PNN – A Chinese publication has written that the problems facing the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier signal the end of the era of America’s effortless global dominance.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network; the Chinese publication Global Times—in an analytical report examining the withdrawal of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington from the Pacific following the crisis aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln—emphasized that this redeployment heralds the official end of the era of America’s “effortless supremacy” on the international stage.
The main points of the report are as follows:
1- Depletion of U.S. Aircraft Carriers in East Asia
The deployment of the last active carrier to the Persian Gulf has turned the Western Pacific into a region devoid of U.S. aircraft carriers. Washington’s need to choose between the two oceans highlights the ineffectiveness of parallel strategies and an inability to maintain a simultaneous presence across multiple fronts.
2- Severe Personnel Attrition and Morale Crisis
Having broken the record for continuous deployment—spending 250 days in uninterrupted operations related to the standoff with Iran—the USS Abraham Lincoln is grappling with a profound crisis of extreme fatigue, plummeting morale, and numerous psychological incidents among its crew; a situation that indicates U.S. manpower capabilities have reached a critical breaking point.
3- Breakdown of the Support and Logistics Chain
Unlike the past, when robust support symbolized U.S. strength, the blows dealt during the conflict with Iran have caused severe disruptions in supply hubs; military personnel are now facing issues such as a lack of hot water, broken sanitary facilities, and acute shortages of basic necessities.
4- Technological Flaws and Maintenance Crisis
Out of a total of 11 U.S. aircraft carriers, only two or three are operational, while the rest are tied up in lengthy repair cycles. Even the advanced technologies aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford have been abandoned due to frequent malfunctions, forcing the U.S. to revert to older systems.
5- Exposing the Limits of Security Commitments to Allies
The withdrawal of US naval vessels from the region demonstrated to allies such as Japan and the Philippines that US capabilities and security commitments are finite, and that Washington can no longer be considered a reliable security umbrella for them.
6- Industrial Capacity Lagging Behind Military Ambitions
The major lesson from the conflict with Iran is that victory is not determined by the number of naval vessels, but rather by industrial capacity and the speed of repairs. Washington has now realized that its industrial capacity cannot sustain its military ambitions, and that its rivals have learned to inflict heavy costs on the US using less expensive means.
7- Conclusion
The withdrawal of US aircraft carriers from East Asia is the price Washington is paying for its own overreach. This report emphasizes that the ongoing war of attrition with Iran has pushed US military and logistical structures into a phase of gradual and irreversible collapse.