It is being reported that Adm. Mike Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is stating that our national debt is a threat to national security.  Mullen alludes that the $600 billion in interest paid to the debt will hurt defense spending, therefore hurting our ability to defend ourselves.  While Mullen's statement has merit, he fails to notice how our national debt is hurting our national security by hindering our diplomatic efforts.

According to ustreas.gov, our national debt holdings by certain nations is the real threat to our national security.  China/Hong Kong have almost $1 trillion in our treasury notes.  What makes anyone think that if North Korea got super serious about rattling their sabers that the US would not be hamstrung by China?  Same thing for Iran where Russia and China have been more than open about their dealings with this rogue nation.

Go further down the list, and you'll find "oil exporting counties" own $223 billion of our debt.  As a result, I supposed the US will have to tread lightly when dealing with countries like Venezuela.  Who is included in the list of "oil exporting countries"?  Not many of our friends..

Oil exporters include Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
     Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria.

Adm. Mullen's assessment of our national security being threatened by our national debt is correct in a sense, but for more reasons than he fails to mention.