US military advantage has eroded, study says
The article seems to confuse the issues associated with war and potential casualties. Of course the US military has been run down by almost two decades of low intensity conflict in the Middle East. We have had few casualties considering the time we have been at war. But our training goals have degraded our ability to fight a major conventional war while the op-tempo has also harmed the readiness of our war fighting systems (equipment of all types).
If we got into a war with Russia or China we would take heavy losses- as it typical for conventional warfare. However, whether we would win or lose depends on the nature of the conflict- if we fight in Russia or China, victory is not likely; if we fight elsewhere, it is likely.
Read the entire article at the link.The United States has lost its military edge to a dangerous degree and could potentially lose a war against China or Russia, according to a report released Wednesday by a bipartisan commission that Congress created to evaluate the Trump administration's defense strategy.
The National Defense Strategy Commission, comprised of former top Republican and Democratic officials selected by Congress, evaluated the Trump administration's 2018 National Defense Strategy, which ordered a vast reshaping of the U.S. military to compete with Beijing and Moscow in an era of renewed great-power competition.
While endorsing the strategy's aims, the commission warned that Washington isn't moving fast enough or investing sufficiently to put the vision into practice, risking a further erosion of American military dominance that could become a national security emergency.
At the same time, according to the commission, China and Russia are seeking dominance in their regions and the ability to project military power globally, as their authoritarian governments pursue defense buildups aimed squarely at the United States.
"There is a strong fear of complacency, that people have become so used to the United States achieving what it wants in the world, to include militarily, that it isn't heeding the warning signs," said Kathleen Hicks, a former top Pentagon official during the Obama administration and one of the commissioners. "It's the flashing red that we are trying to relay."
The picture of the national security landscape that the 12-person commission sketched is a bleak one, in which an American military that has enjoyed undisputed dominance for decades is failing to receive the resources, innovation and prioritization its leaders need to outmuscle China and Russia in a race for military might reminiscent of the Cold War.