Tag: United States Defense and Military Forces

Why the Bombing of Iran Tied the U.S. More Closely to China

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As the United States works to rebuild its supply of missiles and munitions after deploying many of them in the war with Iran, its defense contractors will need a supply of rare-earth minerals and magnets that are essential to making those weapons. But China dominates global production of those minerals, and it has enacted tight controls over them in the past year to cut off any foreign companies linked to the military and to put political pressure on the Trump administration. China deployed its control over the mineral supply chain…

U.S. Might Restart Strikes on Iran, Trump and Hegseth Warn

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The United States could end the month-old cease-fire and resume its attacks on Iran, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday, a day after Mr. Trump dismissed Tehran’s latest offer to end the war as “garbage.” “We’re either going to make a deal or they’re going to be decimated,” Mr. Trump told reporters in Washington as he prepared to travel to Beijing for a summit with China’s top leader, Xi Jinping. “One way or the other, we win.” Mr. Hegseth told a congressional hearing: “We have a…

In Talks With Iran, China Calls for Opening of Strait of Hormuz

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China’s top diplomat met with Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday and called for greater efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz and for an end to the war, after the Trump administration pressed Beijing to help end Tehran’s chokehold over the waterway. Meeting in Beijing with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China said that stopping the war was a matter of urgency, according to an official summary of their meeting issued by Xinhua, China’s main state news agency. While Mr. Wang was careful not to…

The Tragic Decline of the American Navy

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Alfred Thayer Mahan, a 19th-century naval officer and pre-eminent military strategist, believed his young country was destined to be great because of its Navy. Toward the end of his service, Mahan, then a U.S. Navy captain, wrote a landmark book about the age of sailing ships. Read avidly by kings, prime ministers and presidents — including Theodore Roosevelt, Kaiser Wilhelm II and the young Winston Churchill — the book posited the idea of a free world anchored by American sea power. Mahan believed America needed a large number of ships…

Iran War Has Drained U.S. Supplies of Critical, Costly Weapons

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Since the Iran war began in late February, the United States has burned through around 1,100 of its long-range stealth cruise missiles built for a war with China, close to the total number remaining in the U.S. stockpile. The military has fired off more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, roughly 10 times the number it currently buys each year. The Pentagon used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles in the war, at more than $4 million a pop, and more than 1,000 Precision Strike and ATACMS ground-based missiles, leaving inventories…

What a Speech Reveals About Trump’s Plans for Nuclear Weapons

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Within hours of the expiration last week of thefinal arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington, the State Department sent its top arms diplomat, Thomas G. DiNanno, to Geneva to lay out Washington’s vision for the future. His public address envisioned a future filled with waves of nuclear arms buildups and test detonations. The views of President Trump’s administration articulated in Mr. DiNanno’s speech represent a stark break with decades of federal policy. In particular, deep in the speech, he describes a U.S. rationale for going its own way on…

A Free World Needs a Strong America

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Opinion The Editorial Board By The Editorial BoardThe editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom. NYT

To Outbuild China, America Needs Friends

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Opinion The Editorial Board By The Editorial BoardThe editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom. United States Allies and partners United States Allies and partners United States Allies and partners United States Allies and partners NYT

America Can’t Make What the Military Needs

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In 2020 the Navy had a simple plan to build its next fleet of small warships, the Constellation class: take a European design and build it in America.In 2020 the Navy had asimple plan to build itsnext fleet of small warships,the Constellation class:buy a European design andbuild it in America. Opinion The Editorial Board make what the Military needs By The Editorial BoardThe editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom. At…

Overmatched: Why the U.S. Military Must Reinvent Itself

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Opinion The Editorial Board By The Editorial BoardThe editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom. This is the first installment in a series from the editorial board on why the U.S. military needs to reinvent itself. NYT