Our program on June 18, 2020. General McCaffrey provided slides, which you can find here.
Barry McCaffrey is a former United States Army General and current news commentator, professor and business consultant who served on President Clinton’s Cabinet as the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He received three Purple Heart medals for injuries sustained during his service in Vietnam, two Silver Stars, and two Distinguished Service Crosses — the second-highest U.S. Army award for valor. He was inducted into U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame at U.S. Army Infantry Center at Fort Benning in 2007. He served as an adjunct professor at U.S. Military Academy and its Bradley Professor of International Security Studies from 2001 to 2008. He received West Point Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy’s Distinguished Graduate Award in 2010. He is currently a military analyst for NBC and MSNBC as well as president of his own consulting firm, BR McCaffrey Associates. He serves on many boards of directors of national corporations. He is an outspoken advocate for insurance parity, for drug courts and veterans’ courts, and is a frequent speaker at conferences. In March 2018, he claimed that United States president Donald Trump was under the sway of Russian President Vladimir Putin and that this was a dangerous threat for the security of the United States.
“There is a sound argument that the United States has never been more secure than it is today.”
So began Barry McCaffrey’s comments to the University Sunrise Rotary Club this morning. We have 2.1 million men and women in uniform, he said, and the most advanced military technology in the world. We are one-to-two times more ahead of all national rivals.
Challenges, however, exist, primarily around the issues of Weapons of Mass Destruction including nuclear, chemical, biological, and cyber threats. We need more leadership in Congress on these issues.
Nuclear technology is widely available and has been on the Internet for thirty years, but it is hard to build nuclear weapons. Chemical weapons are easy to build, but very unstable and not very good weapons. (“Anyone who can make beer, can make chemical weapons.”)
These weapons are, however, very effective for terror purposes.
China, he said, is our only real threat. Russia is a now a third world nation whose only assets are oil, natural gas, and its nuclear arsenal.
U.S. anti-terror efforts have kept the nation ‘pretty safe,’ but at a cost in casualties and treasure.
Unlike other parts of the world (notably Europe), immigrants in America have not posed a terror threat as they are almost all loyal Americans.
North Korea, he said, is a crime syndicate run by a family with a single motivation–staying in power. They spend one-third of GNP on national defense–ten times that of most nations. Their air power, however, is almost a joke. Their navy is potentially a greater threat. The North Korean army is malnourished with a horrible discipline problem. They are a challenge, though, as they may have sixty nuclear weapons and ability to build more.
General McCaffrey graciously answered all questions offered.