New US Defense Strategy Stresses Terrorism and Small Wars

[Purveyor]

The National Defense Strategy says the U.S. military needs to be prepared to fight a variety of adversaries, current and potential. But the emphasis of the document reflects two themes Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been promoting since he took office a year and a half ago - the need to maintain and improve the ability to fight insurgencies and the need to bring all aspects of government power to bear in the effort, not just the military.

"I firmly believe that in the years ahead, our military is much more likely to engage in asymmetric conflict than conventional conflict against a rising state power," Gates explained at a news conference on Thursday. "We must be ready for both kinds of conflict, and fund the capabilities to do both."

"There is no doubt in my mind that the modernization programs will continue to have strong institutional and congressional support. I just want to make sure that the capabilities we need for the conflicts we're in, and most likely to face in the foreseeable future, also are sustained long-term," he added.

The strategy document identifies al-Qaida and related groups as "a complex and urgent challenge" against which the United States is likely to fight "an extended series of campaigns." It says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are "central fronts in the struggle," but are only part of a broader "Long War."

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At the same time, the new U.S. National Defense Strategy says the United States must maintain its ability to deter or defeat what it calls "rogue nations," specifically mentioning Iran and North Korea. And it says the U.S. military must be prepared for potential threats from "more powerful states," such as China and Russia. But Secretary Gates says the United States is also working to improve relations with those two countries.

"I don't see either nation as a threat to the United States at this point," he said. "But they both are investing in modernization programs that are of concern."

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VOICE OF AMERICA: http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-31-voa56.cfm