Monday, April 23, 2018

Admiral admits that China has regional superiority in S. China sea...


via Inside Defense.
 The nominee to be the next chief of the U.S. forces in the Pacific has called for an increase in U.S. forces from all three services stationed in the vital region, adding that China is now effectively able to control the South China Sea and challenge the U.S. presence in the region.

In his testimony at last week’s Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, Adm. Philip Davidson also said he will work to recalibrate U.S. force posture in the Indo-Pacific region to align with the recently released 2018 National Defense Strategy, an effort he said “entails ensuring the continued combat readiness of assigned forces in the western Pacific (and) developing an updated footprint that accounts for China’s rapid modernization.”

Davidson, who has been nominated to take over U.S. Pacific Command, or PACOM, also said the strategic and operational environment outlined in the NDS clearly identifies the importance of developing and fielding a force posture that is capable of “countering Chinese malign influence in the region,” while describing actions in the South China Sea such as the One Belt One Road Initiative as China executing its own deliberate and thoughtful force posture initiatives.

Due to the distances involved in the Indo-Pacific, Davidson stressed that the U.S. cannot solely rely on surge forces from the continental United States to deter Chinese aggression or prevent a fait accompli. He also said PACOM must maintain a robust, blunt layer that effectively deters Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.
Story here.

Wow.

We're finally getting a bit of honest from military leadership with regard to China. 

This is a beginning but I fear its too late.

First you have to acknowledge the problem.  A good man, the former intel Chief for the Navy in the Pacific lost his job because he sounded the alarm bell.  Now others are picking up but do we have time to prepare?

Second.

To outright say that China controls the S. China Sea is stunning.  To say that we must counter their "Malign Influence" is obvious.

Last.

He just made an OUTSTANDING case, really the only case I've heard for forward presence of our forces.

We need to counter and hopefully contain the Chinese.  We need forces forward to do that.

Makes sense to me!

China is the threat.  China is the nation that actually threatens our national survival.  Russia?  Russia is in a defensive posture against NATO encirclement. We can reach an understanding if not friendship with them.  Friends?  Maybe not, but we definitely don't have to be enemies.  We have too many intersecting interests.  A handshake alliance on shit we can agree with, an understanding and respect on shit we don't (both sides...if they fuck up the respect part then we fuck with them and should expect the same in reverse).

But I do want to point out something here.

With regard to China and Russia we have the right policy for the wrong country.  What we're doing with China is what we should be doing with Russia...what we're doing with Russia is what we should be doing with China.

Politics at home and the hatred of Trump is what makes our foreign policy so batshit stupid.

No comments :

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.