We’re broke, on the brink of recession, and why let rich Europeans off the hook while losing sight of the direct threat from China?
Joe Biden wants to give $33 billion we don’t have to Ukraine to prolong the war with Russia. To put that in perspective, for that amount we could buy three new aircraft carriers and put them in the Western Pacific to deter war with China. Better yet, we could buy ten new Virginia-class attack submarines or 300 F-35 stealth jets. China’s navy now has more ships than the U.S. Navy and a lot less geography about which to concern itself. While we have spent the last two decades developing an ineffective counterinsurgency capacity fighting in Mideast backwaters and underwriting security for wealthy Europeans who can afford to defend themselves, Beijing has fielded a military that could threaten us directly. Europe won’t help us deter war with China or fight one if the worst happens. We badly need a larger Navy and Air Force. We should reposition the entire Marine Corps to the Pacific as we did in World War II, cut the Army to a base force, and develop and test a new generation of nuclear weapons along with the stealthy, maneuverable, and hypersonic vehicles to deliver them. We also need to win the new space race, which is with China, not Russia. None of this crucial shift will happen if our ruling elite is wasting defense money and the military’s attention span fighting the Europeans’ war for them.
