It’s clear that America is increasingly less secure under President Joe Biden based on the jaw-dropping testimony of senior U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials Wednesday during a hearing on “Worldwide Threats” before the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
.
Here are just a few frightening highlights—and an analysis—of the
unclassified testimony
from the director of national intelligence and the directors of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
China
The People’s Republic of China, under President Xi Jinping and the
Chinese Communist Party
, is a growing problem. It’s a near-peer competitor of the U.S. and the biggest foreign threat to U.S. national interests.
China is
working to outpace the U.S. diplomatically, economically, militarily, and
technologically
. Indeed, the “Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community” that was presented to the committee reiterated what so many already knew—that Beijing intends to make “China the
preeminent power
in East Asia and a major power on the world stage.”
To this end, “the
CCP
[Chinese Communist Party] will work to press Taiwan on unification, undercut U.S. influence, drive wedges between Washington and its partners, and foster some norms that favor its authoritarian system,” according to the assessment.
Among other matters, Chinese technology (e.g., TikTok) and COVID-19’s origins in China (e.g., the lab leak theory) were also of great interest and concern to committee members in the question and answer portion of the
hearing
.
Russia
Everyone is aware of Russia’s year-old, unjust war on Ukraine and the
wide-ranging repercussions
of its aggression, including, as noted in the assessment, the scary possibility of “a military
confrontation
between Russia and the West.”
Along these lines, this war also includes the potential first use of
nuclear weapons
since World War II—in Ukraine and beyond. Russia’s growing, potentially mutually beneficial relationships with
China
and
Iran
are also of concern.
Iran
Tehran is another major threat to American and international security with its long-standing support of terrorism, including its hosting in Iran of the new head of
al-Qaeda
and dogged pursuit of
nuclear weapons
.
Terrorism and nuclear weapons—not at all a good mix.
Additionally, the threat assessment stated, “
Iran
will continue to threaten U.S. interests as it tries to erode U.S. influence in the Middle East, entrench its influence and project power in neighboring states, and minimize threats to the regime.”
North Korea
You don’t hear much from the White House these days about the Kim Jong Un regime and
its threat
to U.S. interests and to those of our allies (e.g., Japan and South Korea) and friends, but we should.
According to the intelligence community’s threat assessment, Kim is “continuing efforts to enhance
North Korea’s
nuclear and conventional capabilities targeting the United States and its allies, which will enable periodic aggressive actions to try to reshape the regional security environment in his favor.”
The
annual threat assessment
hearing also included additional issues such as climate change, health security (e.g., COVID-19), transnational issues (e.g., migration, illicit drugs, and terrorism), and ongoing international conflicts and internal strife, among others.
Let’s just say that difficult days are ahead.
Equally troubling to what was included in written testimony and heard in the open hearing is the prospect of the classified intelligence that will be shared in closed session, where additional secret information is given to committee members. Of that supplemental intelligence divulged behind closed doors to committee members, we’ll likely come to know very little, but, in my estimate, the unclassified assessments that were disclosed today in public were frightening enough.
The breadth of issues covered in the report is vast—a collection of the judgments of 18 U.S. intelligence organizations. Indeed, I recommend you take the time to watch the
hearing
and/or read the
testimony
. Just make sure you’re sitting down.
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This article originally appeared in the Daily Signal and is reprinted with kind permission from the Heritage Foundation.
