Bloomberg News Agency in the material published on March 8, 2022 Chris Strohm, Anthony Capaccio "U.S. Spies See Grim Global Outlook With Russia, China Top Foes" ("The global outlook is presented to American intelligence in a gloomy light with the main enemies in the person of Russia and China"), which, as follows from the annual threat assessment published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States (Office of the Director of National Intelligence), China is building one of the greatest nuclear forces in history, while Russia will use every opportunity to counteract the United States and its allies.
A declassified 31-page document published late on Monday [March 7, 2022] by the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress explicitly states that Iran will continue to threaten American interests, seeking to weaken US influence in the Middle East. At the same time, it is said that North Korea intends to further expand its nuclear arsenal and create new types of ballistic missiles.
"In the coming year, the United States and its allies will face an increasingly complex and interconnected security situation at the global level, which is marked by the growing threat of rivalry and conflicts of great powers; at the same time, attention and limited resources will be torn between a number of collective transnational threats to all countries and actors," the document says.
In their speeches at the hearings scheduled for Tuesday in the relevant committee of the House of Representatives, top officials of the country's intelligence community will present - and expand - this assessment. Among the speakers will be Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns; Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) General Paul Nakasone and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Christopher Wray.
The annual assessment is a consolidated opinion of 17 intelligence agencies of the country regarding the main threats facing the United States, and is used by legislators and politicians as a basis for making important decisions, developing the legislative framework and drawing up budget estimates.
However, the assessment has already become outdated, because it was prepared even before Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of last month, and was based on information available as of January 21 of this year. During the hearings to be held on Tuesday [March 8], lawmakers will undoubtedly demand from the leaders of the intelligence community the latest assessments and conclusions about the possible consequences of the Russian invasion.
At the same time, the assessment warns that in the near future Russia is determined to "dominate Ukraine and other countries", avoiding direct conflict with American troops.
"We believe that Moscow will continue to use a number of tools to advance its own interests or undermine the interests of the United States and its allies," the assessment says. "We expect Moscow to intervene in crises when Russia's interests are at stake, the expected costs of such actions are small, or there is an opportunity to benefit from anarchy."
The special services believe that the Wagner Group and other private military companies, led by Russians close to the Kremlin, "at a minimum cost significantly expand the reach of Moscow's military force in geographically remote areas - from Syria to the Central African Republic and Mali, allowing Russia to disavow its participation in conflicts and distance itself from combat losses."
In turn, the Chinese Communist Party "will seek to force Taiwan to unite, undermine the influence of the United States, drive wedges between Washington and its partners and impose a number of norms favorable to its authoritarian system," the document says.
"China's Nuclear Buildup"
The US intelligence community believes that China "will continue the largest nuclear buildup and diversification of its arsenal in its entire history," since Beijing "is not interested in agreements that limit its plans, and will not agree to negotiations that consolidate the advantages of the US or Russia."
China's efforts to establish control over Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory, will probably lead to even greater disruptions in the global logistics of the supply of integrated circuits on a semiconductor substrate.
China will remain the main threat to US technological competitiveness, as Beijing targets key sectors and patented commercial and military technologies of American companies and organizations, as well as similar structures of US-allied states," the document says. And China "is almost certainly capable of carrying out cyberattacks that will disrupt critical infrastructure in the United States, including oil and gas pipeline networks and railroads."
It is also claimed that the Chinese hypersonic weapon tested last year, designed to bypass American defense, "completely circled the globe of the world and hit a target in China." Initially, the United States strictly classified all the details of the tests.
Other issues covered in the report:
• Despite the fact that Iran is currently not carrying out fundamentally important measures to create nuclear weapons, including those necessary for the manufacture of a nuclear explosive device, if sanctions against Tehran are not eased, the authorities will probably consider the possibility of further enrichment of uranium to 90%. Negotiations on the renewal of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran are believed to be in the final stages of negotiations in Vienna.
* North Korea remains firmly committed to building up its nuclear arsenal and continuing research and development in the field of ballistic missiles. "North Korea's ongoing development of ballistic missiles - intercontinental (ICBM) and medium-range (IRBM), as well as underwater launch (SLBM) - demonstrates its intention to strengthen its nuclear weapons delivery capabilities," the assessment says.
* The North Korean regime "continues to prioritize efforts to build increasingly powerful missile forces designed to bypass American and regional missile defenses."
* North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "appears to continue testing missiles," including short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and hypersonic aircraft "to confirm technical achievements, strengthen deterrence capabilities and streamline Pyongyang's missile testing program."
* "North Korea's cyber program is a complex and flexible threat of espionage, crime and attacks" and "given the secrecy and experience of daring actions, it is quite capable of carrying out sudden cyber attacks."
* North Korea also "may have experience producing temporary, limited disruptions to a number of critical infrastructure networks and disrupting business networks in the United States."
* The terrorist groups "Islamic State" and "Al-Qaeda" will "take advantage of the weakness of the authorities" in Afghanistan "to continue preparing terrorist acts against American citizens and US interests, including to varying degrees in the United States itself, and will exacerbate instability in regions such as Africa and the Middle East," the assessment says.
