It’s been a sad month for American military power, unless we count the true yardstick by which the military industrial complex measures success: spending, now slated to hit (at least) $886 billion this year. Otherwise the scene all around is one of reckless aggression coupled with incompetence and disarray. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin went AWOL to hide in Walter Reade hospital for a week, and no one noticed. Word from inside the administration is that Austin was eager to keep his ailment secret from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the erstwhile paper-pusher who now relishes his role as warlord, issuing direct operational orders to generals and admirals down the chain of command.
“They’re all terrified of crossing Sullivan,” I’m told.
The fruits of this amateur hour arrangement are becoming abundantly evident in the upscaling war against Yemen, currently run directly out of the White House by Sullivan and his immediate staff. Among those not involved is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttegieg, one of nature’s premier false alarms. He bears direct responsibility for the U.S. Merchant Marine Administration (MARAD) but might as well have been sitting out the crisis at Walter Reade for all the impact he is having. MARAD itself is headed by a retired admiral previously focused on “climate resiliency.” The National Security Council did once have a maritime desk with commensurate expertise, but that was closed down at the onset of the Biden Administration.
Prosperity Unguarded
Operation Prosperity Guardian, supposedly dedicated to ensuring safe passage through the Red Sea for Israeli and U.S. ships, along with those of assorted allies (the Houthis reportedly give a free pass to Russian and Chinese vessels) is demonstrably failing in its task. U.S. destroyers blaze off their limited stocks of multi-million dollar missiles at cheap Houthi drones knocked out in a Sana’a basement with the 3D printer donated by the Iranians some years back. The U.S.-commanded effort has been so disorganized that the French have concluded they can do a better job or their own, and even have the cheek to offer protection to American ships. Ships of Britain’s tiny Royal Navy have been busy colliding with each other in a Bahrain port. Meanwhile, global shipping is forced to reroute around Africa, with an impact on global supply chains even more disastrous, by one estimate, than the Covid lockdowns. U.S. bombers rain bombs and missiles on Yemen, with Britain contributing four planes of its own (is that all they can manage?) Biden admits that the bombing is having no effect, but pledges to continue it anyway.
Meanwhile, Back at the White House…
So what is really occupying the minds of the guardians of our security, apart, that is, from facilitating the Netanyahu genocide project in Gaza with bombs, tank shells, and targeting intelligence? Most probably, it is the maneuvering to succeed Antony Blinken at the State Department. Given Blinken’s sorry record in the job (can anyone point to a success, anywhere?) his position is ever more vulnerable. Sullivan, eager for cabinet rank, apparently hankers for the position, as may Kurt Campbell, the NSC Asia supremo now redeployed as Deputy Secretary of State. Blinken and Sullivan supported the Campbell move as the only way to block the bellicose and much disliked Victoria Nuland from the No.2 State position, but they may distrust the machinations of this adroit intriguer. Blinken, in particular, has never forgiven Campbell for his covert crafting of the AUKUS submarine deal with the Australians behind the back of the State Department thereby necessitating embarrassed apologies to the French for the torpedoing of their lucrative sub deal.
No wonder Austin felt it expedient to retreat to the soft pillows of the military hospital for a while. As ineffective strikes against the Houthis fail to open the sealanes and we edge toward war with Iran, he may want to summon the ambulance again.