US faces more threats than decade ago, warns head of its military [View All]

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Source: The Guardian

The most senior figure in the US military has warned that the number of threats facing his country and its allies have increased over the last decade and that the armed forces must be kept strong to fight back.

In his first speech since taking over as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Martin Dempsey told an audience in London on Monday that meeting the new challenges in a time of austerity would require a transformation in military thinking.

He highlighted the cyber threat as one of the most pressing, and said more needed to be done to counter the dangers online.

"Our traditional alliances and partnerships around the world are the stable platform on which we will confront these challenges," he said. "Yet it cannot be lost on us that we now face known and unknown security challenges in the context of a new fiscal reality.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/28/us-more-threats-military-dempsey