Russia, Not ISIS, Greatest Threat to US, General Says

Russia is a greater threat to the U.S. mainland than the Islamic State militants who are capturing territory in Iraq and Syria, said Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, President Obama’s nominee to become America’s No. 2 military officer. This seemed to surprise several of the senators gathered for Selva’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

 

But Selva’s comments echoed ones by Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, Obama’s nominee to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at his confirmation hearing last week. Together, they illustrate the U.S. military’s rising concern about Moscow since it invaded Ukraine last year.

 

“Russia possesses the conventional and nuclear capability to be an existential threat to this nation should they choose to do so,” Selva told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Read More: Russia, Not ISIS, Greatest Threat to US, General Says – Defense One.