Concerns rise that U.S. is depleting war stocks in Ukraine as China prepares for war over Taiwan
By jdheyes // 2023-02-06
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The continual flow of weapons and arms to Ukraine from U.S. military stocks is increasing concerns among national security experts that the Biden regime is leaving America short-supplied at a time when China is obviously preparing for war over Taiwan. There is no question that over the course of years, the Pentagon managed to stockpile weapons in the hopes of never having to use them but was well-prepared to do so if the situation arose. But now, after supplying Ukraine with U.S. war stocks for nearly a year following Russia's invasion in late February 2022 -- and with predictions from high-ranking military officers as well as lawmakers that China may be two years away from invading Taiwan -- experts are increasingly fretting that the Biden White House is leaving U.S. forces dangerously short of arms it will need to defend Taiwan should the situation arise. According to a report from Breitbart News: A recently-published think-tank analysis warned that as it currently stands, the U.S. would run out of long-range, precision-guided munitions in a war with China over Taiwan in less than a week — a problem that author Seth Jones called one of “empty bins.” “The United States has been slow to replenish its arsenal, and the DoD has only placed on contract a fraction of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine,” wrote Jones, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "Effective deterrence hinges, in part, on having sufficient stockpiles of munitions and other weapons systems. These challenges are not new. What is different now, however, is that the United States is directly aiding Ukraine in an industrial-style conventional war with Russia — the largest land war in Europe since World War II — and tensions are rising between China and the United States in the Indo-Pacific," he added. Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder pushed back on the report, telling reporters last week: “I am confident that, regardless of what the situation is worldwide, as we’ve done for a very long time, the United States military will be able to be prepared to support whatever requirements we’re asked to support.” But of course, the regime's spokespersons will say what they're told to say -- that all is well, there are no issues with weapons supplies, and to stop worrying about it. That isn't washing with experts, however. Elbridge Colby, a senior defense official in the Trump administration, tweeted recently: “Despite protestations to the contrary, it’s increasingly clear that Ukraine is indeed a distraction from our stated priority: Asia, China, and Taiwan. We can admit it and try to adapt. Or we can deny it and pay the price later.” In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal Colby wrote with Oriana Skylar Mastro, they noted that Ukraine is distracting the administration from China. "The U.S. can no longer afford to spread its military across the world. The reason is simple: an increasingly aggressive China, the most powerful state to rise in the international system since the U.S. itself. By some measures, China’s economy is now the world’s largest. And it has built a military to match its economic heft," they noted. "Twenty-five years ago, the Chinese military was backward and obsolete. But extraordinary increases in Beijing’s defense budget over more than two decades, and top political leaders’ razor-sharp focus, have transformed the People’s Liberation Army into one of the strongest militaries the world has ever seen," the two experts continued. "China’s new military is capable not only of territorial defense but of projecting power. Besides boasting the largest navy in the world by ship count, China enjoys some capabilities, like certain types of hypersonic weapons, that even the U.S. hasn’t developed," they added. World War III is coming, and for some reason, our current leaders appear to be rushing headlong into it. Sources include: WSJ.com Breitbart.com
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