CBS’s 60 Minutes did not spend any time this week commemorating the Iraq war’s 20th anniversary. Instead, it appeared eager to help entangle the United States in another disastrous and costly conflict — this time with China.
Greasing the public for war with Beijing isn’t all that new for the network’s prestigious TV news magazine. When 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O’Donnell interviewed Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the early days of the Biden administration, she appeared at times intent on pressuring the newly minted top U.S. diplomat into taking a more combative and militaristic approach toward China.
This week, O’Donnell visited the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the U.S. Pacific Fleet to warn us about the threat that China’s navy poses, largely because of its size, and that the United States is lagging behind in shipbuilding to meet this purported threat.
To underscore the alarm, O’Donnell set up the piece by noting that China has the world’s largest Navy (a point she made four times throughout the 15 minute segment) and that while the U.S. Navy “remains a formidable fighting force … even officers within the service have questioned its readiness,” particularly in the context of China choosing to take Taiwan by force.
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Article URL : https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/03/21/60-minutes-hypes-china-threat-in-us-navy-defense-industry-pr-segment/