Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, in his first major public address since being confirmed, spoke at the National Defense University on April 3 about the threats the United States faces today and tomorrow. Addressing the senior military and civilian personnel pursuing a year of study at the prestigious NDU, including some foreign military officers, he said (in part):
"The security landscape of 2013 is of a far different character than the
world of 1960, or even the world of a few years ago. ***** The United States is emerging from more
than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the threat of violent
extremism persists and continues to emanate from weak states and
ungoverned spaces in the Middle East and North Africa.
"There also stands an array of other security challenges of varying
vintage and degrees of risk to the United States: the proliferation of
dangerous weapons and materials, the increased availability of advanced
military technologies in the hands of state and non-state actors, the
risk of regional conflicts that could draw in the United States, the
debilitating and dangerous curse of human despair and poverty, as well
as the uncertain implications of environmental degradation.
"Cyber attacks – which barely registered as a threat a decade ago – have
grown into a defining security challenge, with potential adversaries
seeking the ability to strike at America’s security, energy, economic
and critical infrastructure with the benefit of anonymity and distance.
"The world today is combustible and complex, and America’s
responsibilities are as enormous as they are humbling. These challenges
to our security and prosperity demand America’s continued global
leadership and engagement, and they require a principled realism that is
true to our values."
The Secretary reminded us that "the most destructive and horrific attack ever on the United States came
not from fleets of ships, bombers, and armored divisions, but from 19
fanatical men wielding box cutters and one-way plane tickets."
(Emphasis added.)
The entire speech is well worth reviewing.
(To respond e-mail: arch@archibald99.com.)
