sea grab. Also; I do not believe China will be in a position to really challenge militarily the see due to its significance in global trade. Too many neighbors who will act together. China is in weak position.
ReplyDeleteI’m an Aussie married to a mainland Chinese wife. Spend a lot of time in China with her family. I can assure you the average Chinese citizen does not hate the West. In fact they admire and attempt to emulate many western customs and traits. The elephant in the room is the Japanese occupation of China and the well documented massacres of millions of ordinary Chinese. It’s worth a visit to the Nanjing Memorial Hall of the Victims to see the beheaded skeletons poking out of the killing fields. Or learn about the Japanese method of dropping fleas infected with bubonic plague and smallpox from planes over densely populated cities. All Chinese kids are taught about this stuff in school and as the years go by the desire for revenge is increasing. Unfortunately after WW2 the US decided to protect and side with the Japanese who still deny and refuse to apologise for the atrocities they committed in China. Imagine if Germany denied the existence of the holocaust and told Israel to go fuck themselves. The Chinese will not be satisfied until Japan pays for their past deeds.
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