New study finds US military 'weak', endangering national interests
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The Heritage Foundation report details how nearly all branches of the US military cannot face a serious major war, with the Air Force rated as "very weak" in 2023, the lowest possible rating.
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US troops patrol the countryside in Rmelan, northeastern al-Hasakah, Syria, on June 7, 2023. (AFP)
For the second year in a row, a study assessed the US military as "weak" and warned that the US armed forces may be incapable of safeguarding critical American interests.
According to the Heritage Foundation's 10th annual Index of Military Strength that came out Wednesday, the "weak" US military is "at significant risk of being unable to meet the demands of a single major regional conflict while also attending to various presence and engagement activities."
The report grades each branch of service on its strength in capacity, competence, and preparedness, grading the branch power as either very weak, weak, marginal, strong, or very strong.
It details how nearly all branches of the US military cannot face a serious major war, with the Air Force rated as "very weak" in 2023, the lowest possible rating.
The Navy also received a "weak" rating for its low levels of capabilities and readiness.
Robert Greenway, the director of the Allison Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that while China's Navy is growing and modernizing, the US Navy has seen a "slow decline".
"The Navy has had too little shipyard capacity to keep its fleet maintained, too few ships to pace the threats, and misguided leadership that has instigated a recruitment crisis."
Greenway also noted that the active-duty Army numbers have shrunk from 485,000 to a mere 452,000 forces, impacting the "readiness and effectiveness" of the army.
In October 2023, a report by Newsweek detailed that the US Army size has shrunk to its lowest size since World War II. In February 2023, the Pentagon admitted to difficulties in recruiting new people to the US Army.
In November 2022, only 23% of young Americans were deemed fit enough to join the Army because the remaining fell below fitness and intelligence standards due to obesity issues and poor schooling.
Even the US newest member of the military family, the Space Force, ranked only "marginal".
Heritage Foundation analyst for defense budgeting Wilson Beaver attributed the downfall to the decrease in US defense spending in recent decades.
Biden using military recruits to further ideology
Beaver also pointed to the "worst" recruiting crisis in the history of the US, accusing US President Joe Biden of focusing on "race and gender of candidates" rather than focusing on "merit and performance."
In early January, internal data from the Defense Department revealed a notable decline in the recruitment of white individuals to the US Army in recent years, according to a report by Military.com.
In 2018, the Army identified over 44,000 new recruits as white, but this figure has consistently decreased annually, dropping to around 25,000 white recruits in 2023, as detailed in the report.
A White House National Security Council official defended the failed military to Fox News Digital, calling it "the most powerful military in the world."
The official blamed outdated equipment and "dangerously low levels of training" for the situation, urging Congress to fund the military to "advance our national security and directly support and strengthen our military."
Ironically, the US with its weak military continues to involve itself in one too many regional wars.
A Pentagon spokesperson snubbed the report, calling the US military the "strongest fighting force the world has ever known."
However, the alleged strongest military in the world was not able to counter or prevent over 150 attacks on US occupation bases in Syria and bases in Iraq or the injury of more than 70 American soldiers.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced on Thursday the targeting of the US military base near Kurdistan's Erbil Airport in northern Iraq using drones, despite all the reinforcements and protective measures taken.
The party confirmed that these attacks were in continuation of the resistance against the "US occupation" in Iraq and the region and in response to the Israeli entity's massacres against the people of Gaza.
US military spent $1.6bln in ME since October but lacks budget to pay
The Pentagon estimates that the military deployment in the Middle East following the launch of the Israeli war on Gaza last October will cost $1.6 billion, but the department won't be able to pick up the cheque due to Congress's inability to pass a budget, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing US officials.
Expenses included dispatching additional warships, fighter jets, and other hardware to the region and maintaining their presence there for the last 4 months.
However, the expected costs do not include missiles the United States is using to launch attacks on Yemen or intercept their drones or missiles over the Red Sea, the officials added.
In a year, the cost is expected to soar to a staggering $2.2 billion.
This comes as intense discussions are taking place in the Senate before sending to Congress over a $100 billion budget requested by President Joe Biden, which includes assistance to the Israeli occupation entity, Taiwan, and Ukraine.
But since Republicans and Democrats failed so far to agree on a full-year spending budget for the Pentagon, the army will not be able to pay for the unanticipated expenditures.
