The World’s Biggest Threat is Being Ignored
T. Spike Terwilliger, Ed.D., Lt Colonel, USAF (ret)
UPDATE: I submitted this as an OpEd two weeks ago; and while it was not used, I am publishing it here to share my lens. Since I wrote this, President Xi of China solidified his grasp on China’s political system and even had his predecessor physically removed from the Party Congress. Chairman Kim of the DPRK has further increased his threats to the world. Maybe my lens is cloudy. I don’t think so.
The US Army announced this past week that they missed the recrutiing target by a whopping 25%. That is alarming in this uncertain world.
Original text:
In case you are wondering what’s really going on in our world — well, I don’t know either. Let me quickly summarize why an observation and pose questions that every American should be thinking about and asking their elected representatives.
What I do know is that two countries in Asia are setting themselves up for offensive positioning; one more than another, to change the world order as we know it. Chairman Kim (DPRK) is accelerating his belligerence with his neighbors and while there is no certainty on both his intension or his capability, at some point — one of his missiles will mis-fire and instead of going into the Sea of Japan, it could hit either Japan or one of her islands. That will immediately cause a reaction from a number of nations including the United States.
President Xi (China) is not only flexing a new attempt to change Asia, it will be more than a ripple effect around the world. First, he will be the first leader to be “elected” for a third term since Chairman Mao. This is significant. He already has changed the Chinese doctrine which also hasn’t been done since Mao. His building of man-made islands in the South China Sea has angered neighbors without real consequence and now we know from public sources that he has built airstrips. That is dangerous. The move in Hong Kong in 2019 reneged on the agreement when HK was transferred from Britain. Threats over Taiwan airspace continues to go without real consequence. Just months ago, with the lockdowns under the zero-COVID approach of Xi; there was chatter that his rule was in danger. Those who made that assumption do not understand the difference between communism/socialism and democracy. China has reduces its holdings in US Treasuries, has not condemned Russia’s invasion, nor DPRK’s provocations. Xi is calculating to make his mark in history not unlike the ways that Putin thought now was the time to do that with Ukraine.
While the world is focused on Ukraine and Russia; these two nations are not only waiting in the wings; they are readying themselves to change the world as we know it.
No one wants war. No one wants to engage blood or treasure — equally so, no one should be naive enough to think the actions of Kim and Xi are coincidental.
We have already learned that the UN Security Council has flaws. Russia can veto as a permanent member. China is also a permanent member. Who thinks that China has not taken notice that Russia has veto’ed any overt actions by the UN. I’m not advocating the dissolution of the Security Council. I am wondering if we need a change. It’s true that during the wars in the Middle Ease, the United States also had veto power as well and some would clearly argue that the suggestion is hypocritical. Maybe it is.
Our military has changed greatly since my time on active duty. Less is focused on future arms (We are already playing catch up with hypersonic weapons that Russia and China claim they have. Recent news noted that we recently did “first” tests). Recent news suggests the Services are focused on proper pronouns, reducing readiness with training inconsequential to national security, and unable to meet recruiting goals. Missed recruiting goals mean problems over several decades with hollowed year groups of enlisted and officer personnel. I’ve experienced this and certainly within the Air Force, in the last 20 years, at least three hollowed year groups yielded incurable problems.
We have spent at least $15 Billion in support of Ukraine with word that President Biden approved another $700M last week. We also know that we only buy inventory of weapons like we have sent to Ukraine in relatively small quantities and for companies that manufacture them, will take months — many months — to accelerate replenishment of these weapons. So far, from bills passed in Congress, no appropriation has been made to REPLACE the almost $16 Billion given to Ukraine. Why is this? It doesn’t make sense. While we have to have a level of confidence that the Department of Defense has considered the real impact, where is the request by the Administration to take such action?
I am concerned — so should you.
