Max Boot
Tuesday’s confirmation hearings for defense secretary are sure to focus on all the troubling allegations of misconduct swirling around intended nominee Pete Hegseth (which he has denied). But let’s not lose sight of the big picture. The essential question that senators must ask is whether Hegseth, a Fox News host and former National Guardsman, has the capacity and experience to prepare the armed forces to fight a major war — and, if so, how he would go about it. Because right now, the U.S. military simply is not ready to defeat an adversary such as China or Russia in a protracted conflict.
Don’t take my word for it: That’s the judgment of the congressionally chartered, bipartisan Commission on the National Defense Strategy, which issued its final report in July. The commission, chaired by former California congresswoman Jane Harman, came to a sobering conclusion that did not get the attention it deserved: “The threats the United States faces are the most serious and most challenging the nation has encountered since 1945 and include the potential for near-term major war. … The nation was last prepared for such a fight during the Cold War, which ended 35 years ago. It is not prepared today.”
The commission went on to warn that “China is outpacing the United States and has largely negated the U.S. military advantage in the Western Pacific” and that “the U.S. military lacks both the capabilities and the capacity required to be confident it can deter and prevail in combat.”
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