Obama wins his war on U.S. military
By Joseph Farah
03/21/2016
Congratulations are in order for Barack Obama.
The American military has never been beaten on the battlefield by any foe in any war.
But Obama’s eight-year war on the U.S. military has been a total success. By stripping it of its resources, demoralizing its soldiers, sailors and airmen, by purging its best commanders, Obama has done what no foreign enemy could do in 240 years.
He’s destroyed it.
That’s the assessment of U.S. military chiefs who testified before Congress last week and told slack-jawed members they have grave concerns about their ability to fight a war against any committed enemy – Russia, China, Iran or even North Korea.
They openly expressed worries about a lack of resources and training that would be necessary in any such fight.
U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the House Armed Services Committee hearing that he had deep concerns about the military’s readiness if America was to fight a “great power war” with China, Russia, Iran or North Korea.
Gen. Milley said the Army “is not at the levels that can execute satisfactorily … in terms of time, cost in terms of casualties or cost in terms of military objectives.”
Air Force Secretary Deborah James – who was also speaking at the hearing – said half of her combat forces were not “sufficiently ready” for fighting against a country like Russia.
She said: “Money is helpful for readiness, but freeing up the time of our people to go and do this training is equally important.”
Earlier this month, Air Force officials admitted they were facing a shortage of more than 500 fighter pilots – a gap expected to increase to more than 800 by 2022.
Concern over a more assertive Russia was highlighted earlier this month by Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who branded Russia a “long-term existential threat to the United States.”
“Our ability to meet other regional requirements for major contingency plans, we would be able to do that, but we probably would not be able to do that in the time frame that the current plans call for us to arrive to participate in that conflict,” Gen. Robert Neller testified.
The Marines would “surge” in such a fight, Neller said, and “provide the best, ready force that we can because that’s what you expect from your Marine Corps.”
“If that were to happen, I would have grave concerns about the readiness of our force: to deal with that in a timely manner,” Milley said. “The cost in terms of time, troops and the ability to accomplish military objectives would be very significant.”
Milley added: “The United Sates Army right now, you can take it to the bank, is ready to fight ISIS, al-Qaida, al-Nusra and any other terrorist group. When we talk about risk, we’re talking about great-power war with one or two countries: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.”
“We can collectively roll the dice and say those days will never come, and that’s a course of action; that is not a course of action I would advise,” Milley said. “There is a high level of risk associated with those contingencies right now.”
The Army, the largest of the armed forces, tackles 46 percent of demand from regional combatant commands and has suffered the majority of the casualties over the last 15 years, Milley said.
The military’s anti-terrorism and counterinsurgency focus of the last 15 years has shortchanged the Army’s training and preparedness to fight high-end threats, hybrid threats, enemy artillery and enemy electronic warfare, Milley said.
In the Marine Corps, deployment rates are similarly stressing people and equipment, particularly aviation platforms, which Neller said are undergoing a widespread overhaul. The service needs to repair old aircraft – an activity that is fully funded in the 2017 budget proposal – and buy new aircraft.
Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, touted the rising number of military aircraft accidents as a symptom of an underfunded military and waning readiness. Both Neller and Milley said they were concerned by the trend.
The Army’s mishap rate rose from 1.52 per 100,000 flight hours in 2014 to 1.99 in 2016, Thornberry said. The Marine Corps’ mishap rate climbed from an annual average of 2.15 mishaps per 100,000 flying hours of the last 10 years to 3.96 in 2016.
The Marine Corps was closely tracking the accidents, but the Marines, Neller said, “don’t have enough airplanes to meet the training requirements for the entire force.”
Sounds serious, right?
Did you hear this on ABC, NBC or CBS? How about CNN or Fox News? Did you read about it in the New York Times or Washington Post? Neither did I.
I wonder why? It’s an election year, isn’t it?
Shouldn’t the American people know about the purposeful dismantling of the American military machine?
http://www.wnd.com/2016/03/obama-wins-his-war...-military/
By Joseph Farah
03/21/2016
Congratulations are in order for Barack Obama.
The American military has never been beaten on the battlefield by any foe in any war.
But Obama’s eight-year war on the U.S. military has been a total success. By stripping it of its resources, demoralizing its soldiers, sailors and airmen, by purging its best commanders, Obama has done what no foreign enemy could do in 240 years.
He’s destroyed it.
That’s the assessment of U.S. military chiefs who testified before Congress last week and told slack-jawed members they have grave concerns about their ability to fight a war against any committed enemy – Russia, China, Iran or even North Korea.
They openly expressed worries about a lack of resources and training that would be necessary in any such fight.
U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the House Armed Services Committee hearing that he had deep concerns about the military’s readiness if America was to fight a “great power war” with China, Russia, Iran or North Korea.
Gen. Milley said the Army “is not at the levels that can execute satisfactorily … in terms of time, cost in terms of casualties or cost in terms of military objectives.”
Air Force Secretary Deborah James – who was also speaking at the hearing – said half of her combat forces were not “sufficiently ready” for fighting against a country like Russia.
She said: “Money is helpful for readiness, but freeing up the time of our people to go and do this training is equally important.”
Earlier this month, Air Force officials admitted they were facing a shortage of more than 500 fighter pilots – a gap expected to increase to more than 800 by 2022.
Concern over a more assertive Russia was highlighted earlier this month by Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who branded Russia a “long-term existential threat to the United States.”
“Our ability to meet other regional requirements for major contingency plans, we would be able to do that, but we probably would not be able to do that in the time frame that the current plans call for us to arrive to participate in that conflict,” Gen. Robert Neller testified.
The Marines would “surge” in such a fight, Neller said, and “provide the best, ready force that we can because that’s what you expect from your Marine Corps.”
“If that were to happen, I would have grave concerns about the readiness of our force: to deal with that in a timely manner,” Milley said. “The cost in terms of time, troops and the ability to accomplish military objectives would be very significant.”
Milley added: “The United Sates Army right now, you can take it to the bank, is ready to fight ISIS, al-Qaida, al-Nusra and any other terrorist group. When we talk about risk, we’re talking about great-power war with one or two countries: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.”
“We can collectively roll the dice and say those days will never come, and that’s a course of action; that is not a course of action I would advise,” Milley said. “There is a high level of risk associated with those contingencies right now.”
The Army, the largest of the armed forces, tackles 46 percent of demand from regional combatant commands and has suffered the majority of the casualties over the last 15 years, Milley said.
The military’s anti-terrorism and counterinsurgency focus of the last 15 years has shortchanged the Army’s training and preparedness to fight high-end threats, hybrid threats, enemy artillery and enemy electronic warfare, Milley said.
In the Marine Corps, deployment rates are similarly stressing people and equipment, particularly aviation platforms, which Neller said are undergoing a widespread overhaul. The service needs to repair old aircraft – an activity that is fully funded in the 2017 budget proposal – and buy new aircraft.
Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, touted the rising number of military aircraft accidents as a symptom of an underfunded military and waning readiness. Both Neller and Milley said they were concerned by the trend.
The Army’s mishap rate rose from 1.52 per 100,000 flight hours in 2014 to 1.99 in 2016, Thornberry said. The Marine Corps’ mishap rate climbed from an annual average of 2.15 mishaps per 100,000 flying hours of the last 10 years to 3.96 in 2016.
The Marine Corps was closely tracking the accidents, but the Marines, Neller said, “don’t have enough airplanes to meet the training requirements for the entire force.”
Sounds serious, right?
Did you hear this on ABC, NBC or CBS? How about CNN or Fox News? Did you read about it in the New York Times or Washington Post? Neither did I.
I wonder why? It’s an election year, isn’t it?
Shouldn’t the American people know about the purposeful dismantling of the American military machine?
http://www.wnd.com/2016/03/obama-wins-his-war...-military/
