The Most Pressing National Security Issue That Nobody's Talking About

Epic Times: America’s “China Trade Deficit” Reaches Critical Mass

The most pressing national security issue that nobody's talking about

The US trade deficit with China hit a critical milestone in 2015. It now stands at a mind-numbing $1 billion a day, and that $365 billion annual trade deficit continues to rise with the lift of China’s illegal export subsidies, sweatshop labor, pollution havens, and undervalued currency.

The failure to understand that America’s Chinese import dependence has now reached critical mass as a national security issue comes from the very mind-numbing magnitude of the numbers involved. Let’s see, however, if we can put the size of the US trade deficit with China into some perspective; and let’s start with the F-22 – the only US fighter jet with the agility, speed, and stealth to overcome the latest Russian air defense systems and newest Chinese and Russian fighters.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: All international conflicts are determined by industrial capacity, wealth/money, know-how, and population. If current trends continue (the next decade or two) .... the U.S. will definitely be subordinate to China on all four points in the future. Fortunately for the U.S. .... China does have a lot of problems .... economic/political/ethnic tensions/corruption/etc. .... and the U.S. also has many allies in Asia who are very wary of China and will align amongst themselves and with the U.S. to counter a rising a China.

The Kremlin's Biggest Fear Is Not What NATO Or The Pentagon May Think, But It Is What U.S. Shale Frackers Arel Doing To Oil Prices

Roughnecks wrestle pipe on a True Company oil drilling rig outside Watford, North Dakota, October 20, 2012. Thousands of people have flooded into North Dakota to work in state's oil drilling boom. Reuters

Mark P. Mills, Manhattan-Institute/Forbes: Russia's Big Worry Is Not What the Pentagon Thinks but What Shale Frackers Will Do to Oil Prices

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter ruffled feathers this week when, in a February 2nd speech at the Economic Club of Washington D.C., he demoted ISIS and terrorism, to the bottom of a list of key threats to America’s national security. At the top of the list of “five evolving challenges”? Russia.

Right now, though, odds are that Vladimir Putin is more worried about what oilmen like Harold Hamm are thinking than what’s on the SecDef’s mind. Hamm, founder and CEO of Continental Resources, is one of the more outspoken amongst the multitude of shale pioneers who are collectively responsible for the global oil glut — and the consequent price collapse.

We can see what specifically must worry Putin in a new must-read interview with Hamm (courtesy of Christopher Helman at Forbes). Hamm, referencing the fact that American shale producers have in the past half-dozen years nearly doubled America’s oil output, says: “We can double it again.” If Hamm is correct, then the shale fields alone—never mind the rest of America’s onshore and offshore production—would be producing more oil than Russia, and the world markets would again be in oversupply.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: It is not only Russia that is concerned about the shale fracking revolution to the oil industry, but every OPEC and oil producing county that is dependent on oil exports to finance their governments. And the problem for these oil producers who want higher oil prices .... is that there is nothing that they can do to stop the U.S. oil fracking industry unless they crash oil prices permanently.

Pentagon may Miss Deadline To Present To Congress Their Plan To Defeat The Islamic State

Washington Examiner: Pentagon may miss deadline for plan to defeat Islamic State

The Pentagon is not committing to meeting a congressionally mandated deadline to present lawmakers with the Obama administration's plan to "defeat" the self-proclaimed Islamic State, just days before that plan is due to be delivered to Congress.

President Obama in November signed the annual defense policy law that included a 90-day window for the administration to provide Congress with its plan to beat the radical Sunni terrorist group militarily.

"We are aware of the report and are actively working with multiple interagency offices to complete this legal requirement, per the NDAA, and look forward to submitting the completed report to Congress in the near term," a Pentagon spokesman told the Washington Examiner on Thursday.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: If the Pentagon misses this deadline .... which by the looks of it they will .... it will tell me that besides waging a war of attrition, they do not have a strategic plan to defeat the Islamic State.

The Growing Russia - Iraq Military Alliance

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari (R) and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin (L) sign documents in Baghdad, Iraq February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily

Reuters: Russia boosts ties with Iraq in challenge to U.S. influence

Russia is ready to sell civil airliners to Iraq and keep providing it with military aid to fight Islamic State, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Thursday, accompanied on a trip to Baghdad by the biggest Russian delegation in years.

The mission by nearly 100 government and business officials was part of a drive by Moscow to strengthen commercial and security ties with Iraq, potentially eroding U.S. influence in one of the world's most critical regions.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said discussions had revolved around providing military assistance to defeat Islamic State militants, also known as Daesh, who seized a third of Iraq in 2014 and want to redraw the map of the Middle East.

Read more ....

WNU Editor; This enhanced military cooperation will not entail Russian air strikes in Iraq (for now) .... Deputy PM: Russia is not going to expand air operation in Syria to neighboring countries (TASS)

More News On The Growing Russia - Iraq Military Alliance

Iraq, Russia to Discuss Deliveries of Modern Russian Weapons to Iraqi Army -- Sputnik
Russian official hopes cooperation with Iraq will help free Mosul from IS -- TASS
Russia ready to cooperate with Iraq in many spheres — deputy PM -- TASS
Iraq appreciates Russia’s support in freeing its territory from terrorists — minister -- TASS
Iraq Striving to Expel All Terrorists from Country, Praises Russia's Help -- Sputnik
Russia, Iraq Sign Roadmap for Development of Relations - Russia's Deputy PM -- Sputnik

NATO Sends Ships To The Aegean Sea In Attempt To Stop The Human Smugglers

Ursula von der Leyen of Germany and Ashton B. Carter of the United States described NATO's reasoning for sending ships to the Aegean Sea to stop the smuggling of migrants.

New York Times: NATO Will Send Ships to Aegean Sea to Deter Human Trafficking

BRUSSELS — With more than a million migrants having reached Europe in the last year and many more on the way, NATO stepped into the crisis for the first time on Thursday, saying it would deploy ships to the Aegean Sea in an attempt to stop smugglers.

But while the hastily made decision reflected the growing urgency of the situation, it was not clear that it would have much practical effect on the flow of refugees fleeing Syria’s five-year civil war: The alliance said it would not seek to block the often rickety and overcrowded migrant vessels or turn them back, and military officials were scrambling to determine precisely what role their warships would play.

NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that “this is not about stopping or pushing back refugee boats.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This should have been done immediately when it became clear that a crisis was unfolding. This is the problem with Europe .... no leadership .... and in fact it is the leadership (as symbolized by Germany's Chancellor Merkel) .... who are the ones who opened the doors giving refugees the chance for a better life without realizing that the consequences of their words will result in millions making plans to migrate regardless of the cost.

Air Force Major General Faints In The Middle Of A Press Briefing On The F-35

Daily Mail: Air Force Major General FAINTS in the middle of a press briefing about $120bn F-35 fighter program

* US Air Force General James Martin Jr, 52, was talking about future of F-35 program when he passed out
* Aides rushed to official's side, offered him water and brought in a chair
* His subordinate took over the briefing, joking with reporters: 'That's what the F-35 would do to ya'
* It later emerged Martin was suffering from the flu or a cold
* He was taken to a hospital as a precaution and returned to work Wednesday

A Pentagon press briefing discussing the Air Force's $120billion budget took a tragicomic turn when a high-ranking official fainted at the podium - and the entire incident was caught on camera.

US Air Force General James Martin Jr, 52, was talking about the future of the F-35 program when suddenly he started to slump forward on Tuesday, dipping his head beneath the dais.

While subordinates who rushed to help Martin joked that he fainted after reading the budget, it was later revealed that he had been suffering from the flu.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I suspect that the General worked non-stop for a day or two before the press briefing .... and it caught up to him. But talk about bad timing.

Tweet For Today

.@OIRSpox: Counter-#ISIL Progress Continues https://t.co/6ovfvOiOG0 pic.twitter.com/kK6WpdkQX4

— DoDNews (@DoDNews) February 11, 2016