what the neo cons have been doing with our Navy

[donsu]

http://counterpunch.com/


The Buoyant Bush Agenda in Asian Waters
Gang of Four


-snip-

SEATO remains in effect. But it has recently been supplanted by a more ambitious undertaking. Once more in Manila, this time at the sidelines of an Association of South-East Asian Nations regional meeting in May 2007, four states (the US, Japan, Australia and India) met to create the Quadrilateral Initiative, also called the Quad or the Axis of Democracy.

Over the past five or six years, the navies of these four countries have conducted a series of bilateral and trilateral military exercises. In April, the US, Japan and India held a naval drill in the Sea of Japan. The Indian and US navies have jointly operated in the Indian Ocean, notably near the strategic Straits of Malacca. These games culminated this September, when the navies of the four powers held a joint exercise called Malabar 07 in the Bay of Bengal. Thirteen US warships joined seven Indian, two Australian and two Japanese (apart from one Singaporean frigate). The substantial presence was Indian and American.

-snip-

The Quad's ships went toward the Straits of Malacca that connect the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. This inlet is the pathway to almost 100,000 ships a year (to increase by 50% in less than twenty years). Half of China's oil supplies go through the channel (a quarter of all world oil shipments make the passage). The message to China was clear: the Quad is capable of shutting down the Straits and throttling China's economy.

This hostile intent is very public. In the Pentagon's 2006 defense review, the Generals write, "Of all the major and emerging powers, China has the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States and field disruptive military technologies that could over time offset traditional US military advantages absent US counterstrategies." Of the counterstrategic measures proposed, the most important one is "security cooperation and engagement activities including joint training exercises, senior staff talks, and officer and foreign internal defense training to increase understanding, strengthen allies and partners, and accurately communicate US objectives and intent." The picture that graces this section of the report is of a US F-15 Eagle pilot in discussion with a Japanese F-15 pilot at Nyutabaru Air Base, Japan, and the caption reads, "The US alliance with Japan is important to the stability in the Asia-Pacific region."

-snip-

In the US, meanwhile, a handful of people know about Bush's agenda on the high Asian seas. Bush is unpopular, but Bushism is a doctrine widely shared among the ruling elites. The Democrats and the Republicans are united in their view that US primacy must be preserved at all costs, and that China and Iran threaten this position. The anti-war movement's concentration on Iraq, and now Iran, is strategically important, but it also serves to blind the public on the broader agenda, notably what is unfolding in the Indian Ocean, in the South China Sea and in the Sea of Japan.
-snip-
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blindsided again

the neo cons ain't worried about no election

[terisan]

1. What they don't realize is that the world has turned and the Age of American Dominance is over.

We had opportunity in 2000 that we no longer have. Europeans have a better understanding of the new world we are in and may be able to deal with it.

Our Navy is one of our last big assets and if we don't make a break with Bush/Cheney that Navy will be operating at the service of some other power and be ours in name only.

[opihimoimoi]

2. The ruling elite should not RULE

[MADem]

3. How shocking that we'd be interested in mitigating China's influence--not.

That's what this is about. And it's unsurprising. Normal. Expected.

It's simply interoperability training and contingency planning. Seems sensible to me.

I don't see it as all that dire. It certainly isn't "hostile intent" like this guy asserts.

Contingency planning is what it is--it doesn't always mean more than that. And we hardly have the Navy to do any serious adventuring. Our Navy is PETITE, these days--it's our Army and Marine Corps that are massive (and stretched).

Vijay Prashad might be irritated at once-nonaligned India joining a club with such enthusiasm, and that's why he's annoyed. But they'd be worthless if they wanted to help later, and didn't have the training to work with the others. And, there's that nuke biz. They're in the club.

Without checks and balances, to include interoperability training with allies, we could find ourselves looking at a militarized nation looking to put the screws to us. Or one of our long-term friends.

I don't especially like it when we do it to others, but it's REALLY no fun being on the receiving end. That's what this is about. It's not so much about forcing anyone to play it our way, it's more like simply suggesting that everyone play nice.

[donsu]

4. you are wearing those rosy glasses again

nt

[MADem]

5. No I'm not. nt