Why the US Navy Should Fear China's New 093B Nuclear Attack Submarine...

Why the US Navy Should Fear China's New 093B Nuclear Attack Submarine

06/27/16

Dave Majumdar

Security, 

It might be able to match some of America's most prized subs--and that is a BIG problem 

Is China’s new Type 093B nuclear-powered attack submarine on par with the U.S. Navy’s Improved Los Angeles-class boats?

At least some U.S. naval analysts believe so and contend that the introduction of the new People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) submarines is an indication of just how quickly Beijing is catching up to the West.

“The 93B is not to be confused with the 93. It is a transition platform between the 93 and the forthcoming 95,” said Jerry Hendrix, director of the Defense Strategies and Assessments Program at the Center for a New American Security—who is also a former U.S. Navy Captain. “It is quieter and it has a new assortment of weapons to include cruise missiles and a vertical launch capability. The 93B is analogous to our LA improved in quietness and their appearance demonstrates that China is learning quickly about how to build a modern fast attack boat.”

Other sources were not convinced that Beijing could have made such enormous technological strides so quickly—but they noted that the topic of Chinese undersea warfare capability is very classified. Open source analysis is often extremely difficult, if not impossible. “Regarding the question on the Type 093B, I really don’t know, anything is possible I suppose, but I doubt it,” said retired Rear Adm. Mike McDevitt, now an analyst at CNA’s Center for Naval Analyses. “I have no doubt that the PLAN has ambitions to at least achieve that level of capability and quietness.”

Though the Seawolf and Virginia-classes have surpassed the Improved Los Angeles-class as the premier U.S. Navy attack submarines, such older vessels will remain the mainstay of the service’s undersea fleet for many years to come. If the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s newest boats are able to match the capabilities of the U.S. Navy’s shrinking undersea fleet, Washington could be in serious trouble. Indeed, the U.S. Navy already anticipated that it could be facing-off against a Chinese submarine fleet that is nearly twice its size, but not as technically capable.

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Does Obama Really Play the Foreign-Policy Long Game?...

Does Obama Really Play the Foreign-Policy Long Game?

06/27/16

Nikolas K. Gvosdev, John A. Cloud

Global Governance, Americas

Derek Chollet reflects on the last eight years.

It is unfortunate for Derek Chollet that the infamous David Samuels interview with Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes has rapidly emerged as the definitive summary of the foreign-policy approach of the Obama administration, with, as Peter Apps of Reuters noted, its focus on the insularity and inexperience of the president’s inner circle, as well as its supposed reliance on spin substituting for policy achievement. It is to be hoped that with the release of his magisterial recapitulation of Barack Obama’s approach to U.S. national security and America’s place in the global order—The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Role in the World—Chollet, who helped to formulate and execute the foreign-affairs policies of the United States, will be able to shift the conversation back towards the actual record of events.

As outside observers of the administration’s efforts from our perch in the National Security Affairs department of the Naval War College, we note that Nikolas Gvosdev’s assessment of the Obama approach as one of “strategic patience” is confirmed by an insider—one who served as principal deputy director of the Policy Planning Staff at the State Department, as the senior director on the National Security Council for strategic planning, and as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. Chollet terms the Obama approach as the “long game”—an effort to renew and sustain American power in the world for the foreseeable future, rather than have it be frittered away chasing ephemeral and, in many cases, unrealizable short-term objectives.

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16 Reasons to Celebrate Brexit's Win...

16 Reasons to Celebrate Brexit's Win

06/27/16

Doug Bandow

Politics, Europe

The UK electorate made a wise choice.

Watching the Brexit campaign generated mixed feelings: it was a little like the man who saw his mother-in-law drive his new Mercedes off a cliff. In the United Kingdom, some people who hated free trade, immigration and market innovation challenged the officious, wannabe superstate headquartered in Brussels. Who to cheer for?

We should cheer for the Brexiteers, who deserve at least a couple of hurrahs. The European Union created a common market throughout the continent, an undoubted good, but since then has focused on becoming a meddling Leviathan like Washington, DC. For Britain, the virtues of remaining appeared to pale in comparison to the likely costs of continued subservience to Brussels. In a variety of imperfect ways, Brexit promoted liberty, community, democracy and the rule of law. In short, the good guys won.

Here are sixteen reasons why the United Kingdom was better off Brexiting:

1. Average folks took on the commanding heights of politics, business, journalism and academia and triumphed. Obviously, the “little guy” isn’t always right, but the fact he can win demonstrates that a system whose pathways remain open to those the Bible refer to as “the least of these.” The wealthiest, best-organized and most publicized factions don’t always win.

2. Told to choose between economic bounty and self-governance, a majority of Britons chose the latter. It’s a false choice in this case, but people recognized that the sum of human existence is not material. The problem is not just the decisions previously taken away from those elected to govern the UK; it’s also the decisions that would have been taken away in the future had “Remain” won.

3. Those governed decided that they should make fundamental decisions about who would rule over them. The Eurocrats, a gaggle of politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, academics, lobbyists and businessmen were determined to achieve their ends no matter what the European people thought. A constitution rejected? Use a treaty. A treaty rejected? Vote again. A busted monetary union? Force a political union. And never, ever consult the public. No longer, said the British.

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The U.S. Army’s Return to Great Power Conflict...

The U.S. Army’s Return to Great Power Conflict

06/27/16

Kris Osborn

U.S. Army, United States

“This is not back to the future…this is moving towards the future where Army forces will face adaptive enemies with greater lethality." 

The Army’s “live-fire” combat exercises involve large-scale battalion-on-battalion war scenarios wherein mechanized forces often clash with make-shift, “near-peer” enemies using new technologies, drones, tanks, artillery, missiles and armored vehicles.

The Army is expanding its training and “live-fire” weapons focus to include a renewed ability to fight a massive, enemy force in an effort to transition from its decade-and-a-half of tested combat experience with dismounted infantry and counterinsurgency.

Recent ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created an experienced and combat-tested force able to track, attack and kill small groups of enemies -- often blended into civilian populations, speeding in pick-up trucks or hiding within different types of terrain to stage ambushes.

“The Army has a tremendous amount of experience right now. It has depth but needs more breadth. We’re good at counterinsurgency and operations employing wide area security. Now, we may have to focus on 'Mounted Maneuver' operations over larger distances,” Rickey Smith, Deputy Chief of Staff, Training and Doctrine Command, told Scout Warrior in an interview.

(This story originally appeared in Scout Warrior)

While senior Army leaders are quick to emphasize that counterinsurgency is of course still important and the service plans to be ready for the widest possible range of conflict scenarios, there is nonetheless a marked and visible shift toward being ready to fight and win against a large-scale modernized enemy such as Russia or China.

The Army, naturally, does not single out these countries as enemies, train specifically to fight them or necessarily expect to go to war with them. However, recognizing the current and fast-changing threat environment, which includes existing tensions and rivalries with the aforementioned great powers, Army training is increasingly focused on ensuring they are ready for a mechanized force-on-force type engagement.

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Get Ready to Fight ISIS's "Virtual Caliphate" ...

Get Ready to Fight ISIS's "Virtual Caliphate"

06/27/16

Brian R. Moore, Sim Vireak

Security, Middle East

The next big battle won’t be fought with guns.

2016 continues to see young Muslims inspired by radicalism commit terrorist attacks across the globe. In Orlando, forty-nine were killed and fifty-three more injured at the hands of Omar Mateen, a single gunman who pledged allegiance to ISIS. In the Philippines, at least eighteen soldiers were killed and fifty-two injured in clashes with Abu Sayyaf militants. In Indonesia, eight were killed and twenty-four injured in several explosions directed by ISIS. The events, though unique in scale, felt eerily familiar for the United States and the rest of the world. They are a continuation of ISIS’s rhetoric falling on receptive ears, with social media often being the tool used in the recruitment process aimed at reaching even the lowest-end user, as seen by Orlando’s lone-wolf attack.

In fact, as ISIS loses territory and is driven off the battlefield, it is likely to further turn to social media to groom future lone wolves to carry out attacks at home. Look no further than ISIS’s official spokesperson and senior leader Abu Muhammad al-Adnani’s statement that “The smallest action you do in their heartland is better and more enduring to us than what you would do if you were with us.” Indeed, ISIS is evolving into a “virtual caliphate.”

Extremist groups today are particularly skilled at social media. The radical activity online includes Hollywood-quality videos that glorify violence, and offer a sense of brotherhood and belonging in hopes of reaching young Muslims who may be disillusioned with their current social position. These groups boast a social media presence that releases ninety thousand tweets and other media responses every single day. Social media may not be the decisive factor in the decision to radicalize and travel to the Syrian battlefields or downtown Jakarta, but the nature of terrorism requires only few to inflict large-scale damage and death to many.

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(I CAN RELATE TO THIS!). "I'm 70"...

I'm 70.

By Robert A. Hall, Five term member of the Massachusetts
State Senate and a former US Marine

I’m 70   -   Since I was 18, except for one
Semester in college when jobs were scarce and a
Six-month period when I was between jobs, but
still Job-hunting every day, I've worked,
Hard.
Despite some health challenges, I still put in
50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in
Seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but
I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I
Worked to get where I am. Given the economy,
there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired.
Very tired.

I'm tired  of being told
That I have to "spread the wealth" to people who
Don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being
Told the government will take the money I
Earned, by force if necessary, and give it to
People too lazy to earn it.

I'm tired   of being told
That Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every
Day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men
Killing their sisters, wives and daughters for
Their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over
Some slight offense; of Muslims murdering
Christian and Jews because they aren't
"believers;" of Muslims burning schools for
Girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims
To death for "adultery;" of Muslims mutilating
The genitals of little girls; all in the name of
Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari???a law tells them to.

I'm tired   of being told
That, out of "tolerance for other cultures," we
Must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund
Mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach
Hate in America and Canada, while no American
Nor Canadian group is allowed to fund a church,
Synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to
Teach love and tolerance..

I'm tired of being told I
Must lower my living standard to fight global
Warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

I'm tired of being told
That drug addicts have a disease, and I must
Help support and treat them, and pay for the
Damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a
Dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up
Their noses while they tried to fight it off?

I'm tired of hearing
Wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians
Of both parties talking about innocent mistakes,
Stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we
All know they think their only mistake was
Getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense
Of entitlement, rich or poor.

I'm real tired of people who
Don't take responsibility for their lives and
Actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the
Government, or discrimination or big-whatever
For their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to
Be 70.. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have
To see the world these people are making. I'm
Just sorry for my granddaughters and grandsons.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served
Five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.

There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless
Each of us sends it on!
This is your chance to make a difference.
If you don't forward this you are part of the problem.

ISIS commits acts of war against us and we let them get away with it. Time to kickass starting with the infestation in the White House...

Fellow Patriots, Obama honestly believes that, as bad as terrorist attacks are, American "overreaction" is worse.  In Obama's view, defending ourselves only increases the problem rather than reducing it, making us as much a part of the problem as the terrorist threat itself. ISIS commits acts of war against us and we let them get away with it.  Our failure to defend ourselves is an incentive for the terrorists to strike even harder. Joseph, as if Obama's policies weren't destructive enough, we are faced with the very real threat that his ideological clone Hillary Clinton will win the White House...and she is ahead in recent polls.  For four, maybe even eight more years, we will be held hostage by the same failed ideology that leaves us defenseless today. I refuse to let Hillary Clinton become President - not on my watch!  So will you make an urgent contribution of $25, $50, $100 or more so that I can mount a huge national campaign to defeat her? Joseph, the way to defeat this terrorism is militarily in the places that it exists. Neither Obama nor Hillary has the guts to admit that.  Joseph, there's more you need to know.   I'm facing an imminent fundraising deadline. I need to have the maximum amount of resources on-hand to send a message to the Clinton campaign that serious attacks are coming. The deadline is midnight on June 30th.  So will you show your commitment to defeating Hillary Clinton by making an urgent donation towards my June 30th deadline? Click here now if you can help. Joseph, keeping America safe and strong starts with electing leaders with the guts to defend American freedom...and that's simply NOT Hillary Clinton.  For America,    John Bolton Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations