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Peter Zeihan Geopolitical Strategist
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Sen. Tuberville’s culture war endangers US military forces

Peter Zeihan Geopolitical Strategist
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The United States Armed Forces face a growing threat following the announcement of a “no limits” friendship between China and Russia, along with Russia’s outright invasion of Ukraine and China’s posturing for an invasion of Taiwan. This is why Democrats and Republicans have both taken more pro-military positions in recent years.

Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan argues that the biggest holdout against that support is Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who Zeihan calls either a “skilled Chinese agent” or else “the dumbest man in Congress.” Zeihan argues that Sen. Tuberville has sabotaged U.S. Armed Forces in order to score points in the political cultural wars from his far-right base, presenting a grave danger to American security.

Excerpted from Peter’s Sept. 11 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:

If I told you that high-ranking military personnel were losing security clearances and access to critical information, you’d probably expect to hear some sound rationale. Unfortunately, that’s not the case because the current greatest threat to our national security is an Alabama Senator up in arms over abortion policy.

Senator Tommy Tuberville has placed a unilateral hold on nominations and confirmations of military officials because he doesn’t like the Biden administration’s current policy of allowing officers to travel for abortion services. Consequently, the affected military personnel cannot access the classified information necessary for strategic planning.

Abusing power to manipulate outcomes is nothing new for American politics; however, political deadlocks that impede military operations are detrimental and problematic for the country’s security interests. Given the context of the Ukraine War and rising tensions with China, this poses a substantial risk that should not be taken lightly.

Hey everybody, Peter zillion here coming to you from Toronto where I finally found something that is taller than me. And to commemorate September 11, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the largest significant national security threat facing the United States. It’s not terrorism from the Middle East. One of the things that we have learned over the 20 years in the war on terror, is that most of the militants, most of the Islamist are interested in fighting and what they call the near enemy, doesn’t mean that the risks of the United States is zero. But most of these folks are far more concerned with the war that is right in front of them taking the conflict to Secretary and opponents, or groups that they think are apostates who are right there, throwing a Hail Mary with returns continental flight, that is something that is simply difficult to do, and most don’t have the capacity to track. I also don’t think it’s China. China is dependent on the international system as maintained by the United States. And even if Chairman Zhi Jing, pings cult of personality decides to pull the trigger on a war with say, Taiwan, the United States is not going to engage within sight of the Chinese mainland, it’s going to pull back and shut off Chinese trade. And since the Chinese import the vast majority of their energy and the inputs necessary to grow their own food, the result would be a massive famine at a deindustrialization with honestly would crush China as a country within a year. That leaves Russia now Russia is obviously a concern, especially with the war in Ukraine. But as long as the war is bottled up in Ukraine or in Russia proper, that it’s not coming for NATO. So while this is definitely something to keep an eye on, and is a big concern, it has huge implications. I don’t see at least in the midterm as the single largest threat the United States faces. I think that’s closer to home. Because in the United States right now, we’ve got over 300 top military professionals who can’t even qualify for their security clearances make it impossible for them to get the information that they need to plan for whatever’s next. We have hobbled ourselves, or more to the point a specific individual in Congress has done the hobbling Senator Tuberville of Alabama has put a blanket hold on the nominations on the confirmations of all military personnel as part of a tiff within the culture war, that wherever you stand on that culture war, that is your prerogative, but in blocking officers from participating in their jobs. If you can’t get confirmed, you can’t get the information. You can’t get clearance and you can’t make a plan. So we have taken he has taken the single most powerful military force in the world and gutted its leadership’s ability to lead, which means that either Senator Tuberville is one of the most skilled Chinese agents ever, or he’s the dumbest person in Congress. And if you think of the personalities in Congress, that’s a pretty strong statement. All right, everybody, take care

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