National Security Threat Assessment Dilemma
Back in my day, the National Security Council, Defense Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, and the Joint Staff War Planners, to name the major players, developed the National Threat Assessment on a regular basis. This document defined what national security threats the USA were likely to face in the years to come. This assessment identifies who and what kind of threats our military needs to be capable defending and defeating should a conflict arise. The assessment also calls for the nation's armed forces to be able to manage multiple conflicts worldwide at the same time. Example: War in Europe with Russia and South Korea defense against North Korea. An attack on Israel by Iran and China invading Taiwan. There are way too many possibilities, almost all of which would be difficult to deal with for US military even with allied support and forward based ships and forces. Today we are in the 16th year of a Neverending War in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen. We have a