New York Times warns America is unprepared for war with China despite $901 billion defense budget – NaturalNews.com

• A classified Pentagon report warns the U.S. military would likely lose a war with China.
• China is rapidly building its military with a reported focus on seizing Taiwan by 2027.
• America’s outdated forces rely too much on vulnerable, expensive weapons like aircraft carriers.
• The defense industry is too slow, requiring investment in nimble technologies like drones.
• Preventing war requires urgent military reform and smarter spending to rebuild deterrence.

A sobering video from The New York Times editorial board delivered a serious warning this week: America is not ready for a future war with China. Citing a classified Pentagon assessment known as the “Overmatch brief,” the board argued that U.S. military dominance is a facade, and the nation must urgently transform its defenses to prevent or win a catastrophic conflict. This call comes just as Congress passes a $901 billion defense authorization act, highlighting a critical disconnect between massive spending and battlefield readiness.

The editorial board stated, “U.S. politicians often boast that America has the ‘strongest and most powerful military in the history of the world’ but behind closed doors, they’re being told a different story.” That private story, revealed in the brief, shows alarming results from war games against China. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said that in these simulations, “we lose every time.”

The core of the concern is Taiwan. The Times board noted that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ordered the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to seize Taiwan by 2027, although this timeline is based on CIA assessments. While past U.S. presidents have committed to defending the island, the board cautioned that “defending Taiwan won’t be easy” because the nature of power has changed. America now faces two new threats: the fundamental change of 21st-century warfare and a rising China that is a peer competitor unlike any other.

A changing battlefield

The board argued that America’s military is built for a bygone era, over-reliant on expensive, sophisticated “symbols of might” like large aircraft carriers and next-generation fighter jets. In war games, these assets are often destroyed. The future, they contend, belongs to nimble, autonomous systems like drones. “America must embrace new and more nimble means of warfare,” the board urged, calling for a shift in investment and innovation.

This requires a wholesale reform of the military-industrial complex. The board criticized a system where defense spending is “routinely steered toward the five major defense contractors,” who are slow and costly. To jump-start new technologies, the Pentagon must “relax its byzantine rules for buying weapons and make bets on young companies that show promise.” Congress also bears blame for adding billions for projects the military did not request, often for political favor back home.

The scale of the Chinese threat

The urgency is compounded by China’s comprehensive mobilization. A new 728-page report from the bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission details how China is preparing its entire population for potential conflict. The Chinese military is undergoing the fastest buildup since World War II, rapidly advancing its nuclear stockpiles, amphibious ships, stealth fighters, and drones specifically for a Taiwan scenario.

Randall Schriver, the commission’s vice chairman, warned that the U.S. is “losing warning time,” pointing to observations by military commanders that PLA activities around Taiwan now look “not so much like exercising as it does rehearsal.” China’s domestic propaganda is also shifting, potentially preparing its people for the possibility of war, even as its international messaging downplays invasion threats.

The commission report casts the challenge in clear terms, warning that a China-dominated world order would be “less stable, less secure, less prosperous and less free.” It states that countering China’s aggression is now a “truly global challenge,” as Beijing deepens ties with other adversarial states like Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Preventing a war through strength

The Times editorial board concluded with a powerful reminder: “It’s been nearly 10 years since the Overmatch brief was first delivered. Its warnings have been updated and delivered again to the new Trump administration. We’ve been warned about the urgent need for change. The question is whether we’ll change in time.”

Their argument is rooted in a classic, conservative doctrine of peace through strength: “You might be thinking America should focus on peace, not war. But one of the most effective ways to prevent a war is to be strong enough to win it.” Yet the landscape today is different. It is not just about spending more, but spending smarter, rebuilding a hollowed-out industrial base, and forging stronger alliances to match China’s manufacturing might.

As the U.S. debates its path forward, the warnings from multiple quarters are consistent and chilling. The nation’s military edge has eroded, and a formidable adversary is on the move, rehearsing for a conflict that would reshape the globe. The trillion-dollar question is whether American bureaucracy and political will can adapt fast enough to restore a deterrent that is no longer guaranteed.

Sources for this article include:

News.AntiWar.com

NYTimes.com

TheHill.com

WashingtonTimes.com