WAS REFLECTED IN HIS COMMENTS.
MARIA: MEANWHILE, TAIWAN’S
PRESIDENT HAS CONFIRMED A SMALL
NUMBER OF U.S. TROOPS ARE IN
TAIWAN ON THE ISLAND TRAINING
TAIWANESE TROOPS SAYING THE
THREAT FROM BEIJING IS
INCREASING EVERY DAY.
JOINING ME NOW IS HE IS RETIRED
GENERAL, GENERAL ARNOLD PUNERO.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING
HERE.
WE SO APPRECIATE YOU AND YOUR
SERVICE TO THIS GREAT COUNTRY.
THANK YOU, SIR.
>> MARIA, PRIVILEGED TO BE WITH
YOU THIS MORNING.
MARIA: YOU HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK,
YOU’RE THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK,
THE EVER-SHRINKING FIGHTING
FORCE.
GENERAL, I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN TERMS OF THE
U.S. VERSUS CHINA.
YOU HEARD WHAT GENERAL MARK
MILLEY SAID.
HOW DO YOU SEE THIS THREAT FROM
THE CCP WHICH MAKES NO SECRET OF
THE FACT THAT IT WANTS TO
UNDERMINE AND REPLACE THE UNITED
STATES AS THE NUMBER ONE SUPER
YOUSUPERPOWER.
>> MARIA, BULL’S-EYE.
WE SHOULD BE MORE THAN CONCERNED
ABOUT THE RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN
CHINA WITH THEIR DEMONSTRATION
OF THE ABILITY TO PUT A HYPER
SONIC GLIDE MISSILE POTENTIALLY
WITH A NUCLEAR WARHEAD.
IT’S CLEARLY A GAME-CHANGER MANY
IT’S WORSE THAN A SPUTNIK
MOMENT.
SPUTNIK WAS A BENIGN SATELLITE
THAT DEMONSTRATED LIMITED
TECHNICAL ABILITY BY THE THEN
SOVIET UNION.
CHINA IS ON THE MARCH,
MILITARILY, ECONOMICALLY,
DIPLOMATICALLY AND EVEN SCARIER
TECHNO LOGICALLY.
THEY’RE AHEAD OF US IN TERMS OF
HYPER SONIC MISSILES AND
TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE NOT JUST
IMPORTANT TO OUR MILITARY, BUT
IMPORTANT FOR OUR ECONOMY AND
OUR COMPETITIVE POSITION IN THE
WORLD.
QUANTUM, ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE, I COULD TICK OFF
SEVEN OR EIGHT.
HILLARY:OF THEM.THIS DEVELOPMENT
CHANGER.
IT COULD PUT AT RISK A LOT OF
INVESTMENT WE MADE IN OUR OWN
INFRASTRUCTURE, TURN THOSE INTO
MUSEUM PIECES.
IT’S A GAME CHANGER BECAUSE IT
CROSSES THE RUBICON OF
WEAPONIZING SPACE.
TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF THE U.S.
ECONOMY DEPENDS ON OUR ACCESS TO
SPACE.
THIS IS WORSE THAN A SPUTNIK
MOMENT.
THERE WAS A BOOK WRITTEN ABOUT
THE JAPANESE SURPRISE ATTACK AT
PEARL HARBOR CALLED AT DAWN WE
FLIP AND IT POINTED OUT ALL THE
SIGNS WE SHOULD HAVE PICKED UP
ON.
YOU HAVE POINTED OUT, OTHERS
HAVE POINTED OUT, CHINA IS VERY
BOLD AND ACCURATE ABOUT WHAT
THEY’RE SAYING THEY’RE GOING TO
DO AND THEY’RE DOING IT.
THEY QUADRUPLED THEIR MILITARY
AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
WE SHOULD BE VERY CONCERNED.
MARIA: YEAH.
WELL, I HAVE BEEN VERY CONCERNED
FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW.
I’M HAPPY TO SEE NOW MORE IN THE
MEDIA RECOGNIZING THIS
INCREDIBLE THREAT.
IT’S UNFORTUNATE THAT THE BUY
TEN ADMINISTRATION IS NOT
RECOGNIZING IT OR CERTAINLY NOT
SHOWING THAT IT RECOGNIZES IT.
PRESIDENT BIDEN CONTINUES TO
CALL CHINA A COMPETITOR.
IT’S NOT A COMPETITOR.
IT’S AN ADVERSARY.
WE ALL KNOW THAT.
AND EVEN THE FACT THAT IT’S
GOTTEN AS STRONG AS IT HAS
GOTTEN WITH ITS NAVY BEING
LARGER THAN THE U.S. NAVY, MUCH
OF IT IS COMING TO CHINA FROM
THEFT.
THEY’VE BEEN STEALING OUR
SECRETS NOW FOR DECADES.
AND FRANKLY, IT’S QUITE RICH TO
SEE MARK MILLEY CALL THIS A
SPUTNIK MOMENT WHEN IT WAS HIM
WHO ACTUALLY CALLED HAD HIS
COUNTERPART IN CHINA AND SAID IF
ANYTHING HAPPENS, WE’LL GIVE YOU
THE HEADS-UP FIRST.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WHY IS HE
CALLING HIS COUNTERPART IN CHINA
AND GIVING THEM A HEADS-UP ON
ANYTHING THE U.S. IS DOING
KNOWING THAT THEY ARE BEATING US
ALREADY AND THEY’RE ABOUT TO
INVADE TAIWAN, IF YOU BELIEVE
MANY EXPERTS.
DO YOU EXPECT AN INVASION SOONER
RATHER THAN LATER, SIR?
>> MARIA, I THINK TO ANSWER BOTH
OF YOUR EXCELLENT POINTS, NUMBER
ONE, I THINK WE HAVE TO CONSIDER
CHINA AS AN ADVERSARY.
WE ALSO CAN’T PLAY KISSY FACE
WITH COUNTRIES LIKE NAY CHINA A
BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY SAID THEY
WANT TO DO WHICH IS TAKE OVER
THE WESTERN DEMOCRACY AND BE THE
DOMINANT POWER IN THE WORLD.
A LOT OF ADMINISTRATIONS TALKED
ABOUT THE BY VOTE OF PIVOT OF TH
WE TALK A GOOD GAME.
OUR STRUCTURE IN THE PACIFIC OF
THE U.S. MILITARY IS ROUGHLY THE
SAME AS IT WAS IN THE YEAR 2000.
AND CHINA AS YOU SAID, THEIR
NAVY IS LARGER THAN OURS, THEY
QUADRUPLED THEIR LAND BASED
ABILITY ON TAIWAN.
I THINK IT’S A POSITIVE
DEVELOPMENT THAT WE’RE DOING
TRAINING WITH TAIWAN.
I THINK WE NEED TO MAKE A CLEAR
STATEMENT THAT IF CHINA MOVES ON
TAIWAN, WE’RE GOING TO DEFEND
THEM.
LET’S GET AROUND THE AMBIGUITY
BECAUSE IT SENDS A SIGNAL TO THE
REST OF THE WORLD.
CHINA NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND HYPER
SONIC MISSILES, WE’RE GOING TO
MATCH THEM, WE’RE GOING TO DETER
THEM.
WE NEED TO DO MORE.
WE SHOULD DO MORE TRAINING WITH
TAIWAN.
WE SHOULD TRAIN IN THE AIR AND
THE SEA.
WE SHOULD SEND A SIGNAL THAT
WE’RE THERE FOR THEM.
MARIA: I WOULD LOVE TO SEE
THEM.
AS YOU KNOW, GENERAL, WE’RE ONLY
GETTING AMBIGUITY FROM THIS
WHITE HOUSE.
JEN PSAKI REFUSED TO ACTUALLY
SAY THAT THE U.S. WOULD BACK
TAIWAN IN SUCH A SITUATION.
SHE SAID POLICY HASN’T CHANGED
AND THAT POLICY AS YOU CORRECTLY
NOTE IS JUST THAT THE U.S. WOULD
ARM TAIWAN, NOT NECESSARILY
PROTECT IT FROM AN INVASION.
BUT I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY IT’S
BEEN SO DIFFICULT FOR THIS
ADMINISTRATION TO COME UP WITH
SOME SERIOUS POLICY AGAINST
CHINA BEING THIS BAD ACTOR.
WE JUST ROLL OVER WHEN IT COMES
TO HUAWEI.
WE JUST SENT THE CFO BACK TO
CHINA, SHE WAS UNDER HOUSE
ARREST IN CANADA AND THEN OF
COURSE THERE’S ALL THESE POLICY
MISTAKES IN AFGHANISTAN.
WHAT’S YOUR TAKE HERE?
BECAUSE SENIOR PENTAGON
OFFICIALS ARE SAYING THAT THE
ISLAMIC STATE IN AFGHANISTAN
COULD HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO
ATTACK THE UNITED STATES IN SIX
MONTHS AND IS INTENDING TO DO
SO.
ALL THAT AS AL-QAIDA COULD
POTENTIALLY HAVE SIMILAR
CAPABILITIES IN ONE TO TWO
YEARS, GENERAL.
WE KNOW THIS WEEK THE TALIBAN
MET WITH THE CCP.
SO YOU’VE GOT THE CCP, CHINA
BACKING THE TALIBAN.
THEY WANT THOSE RARE EARTH
MINERALS IN AFGHANISTAN.
AND YOU’VE GOT, YOU KNOW, THE
BOTCHED WITHDRAWAL WHERE
AMERICANS ARE STILL THERE IN
AFGHANISTAN.
>> MARIA, WE’VE LEARNED THE HARD
WAY THAT THESE TERRORIST
ORGANIZATIONS CONSTITUTE
THEMSELVES AND REBUILT THEIR
CAPABILITIES FASTER THAN WE
PREDICTED.
THEY’RE GOING TO BUILD THEIR
CAPABILITY FASTER THAN THEY’RE
PREDICTING RIGHT NOW.
NUMBER TWO, THE OVER-THE-HORIZON
CAPABILITY IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR
BOOTS ON THE GROUND.
WE SHOULD HAVE COVID ACTIONS
GOING ON IN PAKISTAN.
PAKISTAN IS SUPPORTING THE
TALIBAN.
TEAR GOING TO SUPPORT THE
REBUILD-UP OF THE TERRORIST
ORGANIZATIONS EVEN AS THEY CLAIM
THEY WANT TO BE HELPFUL TO THE
UNITED STATES.
WE SHOULD BE VERY WORRIED ABOUT
THIS AND DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO
TO BASICALLY PREEMPT ANY BASIC
TERRORIST ACTIVITY AGAINST OUR
COUNTRY.
BUT WE SHOULD NOT BE LOOKING AT
THIS THROUGH ROSE COLORED
GLASSES ANYMORE.
MARIA: YOU WOULD THINK SO,
RIGHT, GENERAL?
UNFORTUNATELY, THERE’S NOT A
DIME OF AN INCREASE IN DEFENSE
SPENDING IN BIDEN’S BUDGET.
THEY JUST HAD A HEARING
YESTERDAY AND THE DEMOCRATS HAD
ALL OF THE INTELLIGENCE
EXECUTIVES, THE OFFICIALS IN TO
TESTIFY IN A PUBLIC HEARING AND
THE DEMOCRATS ASKED THEM ABOUT
DIVERSITY.
IF NOT FOR THE REPUBLICANS, THEY
WOULDN’T EVEN HAVE TALKED ABOUT
CHINA.
GENERAL, IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU.
WE SO APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND
PLEASE KNOW THAT WE WILL KEEP A