{"id":1441872,"date":"2023-12-03T03:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T08:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1441872"},"modified":"2023-12-03T03:10:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T08:10:00","slug":"congressional-commission-urges-us-to-expand-nuclear-arsenal-amid-china-russia-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/congressional-commission-urges-us-to-expand-nuclear-arsenal-amid-china-russia-threat\/1441872\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressional Commission Urges US To Expand Nuclear Arsenal Amid China, Russia Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congressional Commission Urges US To Expand Nuclear Arsenal Amid China, Russia Threat<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Andre Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours)<\/em><\/p>\n

U.S. Capitol building in Washington on Nov. 8, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The United States must expand and modernize its nuclear arsenal beyond planned improvements to deter combined aggression from communist China and Russia<\/strong>, according to a new congressional report.<\/p>\n

Planned nuclear capacity \u201climits\u201d the United States’ ability to effectively prevent a war with China and Russia, says the report (pdf<\/a>) by the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven current threat trajectories, our nation will soon encounter a fundamentally different global setting than it has ever experienced<\/strong>: we will face a world where two nations possess nuclear arsenals on par with our own,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe size and composition of the nuclear force must account for the possibility of combined aggression from Russia and China.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report emphasizes that a new conflict with either or both of the powers could realistically result in nuclear catastrophe and would need to be deterred.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a growing risk of confrontation with China, Russia, or both<\/strong>. This includes the risk of military conflict,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cUnlike World Wars I and II, a major power conflict in the 21st century has the potential to escalate into a large-scale nuclear war.\u201d<\/p>\n

US Nuclear Forces \u2018Not Sufficient\u2019 for Deterrence<\/h2>\n

In all, the report says that current plans for modernization of the nation\u2019s nuclear forces are \u201cnecessary, but not sufficient,\u201d given the increasing capability of China and Russia to jointly threaten the United States with their nuclear arsenals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cDeployed strategic nuclear force requirements will increase for the United States in such a threat environment<\/strong>,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n

Hudson Institute senior fellow Marshall Billingslea, who co-authored the report, said a key factor in the commission\u2019s decision-making was the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s (CCP) rapid expansion of its nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re on pace to either rival or perhaps surpass the number of fielded nuclear weapons that we ourselves possess,\u201d Mr. Billingslea said during a Nov. 30 talk at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be clear, when you have a China that has gone from, let\u2019s say, around 250 nuclear weapons to \u2026 around 700 by 2027 \u2026 that\u2019s a fundamental game changer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Billingslea\u2019s comments referred to the Pentagon\u2019s most recent China Military Power Report, which found that the regime likely already has 500 deployed nuclear warheads<\/a> and will have more than 1,000 by 2030.<\/p>\n

Moreover, because of China\u2019s size and economic power, he said the nation <\/span>cannot rely on coercive economic methods to bring China\u00a0to the nonproliferation table.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about China, which has an economy nearly as large as ours \u2026 some of the tools that we traditionally have relied upon to deal with the Russias and the Irans and the Venezuelas and the North Koreas, are simply not available in a Chinese context.\u201d<\/p>\n

As such, he said the commission recommended the United States increase the number of its \u201cshorter and medium-range\u201d missiles and invest in \u201chypersonics\u201d to deploy both nuclear and conventional weapons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sheer increase in the number of targets implied by this Chinese buildup \u2026 [suggests] that the program of record that was foreseen back in 2010 is not sufficient,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs, also a co-author of the report, said the new posture was necessary to counter a united China and Russia, which have entered an unprecedented comprehensive strategic partnership<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the report finds is that the United States must be able to deter both Russia and China simultaneously,\u201d Ms. Heinrichs said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s obviously going to change the United States\u2019 strategic posture<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selling the idea of supplemental spending for nuclear weapons may not be an easy task. Concerns about war profiteering<\/a> are growing amid unprecedented defense spending by the Biden administration.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the Hudson Institute\u2019s close financial relationship with key defense corporations may diminish its credibility with some in Congress. According to the organization\u2019s financials (pdf<\/a>), defense contractors gave the think tank more than half a million dollars last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSat, 12\/02\/2023 – 22:10<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/congressional-commission-urges-us-expand-nuclear-arsenal-amid-china-russia-threat<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congressional Commission Urges US To Expand Nuclear Arsenal Amid China, Russia Threat Authored by Andre Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours) U.S. Capitol building…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1441872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441872\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}