With these incompetents in the Pentagon and with a semi-demented president, our national security is in great danger. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and General Millie need to be fired or America may lose a future war. – Frank de Varona
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told lawmakers that he has “no regrets” about how the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan was carried out, despite the quick toppling of the U.S.-backed government and the August 2021 suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport that killed 13 U.S. troops and at least 170 Afghan civilians.
On Wednesday, Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee grilled the defense secretary during a hearing to review the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2024 budget. Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, a who served in Afghanistan, pressed Mr. Austin on the chaotic withdrawal there spurred by the capture of Kabul by insurgent Taliban forces.
Mr. Banks said retired Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, who led U.S. Central Command at the time, has said he had many regrets about how U.S. involvement in Afghanistan ended.
“Do you have any regrets about the withdrawal?” Mr. Banks asked.
“Mr. Austin, that is very telling,” Mr. Banks said.
In August 2022, General McKenzie told NPR that they got more than 120,000 people out of Afghanistan. While he called those figures part of a “good news story,” it didn’t change the fact that a number of Afghans who worked closely with U.S. troops — including those at risk to their own lives — were left behind when the last U.S. plane lifted off.
“They had every expectation that we would bring them out. We did not, and we were unable to do that,” Gen. McKenzie said. “That’s something that … still haunts me to this day.”
GOP lawmakers also criticized what they said was a lack of accountability among civilian or military leaders for how the Afghanistan withdrawal played out. Mr. Banks asked what would happen to a Navy captain of a ship that runs aground.
“Typically, that captain is removed,” Mr. Austin said.
Asked if anyone in the Pentagon’s chain of command was ever held accountable for the collapse of the 20-year war effort in Afghanistan, Mr. Austin replied, “To my knowledge, no.”
Mr. Austin, appearing with Joint Chiefs of Staff head Gen. Mark A. Milley, told the panel he was proud of the “tremendous work and sacrifices” that the U.S. troops made throughout the war.
On a very different topic, Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican, questioned Mr. Austin and Gen. Milley about reports of drag shows involving children on U.S. military posts such as Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and Joint Base Langley-Eustis near Norfolk, Va.
“Drag shows are not something that the Department of Defense supports or funds,” Mr. Austin told the congressman.
After Mr. Gaetz read off a list of news articles describing drag shows hosted on U.S. military bases, Gen. Milley asked if he could get a copy so he could “find out what actually is going on there.”
“That’s the first I’m hearing about that kind of stuff,” Gen. Milley said. “I’d like to take a look at those because I don’t agree with those.”
The Real Reason China is Arming Russia in Ukraine
- Just as Iran has used Ukraine’s brutal war to test the effectiveness of its drone and missile technology, so China’s emerging industrial-military complex is reportedly looking for opportunities to conduct a rigorous evaluation of its new weapons systems; Chinese arms manufacturers are reportedly keen to test the effectiveness of their new weapons systems in Ukraine.
- Chinese drones, which reports say are due to be delivered to the Russian Defence Ministry next month, would enable the Russians to deliver warheads weighing between 35 and 50 kilograms.
- China’s People’s Liberation Army is in the midst of a massive military build-up, outspokenly aimed at making China the world’s dominant military power by the middle of the century. Global defence spending fell by 1.7 percent in 2021, and the US defence budget for 2024, with a supposed increase of 3.2 percent, after factoring in an inflation of 6 percent, is actually a net cut. Meanwhile, Chinese defence spending grew by 5.1 percent to $293 billion.
- As part of its military build-up, which began in 2013, Beijing is aiming to integrate artificial intelligence in its command and control structures by 2035. In addition it is investing heavily in new fleets of warships and warplanes.
- The Chinese military is said to be actively preparing to launch a military offensive to capture Taiwan, most likely before or during the US presidential election in November 2024, while the US is still under the administration of President Joe Biden, regarded worldwide as stunningly weak, and while the country is likely to be distracted.
- Biden’s repeated statements that he seeks “competition not conflict” with China, and that “We don’t want a conflict” with Russia, can only be viewed as pleas not to escalate, rather than as a thundering deterrence.
- “[T]he entire military must… concentrate all energy on fighting a war, direct all work toward warfare and speed up to build the ability to win.” — Chinese President Xi Jinping, to China’s armed forces’ operational command center, Fox News, February 15, 2023.
For all Chinese President Xi Jinping’s declarations of support for Russia during his state visit to Moscow, China’s real motive in seeking closer ties is evidently to exploit the Ukraine conflict to test its military firepower. Just as Iran has used Ukraine’s brutal war to test the effectiveness of its drone and missile technology, so China’s emerging industrial-military complex is reportedly looking for opportunities to conduct a rigorous evaluation of its new weapons systems; Chinese arms manufacturers are reportedly keen to test the effectiveness of their new weapons systems in Ukraine.
A year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s military, having lost an estimated 200,000 men and around 90 percent of its heavy armour, including around 50 percent of its pre-invasion tank fleet, finds itself in a dire predicament. The scale of the losses has forced the Russians to pull 1950s-era T-54 and T-55 tanks out of storage for use in the Ukrainian conflict, a clear sign that Russian forces are suffering a serious shortage of heavy armour.
These chronic shortages in both men and equipment help to explain why Russian commanders are struggling to hold on to the territory Russian forces have illegally annexed in Ukraine, let alone mount fresh offensives against the Ukrainian defenders. If Russian forces are to make any headway this year, they will need significant supplies of weapons from other nations, as Russia’s corrupt defense industry is proving incapable of providing replacement weapons and equipment at the levels required by the Russian military.
This would explain why Russia has made repeated requests for China to supply arms to support its military campaign in Ukraine. So far, Beijing’s official position is that it is only prepared to provide Moscow with non-lethal aid, such as helmets and dual-use items such as aircraft parts.US officials, though, say they have intelligence showing that China is actively considering whether to supply Russia with weapons, as it has been doing since day one. The German magazine Der Spiegel reported in February that the Russian military was engaged in negotiations with Chinese drone manufacturer Xi’an Bingo Intelligent Aviation Technology over the mass production of kamikaze drones for Russia.
Russia has been using Iranian-made drones to carry out attacks against Ukraine’s infrastructure and other targets, and the supply of Chinese drones, which reports say are due to be delivered to the Russian Defence Ministry next month, would enable the Russians to deliver warheads weighing between 35 and 50 kilograms.
Russian forces in Ukraine have already been using Chinese-made commercial drones, supplied by China-based Da-Jiang Innovations Science & Technology Co., known as DJI, according to an analysis of customs records, while others are transported through the United Arab Emirates.
The supply of Chinese-made military drones to Russia would, obviously, greatly enhance the offensive capabilities of Russian forces.
Western intelligence officials believe the prospect of Beijing increasing its military support for Ukraine has risen considerably following Xi’s summit with Putin in Moscow this month.
China’s People’s Liberation Army is in the midst of a massive military build-up, outspokenly aimed at making China the world’s dominant military power by the middle of the century. Global defence spending fell by 1.7 percent in 2021, and the US defence budget for 2024, with a supposed increase of 3.2 percent, after factoring in an inflation of 6 percent, is actually a net cut. Meanwhile, Chinese defence spending grew by 5.1 percent to $293 billion.
As part of its military build-up, which began in 2013, Beijing is aiming to integrate artificial intelligence in its command and control structures by 2035. In addition it is investing heavily in new fleets of warships and warplanes. China’s recent advances in advanced weaponry such as missiles and guided weapons is a particular concern for the West.
Chinese defence firms now rank as some of the biggest in the world, reversing the situation whereby, only a decade ago, Beijing was relying on Russia for its arms supplies, having signed a $7 billion arms deal with Moscow as recently as 2015.
Now the tables have turned. Xi, who recently secured his third five-year-term as president, makes no secret of his desire to re-establish Beijing’s control over Taiwan. The general consensus among Western security officials being that he will attempt to reclaim Taiwan by the end of the decade at the latest.
The Chinese military is said to be actively preparing to launch a military offensive to capture Taiwan, most likely before or during the US presidential election in November 2024, while the US is still under the administration of President Joe Biden, regarded worldwide as stunningly weak (such as here, here, and here), and while the country is likely to be distracted.
Biden’s repeated statements that he seeks “competition not conflict” with China, and that “We don’t want a conflict” with Russia, can only be viewed as pleas not to escalate, rather than as a thundering deterrence.
According to recent comments made by CIA Director William Burns, Beijing aims to be conflict-ready by 2027.
This is certainly the message Xi relayed to China’s military chiefs during a visit to the country’s operational command centre at the end of last year when he warned “the entire military must… concentrate all energy on fighting a war, direct all work toward warfare and speed up to build the ability to win.”
