ANALYSIS – Former Trump National Security Advisor and retired Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster is on a tear with the media, warning the nation of the biggest threats America faces in 2023.
Earlier, I wrote about the growing risk that Israel's new nationalist government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may strike Iran before the end of this year to prevent the Islamist regime from finally getting a nuke.
In that piece, I quoted McMaster as saying: “the chances are quite high of a significant conflict in the Middle East, maybe entailing an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program.”
An Israeli-Iranian conflict would certainly spread across the Middle East as Iran retaliates directly and asymmetrically, including targeting U.S. bases and interests.
And now McMaster warns about something most of us already know, but he brings new urgency to the threat – that China is preparing its military for war with the United States war over Taiwan.
On CBS “Face The Nation,” McMaster said: “Xi Jinping has made it quite clear, in his statements, that he is going to make, from his perspective, China whole again by subsuming Taiwan.”
“And preparations are underway,” he added.
Earlier, I reported here that the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) had just deployed one of its three aircraft carriers within miles of the U.S. territory of Guam, America's small but strategic outpost in the Western Pacific.
This is the closest the Chinese navy has ever sailed a warship of this size to any American territory.
And it is sending a message – Chinese naval forces can get close to U.S. bases as well.
But there is more. Newsweek also reported on McMaster's CBS appearance:
“China has become increasingly aggressive, not only from an economic and financial perspective and a wolf warrior diplomacy perspective, but physically, with its military,” McMaster said. “And what's really disturbing is, I think, Xi Jinping is preparing the Chinese people for war.”
He pointed to some of Xi's speeches, which have taken on a hardline tone in recent months, as evidence that the U.S. should take the threat of war more seriously and “extend our power.” Doing so would also compel allies to invest more in their national defense, which would further serve as a deterrent, he added.
Newsweek continued:
McMaster's warning follows other indications that China may be considering a war over Taiwan. In November, The Guardian reported that Xi told his military to “focus all its energy on fighting” to prepare for a potential war.
“Focus all [your] energy on fighting, work hard on fighting and improve [your] capability to win,” he reportedly said.
Welcome to 2023, the year America should be concerned not only with Russia's war in Ukraine escalating and spreading into NATO Europe and possibly triggering some sort of nuclear incident, but also a war between Israel and Iran that could engulf the entire Middle East.
And to top it off, this could also be the year we see a major catastrophic war with China over Taiwan.
Or even worse – we may face all three regional military conflicts at once. Happy New Year!
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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