The Pentagon's Lonely War Against Russia and China

Nov 11, 2015 6:00 AM EST
By Josh Rogin

At last weekend's Reagan National Defense Forum, top Pentagon officials warned about the coming great power battles with Russia and China. But the U.S. approach to both countries shows that other parts of the administration view those relationships in a very different way.

Before Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's keynote speech at the Reagan Presidential Library in California, his staff sent out the message that Carter would be making significant remarks about Russia and China, following his recent trip to Asia.

"We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot, war with Russia," Carter said. "We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake; the United States will defend our interests, our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords us all."

Carter criticized Russian occupation of territory in Ukraine and Georgia, and he castigated Russia for what he called a destructive military intervention in Syria. He said that the Pentagon was doing a range of things -- some public and some secret -- to push back on Russian and Chinese "aggression."

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In his speech Saturday, Carter expressed skepticism that Secretary of State John Kerry's outreach to Russia on the Syria crisis would bear fruit, saying that "it's possible" Russia could play a constructive role. That message is different in tone from what top State Department officials are saying. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed confidence earlier this month that the Russians would soon be pushing for a real political process in Syria.

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