US Army Under Biden Too Small To Fight China Or Russia

THURSDAY PDB – Extreme danger. The Army is stretched too thin. It doesn't have enough soldiers for potential wars with China and Russia.

It is undermanned for potential future fights that could expand across several geographic regions. The problem is aggravated by an ongoing recruiting slump.

The service specifically does not have the number of soldiers needed for what would likely be an intensive island-hopping campaign in the Pacific and subsequent urban battles in major metropolitan cities in Asia, according to the Commission on the National Defense Strategy.

“We have to have an Army that's sufficiently large that it can operate in all of these places simultaneously,” Eric Edelman, the commission vice chair and George W. Bush-era undersecretary of defense for policy, told lawmakers Tuesday.

“It's very hard to imagine a conflict in the Indo-Pacific that doesn't become global very quickly.”

“Lessons from the Ukraine war demonstrate that the U.S. Army needs to expand its force structure in key areas — particularly air defense, counter-unmanned aerial systems, electronic warfare, and long-range fires,” the commission's report noted.

And Joe Biden is making things much worse. 

The latest Pentagon budget proposed would reduce the Army's size to 443,000 soldiers, which would be its smallest since before World War II.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:       

NATIONAL SECURITY

US reaches plea deal with alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after two decades. This saves him, and two other defendants, from the death penalty.

MORE TRUMP FEAR-MONGERING – How to harden our defenses against an authoritarian president. A commander in chief with little concern for legal limits holds a big advantage over any lawful effort to restrain him. BIDEN HAS BEEN MORE AUTHORITARIAN THAN TRUMP.

Speculation rises over Russia prison swap including Paul Whelan. Online trackers watching prisoner movements in Russia have sounded the alarm over a possible prisoner swap with the West, with the whereabouts of multiple high-profile prisoners unknown, including those of Whelan.

HOMELAND SECURITY – LAW ENFORCEMENT

Former Green Beret arrested for 2020 failed cross-border Venezuela raid arrested in New York on federal arms smuggling charges. He organized the raid of Venezuelan army deserters to remove President Nicolás Maduro.

Colorado National Guard activated for wildfire response in Colorado for first time in 2 1/2 years.

Nevada National Guard joins efforts to battle ongoing wildfires in California. What started as a car fire has quickly spread to one of the largest wildfires in California's history in just one week.

POLITICS

The US election and NATO: What's at stake. Several developments in the U.S. presidential race, including former President Donald Trump's pick of JD Vance as vice president, have left European NATO member countries worried as they contemplate the possibility of the U.S. reducing its leadership role in the treaty organization — or pulling out altogether.

Senators take another crack at solving over-classification. The bipartisan Classification Reform for Transparency Act would establish a task force to narrow the criteria for classifying documents and make it harder for agencies to exempt records from automatic declassification.

US POWER OVERSEAS

Guam missile defense office awaits funds to build layered architecture for the key U.S. territory in the Pacific.

Marines practice air defense with new radar on Japanese island near Taiwan. The Marine Corps for the first time has deployed a state-of-the-art radar system during training this week on Japan's westernmost island.

PACAF commander tours US-funded ‘power projection platforms' in Northern Australia. The top Air Force general in the Pacific evoked a threat posed by China, Russia and North Korea after inspecting air base improvements Tuesday in Australia's Northern Territory.

ISRAEL'S WAR AGAINST TERROR

DEAD – Hamas military leader Mohammad Deif, one of the architects of Oct. 7 attacks, and head of Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, confirmed dead by Israel. This, a day after the group's political leader was assassinated in Tehran.

IRAN THREAT

Houthis continue to target commercial vessels. U.S. forces took down dozens of Iran-backed Houthi drones in the Red Sea and in Yemen this month, as Houthi rebels continue to target civilian and commercial vessels in the region.

CHINA THREAT

Does China prefer Harris or Trump? Why Chinese Strategists See Little Difference Between the Two.

China military condemns Canadian warship Montreal's transit of Taiwan Strait. People's Liberation Army air and naval forces were on alert and monitoring the warship throughout its passage.

Chinese warships off Alaska signal a new stage in sea power competition. Understanding why requires a look at “near waters,” “far waters”—and the colonial past.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

Ukraine receives first F-16 fighters to bolster defenses against increasing Russian missile strikes.

Russia launches its biggest drone barrage against Ukraine in 7 months. No injuries are reported. Ukrainian forces shot down all 89 Shahed drones in the nighttime raid.

Russia needs men so badly that its sign-up bonuses are nearly on par with the US military's. Russia's army is bleeding, and it's raising its recruitment bonuses to draw in more men.

Russia sent two missile-armed, long-range bombers on 10-hour training flight between Japan and South Korea.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro relies on army, patronage and fear to stay in power. Maduro is protected by a sprawling security apparatus despite anger at home, international pressure over its contested election.

German defense minister: Europe contributing ‘fair share' to Indo-Pacific security. Some may not consider Germany a Pacific nation, but its top officials argue it very much is.

Don't miss the boat — Canada and AUKUS should be partners. Canada's absence from the AUKUS trilateral security pact between fellow Five Eyes allies Australia, the UK and US has not gone unnoticed. But despite recent admonishments that Canada's global security contributions are “shameful,” or claims that it has been “America's least helpful ally,” little appears to be being done to bring Ottawa into the fold.

Australia shows off new American-made surveillance drone at northern base. The first of four MQ-4C Triton drones being added to Australia's arsenal debuted at this northern air base Wednesday.

US MILITARY

Pentagon report shows what military jobs have highest suicide rates. They include infantry, ordnance disposal and diving, combat engineering, medical care and those for technical specialists “not elsewhere classified.”

An Army experiment kept volunteers awake for 48 hours to learn about better sleep. Two-thirds of all U.S. service members do not get enough sleep to be considered healthy. This isn't likely to change much. But Army sleep researchers recently put a group of volunteers through a 48-hour sleepless experiment to test a device they hope will help them recover faster whenever they do get some shut eye.

Marines hit operational status with second carrier-capable F35-C Lightning II squadron on the West Coast.

Air Force's new Integrated Capabilities Office eyes study to interdict adversary kill chains. A first effort “likely” will be a study to look at how to counter adversary efforts to create “long-range kill chains” to attack U.S. forces.

CYBERCOM's new AI task force working under ‘elite' defensive operations unit – the Cyber National Mission Force.

Space Force's enlisted leader seeks Hollywood star power to put guardians on screen. A punchline. That seemed to be Hollywood's take on the newly formed Space Force in 2020 when Netflix launched a short-lived comedy series of the same name — a spoof without any real input from the service.

END of PDB

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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