The Rand Corporation is a non-profit corporation. More precisely, Rand is a Federally funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) and is sponsored primarily by the US Government. In short, Rand is a “Think Tank” for the Beltway and Big Government.
The new report, “Commission on National Defense Strategy” is a bit shocking, but at the same time, it presents the theme of the military industrial-recycling industrial complex controlled by elites on a regular basis to maintain, not solve problems.
One can never be too honest, and this Rand Report at least shows bad news ahead. National defensive tackle Kamala Harris earned a failing grade.
The takeaway is simple: The US military and national defense infrastructure is a mess and under the duress of the Chinese leadership’s move to overthrow America. For most readers of this article, the response is, “Please tell me something we don’t already know.”
The report sounded the alarm but was rather weak on the actual causative factors. Your tax dollars pay for this report, so it’s important to read and understand it. It’s chock full of coded messages from “experts” who have been working on this problem for years without success. In the private sector, personalities with this track record are shown the door.
There is not a single reference to Wokeness, CRT, or DEI
On P.59 of the report, Personnel and Readiness are dealt with. The uniformed parts of the US Military are facing historic recruitment and retention shortages. The very small Space Force (about 9,400) and Marine Corps (about 177,000) appear to have met their recruitment and retention targets.
But the larger Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps are struggling, even if they are downsized to appear closer to their goals. The report determined that only 23% of Americans meet current Military Service requirements – but the report failed to drill down further to find out why. Drilling down will expose the broken education system and social norms that are destroying the physical, mental, and moral foundations of our children.
One thing the “experts” in the report couldn’t say was the word “W” which stands for Wokeness. There is not a single reference in the report to Woke’s addition of Critical Race Theory (CRT), Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), or the book, “Antiracist Babies” (I threw the last one in just to pile it up. ). There are some lame narratives about the causal factors of recruitment and retention, without many supporting citations, such as, “Even more important is the lack of interest in military service for qualified individuals, which has been exacerbated by the public narrative related to the dangers of military service. .”
What is the general narrative? Is it driven by TikTok or legacy media? This section has a drumbeat in the background: A return of the concept is necessary.
It is easier to say that there is no gap with China
China has been rightly identified as the lead, the “pacing threat”. China is also identified as part of the “No-Limits” partnership to overthrow America, but the report still gives Putin the same bill as Xi while Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela (Venezuela was not mentioned at the time of the report) is a de-facto colony of China.
Venezuela, right on America’s front lawn, is at the point of Civil War and Maduro, the leader of Venezuela only started following Guyana next door after his September 2023 trip to Beijing where he was obviously called to report his contribution to China’s efforts. to cause chaos in America.
The report is full of examples of America falling behind in the Military Instruments of National Power, I am not convinced that there is any American advantage. This is part of the Captain Obvious report – which readers of The Gateway Pundit have been reading since Tim Harris entered 2021.
There is a strong call to use all the National Instruments of Diplomatic, Information, Economic, Financial, Intelligence, and Law Enforcement (DIMEFIL) Power to assert American interests, in addition to the Military. DIMEFIL is a great way to tell non-DOD parts of the Federal Government to do their jobs. DIMEFIL is not the law and is strongly rejected by the non-DOD US Government.
A noble effort, but Rand, at best, calls out symptoms not causes
The report essentially gave Kamala a failing grade for her position.
There are several predictable narratives that are recycled throughout the document. Repetitive, tired, and lazy criticism of Taiwan comes with the talking points of the “Prickly” versus “Prestige” debate. Many elites have criticized Taiwan for trying to buy tanks and ships to defend itself. They just need to buy drones and missiles taught in Taiwan. Both types of weapons are essential to contain and if necessary, defeat China. Taiwan has greatly increased defense spending (but can do even more) which mathematically addresses the $ balance between Prickly and Prestige weapons, but the author of the report has not completed the math or addresses the fact that many Taiwanese orders, already paid for by Taiwan, have been diverted to other conflicts.
The main reason for success in building defense capabilities is the clarity and resolve of the incumbent administration in communicating US policy and positions. The weak nature of the Harris Administration’s key figures was not referenced in the report directed by the Harris Administration. The report is interesting, but it misses the target of the true causal factors and instead, recycles narratives established by the status quo, elite “experts”. Rand got a re-do for this post, at his own expense.
