| Carden defines "Realism" to a T, here, as it really is. Which is why he has no credibility with me. He provides the "true" meaning to "Realist" here which is ultra-rabid China Hawk. But Colby never reserved his ultra-Hawkishness only for China, except in the imaginations of other Realists, as here. He was the architect of "45's" preparation for war against Russia, China, Iran, etc., as can be seen with this incitement from the Colby authored 2018 National Defense Strategy attached below: "China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea. Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic, and security decisions of its neighbors. As well, North Korea’s outlaw actions and reckless rhetoric continue despite United Nation’s censure and sanctions. Iran continues to sow violence and remains the most significant challenge to Middle East stability." Needless to say, no consideration was paid by Colby to the many provocations the US had engaged in as National Policy going back more than two decades by 2018, under the Cheney Doctrine (which is not to defend any of these country's policies either except to note that like Iraq, they had grounds for acting in self-defense.) |
Attachment:
2018 National Defense Strategy Summary.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document
Attachment:
Colby_01-29-19.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document
From p. 3, Colby Testimony above: "The Particular Threat Posed by China and Russia China in particular and to a lesser extent Russia present by far the most severe threats to our alliance architecture. The once overwhelming U.S. conventional military advantage vis a vis these major powers has eroded and will continue to erode absent overriding focus and effort by the United States and its allies and partners. "China and Russia pose a particular kind of threat to U.S. allies and established partners like Taiwan. Beijing and Moscow have plausible theories of victory that could involve employing a combination of “gray zone” activities (such as through the use of subversion by “little green men,”), robust anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) networks, lethal and fast maneuver forces, and strategic capabilities, especially nuclear arsenals. The adept integration of these assets could enable Beijing or Moscow first to overpower U.S. allies and seize their territory while holding off U.S. and other allied combat power." As we now know, from President Duda and our POTUS, by the time Colby had written this justification for aggression against these countries, kinetic operations and weapon deliveries had already escalated far beyond what Obama had been willing to do! I could pick the rest of Carden's panegyric to Colby apart but it would never reach the brain-dead who will go on believing what they want to believe, as cult-followers. And Colby has Heritage Foundation's full support, including a bit of (rare) honest from them! BLUF: "On Ukraine, my understanding is that Bridge certainly wants Ukraine to win. But he also believes that, given the need for the U.S. to focus on China and the absence of a NATO-like security arrangement in the Western Pacific, most of the additional support for Ukraine should come from our European allies. "As far as the Middle East, Bridge has always been a staunch supporter of Israel. I cannot fathom a world in which Bridge is ambivalent about a nuclear-armed Iran. Such an outcome would contradict both American interests and the interests of our regional allies and partners." I will give Carden one thing. He and I have a slight agreement on National Conservativism, from what he said in this very rare criticism of them in The American Conservative magazine, but that's a limited agreement as his main criticism comes down to it isn't American, nothing substantive as a fellow post-Liberal: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/neoconservatism-by-another-name/ But one sees a strategy here to protect a certain someone: everything bad, blame the NeoCons, and ignore that as Heritage says, they're all (no prefix) Conservatives now "Curt Mills of The American Conservative joins Emily for an assessment of Trump’s foreign policy as he enters his third month back in office. With the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire and progress toward a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump’s last 72 hours are testing his approach." (Sharing this only for the false claim in the title, not for anything either of these two far-rightists have to say.)
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