Washington’s Energetic Generals and the Emphasis on Preparation for Nuclear War
The Pentagon’s energetic generals are beating their war drums and the President has as yet done nothing to rein them in, Brian Cloughley writes.
Some senior generals and admirals in and around Washington have been very busy recently, and their activities, while aggressive, have not been associated with directing current combat operations. Rather, they have been directed at attempting to influence the Administration of newly-elected President Joe Biden to restructure military forces, expand the nuclear arsenal and magnify specific warfighting capabilities. All of this is what might be expected of those whose business and dispositions are aimed at organising destruction and death, but the manner in which their aspirations are expressed are not consistent with what is expected of military personnel in a democracy.
Senate Confirms Kathleen Hicks as Deputy Defense Secretary
The Senate late Monday confirmed Kathleen Hicks, a former Obama administration official, as Deputy Secretary of Defense.
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) confirmed Hicks for the position by a voice vote after approving her nomination on Feb. 4.
Hicks, 50, was previously a deputy undersecretary of defense under the Obama administration. More recently, she led Biden’s transition team at the Pentagon.
Prior to her nomination as deputy defense secretary, she led the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and was also the think tank’s senior vice president.
But how good is their system and how does it compare to U.S. missile defense?
Having successfully shot satellites out of the sky with Anti-Satellite weapons more than ten years ago, China is likely to surprise nobody with its ability to fire land-based interceptors into space to knock out intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in flight.
The People’s Liberation Army recently fired off an interceptor into space as part of a midcourse Anti-Ballistic Missile technical test which succeeded in taking out a target over Chinese territory, development which a Chinese newspaper said demonstrated the growing maturity of the technology.