Could U.S Military Face-down Russia and China at the Same Time?

It is clear that in US policy formation, the idea first was to isolate Russia by making ties with China. This policy moved the US through the Cold-War, with China being a de facto economic ally of the US. These relations grew to the proportions we see today, where critics have argued that the US and China have essentially seen a reversal of fortunes with each other. Trump’s plan appeared to be one of getting now a Russia friendly policy solidified on the condition of Russia letting go of Iran and China. But it is unlikely at this point that Russia and China will be at odds with each other anytime soon. The Silk Road or One Belt One Road initiative includes Russia, and builds Russia into supply line security by having Russian gas lines move under the rail and road route for Chinese goods.

It is also unlikely that the US military can successfully participate in two major regional conflicts at the same time, says a report from the Heritage Foundation, an American think tank.

According to the report, which assesses the index of the US military force for 2019, the country’s current Armed Forces are capable of participating in a major regional conflict, but “they will certainly be ill equipped to deal almost simultaneously with two major contingencies.”

Which major countries are potentially threatening US interests? The study points to Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and terrorist groups in the Middle East.

This year’s report assesses the country’s military strength as a “minimum”, allocating it to a median rank of five categories (“very weak”, “weak”, “minimum”, “strong”, “very strong”).

Thus, no US military branch scored highest. The Army, Navy, Air Force and Nuclear Capabilities received a “minimal” rating, while the Marine Corps was rated “weak.”

As in previous years, the document focuses on “the degradation of forces caused by lack of investment for many years, poor execution of modernization programs,” as well as funding cuts.

This comes as a month before the congressional elections, the US suspected that China would try to intervene in the electoral process, saying that this threat could be even more serious than “the Russian.”

According to US Vice President Mike Pence, he Chinese strategy of undermining the elections focuses on the supportive states of President Donald Trump. Incidentally, according to White House statements, Beijing would also be trying to act through Chinese entrepreneurs and the Chinese community that resides in the United States.
Thus, Washington believes, Chinese authorities, as well as Moscow, would be manipulating public opinion through cyber attacks.

As for reports of alleged Chinese intervention in the elections, the White House has promised to present evidence, to be collected by National Security Council officials, in the near future. But the lack of evidence did not prevent Washington from launching new accusations against Beijing, this time trying to undermine the country’s defense industry base.

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  • Nexusfast123

    General Montgomery had two rules of war…don’t march on Moscow and don’t invade Asia (China). Interesting that US defence spending is so large but they still consider there to be underinvestment. Much of it is wasted on non fighting capabilities – supporting a massive bureaucracy, boondoggle projects, maintaining lots of bases which no more than targets, etc. The other issue they have is that lots of platforms are all aging at the same time….the military ate the US economy.

  • J Roderet

    Washington could not defeat Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Russia and China both have enough nukes to end all life inside the United States. The Neocons talk big, but they will not launch a war against a country with a nuclear arsenal. Instead, they are desperately hoping to destroy Russia and China from within, like the CIA-backed traitors did to the USSR. However, patriotic forces within Russia and China will not let that happen. The Neocons will lose, in the end.

  • Guy

    Whenever and whatever the US /UK etc. threaten and blame other nations of doing,you can be sure that they are guilty of doing exactly that themselves .
    They have dug a hole for themselves and it is becoming too deep to get out of .

  • PJ London

    So Putin eMailed this article to Xi, and they laughed and laughed and laughed.