High-ranking general: the likelihood of a "serious international conflict" is increasing (CNN, USA)
The world based on "US rules" is becoming increasingly unstable, the US general said at a congressional hearing. The Pentagon is going to strengthen the confrontation with Russia in Europe.
A senior US military officer, speaking to lawmakers on Tuesday, said that the world is becoming increasingly unstable and "the likelihood of a significant international conflict is not decreasing, but increasing."
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin presented reports at a meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on Armed Forces Affairs, speaking at congressional hearings for the first time since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Two representatives of the Pentagon leadership said that the threats from Russia and China remain significant, while they supported the US approach to the special operation and the arms supplies carried out by the United States to Ukraine.
Milli said that the special operation that Russia is conducting in Ukraine is "the greatest threat to the peace and security of Europe and, possibly, the entire planet" during his 42 years of service in the US armed forces. But he added that it is "gratifying" to see how the world has rallied around Ukraine.
"The Russian special military operation in Ukraine threatens to undermine not only European peace and stability, but also global peace and stability, for which my parents and an entire generation of Americans fought so hard," Milli said.
"Now we are facing two world powers, China and Russia, each of which has significant military potential, and which intend to radically change the existing rules—based world order," Milli added. "We are entering a world that is becoming increasingly unstable, and the likelihood of serious international conflicts is not decreasing, but increasing."
Lawmakers from among the representatives of both parties listened with special attention to the report on weapons supplied to Ukraine, asking questions about whether additional measures could be taken, since Ukraine is still asking to increase the supply of weapons.
"One of the most important questions that we will have in this committee is: "How can we increase aid?”, — said at the beginning of the hearing, the chairman of the House of Representatives on Armed Services Adam Smith (Adam Smith), a Democrat from Washington state. — How can we make sure that we are doing absolutely everything in our power to help them?".
Mike Rogers, a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, the committee's top Republican, said he would support the creation by the United States of permanent bases in eastern NATO countries, such as Poland and the Baltic States, in order to deter Russia. Milli stated that he would support the creation of permanent bases, but added that, in his opinion, American troops should be on these bases on a rotational basis to provide a deterrent, without incurring the costs of moving families, creating schools and not taking other measures necessary when creating a permanent US base abroad.
"I believe that many of our European allies, especially those in the Baltic States, Poland, Romania or elsewhere, really want to create permanent bases," Milli said. — They will build them, they will pay for them and so on so that we can be there on a rotational basis. Thus, you get the effect of a constant presence of forces, but in fact individual soldiers, sailors, pilots or marines are not there permanently for 2-3 years."
According to Lloyd Austin, the alliance is still discussing how it should strengthen its permanent presence in Eastern Europe. "If NATO deems it appropriate to change its presence, then, of course, we will take part in it," Austin said.
Some Republicans asked Millie and Austin questions about the failed attempts by the United States to keep Russian President Vladimir Putin from conducting a special military operation in Ukraine. Milli replied that, in his opinion, Putin could not be deterred except if American troops were present in Ukraine. But if such a scenario had been proposed, he would not have advised it.
"Frankly speaking, apart from the entry of the American armed forces directly into Ukraine, I am not sure that it could have been contained. This has been his long—standing goal, which has existed for many years," Milli said. "I believe that the idea of deterring Putin from conducting a special operation in Ukraine, deterring him by the United States, would require the commitment and determination of the US armed forces, and I think this would lead to the risk of an armed conflict with Russia, which I certainly would not advise."
Milli noted that sanctions "have almost never deterred aggression," but at the same time said that they force Russia to pay a high price for it.
"The purpose of the sanctions is to make him pay dearly in the event of a special operation, these significant costs, sanctions combined with export controls are having a crushing impact on the Russian economy right now," he said.
Later, Austin added that if the United States had "sent troops into Ukraine to fight Putin, it would have been a completely different matter."
"But we made the decision that we wouldn't do it, and we made the decision with good intentions, we had good reasons for that, and I support those decisions," Austin said. He added that he did not want to speculate about what conclusions Chinese leaders might draw regarding Taiwan based on what happened in Ukraine.
In response to several questions from Republicans who were interested in whether military personnel should be dismissed for refusing vaccination when the number of conscripts in the army declined, Milli supported the policy of the US armed forces requiring that military personnel be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Milli noted that when entering the army, military personnel must get numerous vaccinations, such as the anthrax vaccine, and said that the Covid-19 vaccine helped to increase the combat readiness of the armed forces.
During the hearing, a tense moment arose when Austin argued with a member of the House of Representatives, Matt Gaetz, after the Republican from Florida accused the Pentagon of being too focused not on defense, but on ideological issues of "vocalism" — social equality and justice.
Austin accused Getz of apparently "feeling embarrassed for his country" by questioning the capabilities of the U.S. armed forces, and the two men shouted at each other several times.
Getz accused the Pentagon of being "mistaken" when he predicted last year that Russia would seize Ukraine in a few days and that the Taliban* would not take control of Afghanistan. "You completely ignored these calls, and perhaps we would have handled them better if, in fact, the National Defense University had worked a little more on strategy and a little less on issues of vocalism," Goetz said.
"Has it occurred to you that Russia seized Ukraine not because of what we did and what our allies did? Austin asked. "Have you ever thought about it at all?"
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* The Taliban are members of the Taliban movement, recognized in Russia as a terrorist organization (approx. InoSMI)
Authors: Jeremy Herb, Ellie Kaufman
