“Fighting Joe” and future threats: China could become the greatest threat to the US by 2025. “If I look out to 2025, and I look at the demographics and the economic situation, I think China probably poses the greatest threat to our nation,” General Joseph Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing on his re-appointment as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's highest-ranking military officer, and the principal military adviser to the president, Secretary of Defence and National Security Council. Regarding the China threat, he told the committee that “China is focused on limiting our ability to project power and weakening our alliances in the Pacific.” General Dunford described Russia as “the most significant threat in cyberspace,” saying: “I would agree with your assessment that the most significant threat in cyberspace we face today, the most advanced capabilities are the Russians. That's our assessment.” As expected, the topic of Iran and its nuclear deal was raised at the hearing. “The briefings I have received indicate that Iran is adhering to its [JCPA Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] obligations,” Dunford noted in written answers to policy questions in advance of this hearing. “The [plan] has delayed Iran's development of nuclear weapons,” he wrote. He also mentioned that “Iran has not changed its malign activity in the region since [the plan of action] was signed.” He told the committee, “We see a physical manifestation of that in Yemen, we see it in Iraq, we see it in Lebanon, we see it in Syria.” Yet he cautioned against walking away from the 2015 deal, saying “It makes sense to me that our holding up agreements that we have signed, unless there is a material breach, would have an impact on others' willingness to sign agreements.” Dunford's first term as chairman began in October 2015. He earned the nickname “Fighting Joe” when he led the 5th Marine Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and is known as a relentless, energetic commander. He shared with General Jim Mattis, secretary of defence, many years of service and combat. Dunford served under Mattis in the 2003 invasion in Iraq, and in 2013, Dunford was the commander of US forces in Afghanistan during the final portion of Mattis' tenure as commander of US Central Command. Dunford, 61, joined the Marine Corps in 1977. His father was also a Marine, who served in Korea and later became a Boston police officer. Dunford was raised in South Boston and later Quincy, Massachusetts. He attended St Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont, Georgetown University, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Trump World for Dummies: One of the favourite sports in Washington these days is guessing what exactly is – or is going to be – US policy towards this or that country. Those who play the game spend time watching foreign diplomats, in particular, trying hard to guess who in the administration will make a particular decision, and when, and to predict what may happen, and how bad it will be. The repeated wisdom still is that the president is unpredictable. Some officials, trying to explain the created confusion, stress that “all options are on the table,” and sometimes they add: “As you know, the president does not like to show all his cards.” Before the end of last week and in the midst of the war of words with North Korea, the White House announced – on Friday, September 29 – that President Donald J Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will travel to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Hawaii from 3 to 14 November, 2017. David Ignatius of the Washington Post wrote, “In Trump world, we're learning to watch what the president does more than just read his inflammatory tweets. That lesson applies to his itinerary. Watch where he goes, and some of the policy implications become clear. A president who is about to attack North Korea doesn't schedule a November trip to China.” By Sunday morning President Trump had tweeted the following: “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man... Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!” Tillerson was on a trip in the region at the time.
