U.S. risks losing in event of multiple conflicts with adversaries

 

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States risks losing in the event of multiple conflicts with adversaries due to a lack of capabilities and capacity, the congressionally established Commission on the National Defense Strategy said in a report released Monday.

The commission, which received administrative and analytic support from the RAND Corporation think tank, was tasked with examining and making recommendations based on the US National Defense Strategy.

“The United States confronts the most serious and the most challenging threats since the end of World War II,” the think tank said in a statement on the commission’s report.

"The United States could in short order be drawn into a war across multiple theaters with peer and near-peer adversaries, and it could lose."

The US military lacks both the capabilities and capacity required to be confident in its ability to deter and prevail in combat, the report said. 

China and Russia are fusing military, diplomatic and industrial strength to expand global power, the report said, touching on past assertions that both nations are doing so as to further and 'coerce' neighbors in the region. The findings pointed out the US needs to undertake a similar integrated approach to meet China and Russia.

The report further outlined that Russia intends to outlast the willingness of Western countries to support Ukraine and seek a favorable outcome to the conflict, noting that if Russia were to gain control over Ukraine, its borders with NATO would expand from the Arctic to the Black Sea. As such, it would only present significantly more demands for deployed NATO forces.

However, China remains the “preeminent challenge” to US interests and its most formidable military threat, the report claimed.

The commission recommends more effectively and efficiently building its future force instead of perpetuating its existing one. The US Congress should pass a supplemental appropriation bill to begin a multiyear investment in the industrial base and national security innovation, the report said.

Included among the recommended options to improve US military readiness are an increase in space satellites, underwater vessels and a significant "boost" in "its forward presence in Eastern Europe."

“The goal is for Europe to take on a larger role in providing for its defense, with assured and critical support of the United States," the report states.

"In light of the potential for simultaneous conflicts, capability targets apportioned to European allies through the NATO Defense Planning Process should be intentionally selected to reduce over reliance on the United States for key capabilities enablers.”

 

Also highlighted in the report was concern that the US deficit poses national security risks, a figure that hit $35 trillion on Monday. Known for its military-centered budget, the report emphasized that the United States should increase security spending, accompanied by additional taxes and reforms to entitlement spending [meaning cuts to Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and welfare].