Biden: ‘It’s never a good bet to bet against America’

Security, Medicare, interests on national debt and others. Under the compromise bill – which will be signed by President Biden the minute it reaches his desk – the debt ceiling has been suspended until 2025, allowing the government to borrow more.

It’s evident that the United States continues to face many challenges, among them the situation in the Indo-Pacific region with China’s continuing aggression as demonstrated in a recent incident just last week.

According to the account by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace over the South China Sea when a Chinese J-16 jet “performed an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” in its intercept when it flew “directly in front of the nose of the RC135, forcing the U.S. aircraft to fly through its wake turbulence.”

A similar incident was also reported by the U.S. INDOPACOM in December last year when a Chinese J-11 fighter flew in front of and within 20 feet of the nose of an RC-135 reconnaissance plane that was flying over the South China Sea, almost causing a collision, with the American pilot forced to take evasive maneuvers.

The biggest challenge that the U.S. faces – in fact the whole world – is the war in Ukraine.

Since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, the U.S. has led western nations in providing humanitarian, financial and military support for Ukraine. According to the data collected by the Ukraine Support Tracker of the Germany-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the U.S. has earmarked over 73.1 billion euros (or more than $78 billion) for Ukraine. A few days ago, the U.S. also announced another $300-million arms package that includes air defense systems and tens of millions of rounds of ammunition with the caveat that these should not be used for attacks inside Russia. There is absolutely no doubt that U.S. military might continues to be formidable and as strong as ever – as it should be, considering the challenges they are facing worldwide.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research

Institute (SIPRI) report, the U.S. had a record-high military spending of $877 billion in 2022. In terms of technology, there is no doubt that America is still leading the race, with technologically advanced military equipment continually being developed, many of them being deployed and tested in the Ukraine war.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently established the Office of Strategic Capital that would provide long-term financing to U.S. technology companies, including startups engaged in critical technologies considered to be vital to U.S. national security. These include advanced materials, nextgeneration biotechnology and quantum science.

“We are in a global competition for leadership in critical technologies, and the Office of Strategic Capital will help us win that competition and build enduring national security advantages,” Secretary Austin said during the launch last December of the OSC, which aims to bridge that critical gap between the laboratory and full-scale production, which is referred to as the “valley of death” in the industry. Secretary Austin said he is determined to give emerging technologies the support they need to develop sophisticated military hardware that would enhance the defense capabilities of the U.S.

The U.S. is also at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) – considered as the “bold new frontier” of technology – as it dabbles in AI-directed drones or bots that can pilot modified F-16 fighters, thereby lessening the risk or threat to human lives. Last March, for instance, the U.S. Air Force said it would field a “nominal quantity” of 200 Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighters and 1,000 collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) drones that would serve as wingmen that would be operating alongside the piloted NGAD fighters. This development certainly showcases that U.S. technology is still very much superb.

While some pundits predict that the 2024 U.S. presidential election would be even more divisive than ever, history has shown that no matter how polarized U.S. politics may seem at the moment, at the end of the day, Americans will close ranks to fight any kind of threat. This is evident in their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that was faster than any other major economy in the world, and the passage of the debt ceiling bill despite months of acrimony between Republicans and Democrats.

During his second State of the Union speech in February, President Biden acknowledged that indeed, they “face serious challenges across the world,” but he also emphasized their progress and resilience as a nation and people, emerging from every crisis stronger than when they entered it.

And the U.S. president issued this warning: “Those who bet against America are learning just how wrong they are. It’s never a good bet to bet against America.” (Philstar.com)

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