We Need a Real Marine Corps To Fight a Two Front War
By Gary Anderson
August 14, 2024
The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) transits the Strait of Hormuz, Aug. 4, 2021. Iwo Jima is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. (U.S. Navy photo by Smn Logan Kaczmarek)
The term "axis of evil" (AOE) originally coined by President George W Bush in response to the attacks on September 11th, 2001, included adversarial foreign governments that sponsored terrorism and sought weapons of mass destruction, namely Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. Certainly not a Warsaw Pact-like organization. However, today's axis of evil may come closer to threatening the U.S. with a multi-front war, a war we are not ready for.
The new AOE, if it exists, consists of China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. US intelligence suggests there are plans afoot to coordinate any Chinese attack against Taiwan, East China Sea or South China Sea with military action elsewhere. The most likely candidate is Iran. Russia is otherwise engaged, and North Koreas is not ready to engage in a major regional conflict (MRC),
Until 2019, the United States was reasonably well positioned to wage a two-front war, The theory was win-hold-win, Win in the major theater (in this case China). Hold in the secondary theater (Iran here); then win in MRC 2.
The key to the two MRC strategy was the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps had several capabilities vital to the second MRC.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2024/08/14/we_need_a_real_marine_corps_to_fight_a_two_front_war_1051632.html
