The top Republican in Congress said Sunday that he agrees with a memo by a four-star Air Force general predicting the US will be at war with China within two years.
In a memo sent Friday and obtained by NBC News, General Mike Minihan, head of Air Movement Command, wrote: My intuition says we will fight in 2025. ”
I was asked to review the forecast at interview On Fox News Sunday, Rep. Michael McCall, Republican, Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, said: Unfortunately, I think he is right. ”
McCall also accused the Biden administration of “projecting weakness” on the world stage, arguing that war with China was “very likely” because of it.
Later on “Fox News Sunday,” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington, an influential member of the House Armed Services Committee, pushed back against this prediction. “Anything is possible,” Smith said, but “it really worries me when someone starts saying war with China is inevitable.
“I want to be completely clear. It’s not only inevitable, it’s highly unlikely,” Smith said of the possibility of war with Beijing. We have to be very careful about that.”
The Air Mobility Command has approximately 50,000 service members and approximately 500 aircraft, responsible for transportation and refueling. The signed memo was addressed to all Air Wing Commanders and other Air Force Operations Commanders at Air Mobile Command.
In a note, Minihan instructed the officers he commanded to prepare by firing a “clip” at the target and “aiming at the head.” He said the United States would be “distracted” because both Taiwan and the United States will hold presidential elections in 2024, and that Chinese President Xi Jinping has an opportunity to move to Taiwan.
Minihan has set readiness goals that include building a “strengthened, ready, integrated, and agile joint force operations team, ready to fight and win within the first island chain.” outlined.
The memo also mandates all air wing comments to report to Minihan by 28 February on all major efforts to prepare for war with China.
