berg80
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- Oct 28, 2017
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China gains major edge on U.S. amid Iran war, intelligence report finds
A confidential U.S. intelligence analysis details how China is exploiting the war in Iran to maximize its advantage over the United States across military, economic, diplomatic and other fields, said two U.S. officials who have read the report.The assessment, the officials said, was produced this week for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, and has raised alarm within the Pentagon about the geopolitical costs of Washington’s standoff with Tehran as President Donald Trump enters high-stakes talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Produced by the Joint Staff’s intelligence directorate, the report uses what’s known as a “DIME” framework to assess China’s response to the Iran conflict via four instruments of state power: diplomatic, informational, military and economic.
Officials talked about the finding, which has not previously been reported, on the condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. intelligence matters.
Since the U.S. and Israel initiated the Iran war on Feb. 28, China has sold weapons to Persian Gulf allies of the U.S. as they struggled to defend their military bases and oil infrastructure from Iranian missile and drone attacks, the report says.
Beijing has also assisted countries around the world struggling to meet their energy needs after the U.S.-Israeli attacks prompted Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, a corridor for the transport of one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas.
There isn't a whole lot to like in the report for those concerned with our standing in the world. It was one thing that we suffered reputational damage when trump decided to end assistance to areas of the world by ending USAID programs.
China Seizes an Opportunity from the United States in Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Response
China Seizes an Opportunity from the United States in Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Response - The Council on Strategic Risks
The withdrawal of US humanitarian aid and the dissolution of USAID has created a soft power vacuum in the Pacific, one that China is quickly looking to fill.
councilonstrategicrisks.org
It's quite another that Don (and Bibi) have now caused a global shortage of oil and gas with no relief in sight. Between that and the trade war trump launched, and is pursuing despite the SC ruling the tariffs are illegal, it can be said we are suffering more than reputational damage. Allies are questioning their prior alliance with us. In a world of shifting alliances and relationships China is trying to step in every time the trump regime stumbles on bumps of its own making. The mishandling of the war being the latest one. If there is a country playing three dimensional chess in this scenario it definitely isn't the US. Not with people like trump, Rubio, Gabbard, Vance, Patel, and Hegseth in charge.
