On January 28, three American soldiers were killed in an attack on their base in Jordan, underscoring a cold truth: Pax Americana is over. Russia and Ukraine are two years into the first great European ground war since 1945. North Korea continues missile testing and initiates artillery duels across the DMZ with South Korea. Next door, China is calculating when to swallow Taiwan. Japan, watching its neighborhood deteriorate, is rearming after nearly 80 years of determined non-militarization.
In the Middle East, the lethal January 28 attack was only the most successful of dozens since October. Iran and its proxies have been targeting other American bases, along with our warships, and are disrupting one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Meanwhile, almost nuclear-armed Iran and the definitely nuclear-armed Pakistan are in the opening stages of a border war. Israel is in a pitched battle with Iran-backed Hamas while bracing for a possible war with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
This would be a difficult strategic environment for competent, serious-minded senior commanders. For the Biden administration, it’s nothing short of a series of potential catastrophes. Nearly every strategic decision it has taken, every signal given and priority announced has advertised weakness, indecision and distraction.
The military’s prime value to the Biden DoD seems to be as a social engineering laboratory. It has........