Pentagon Prepares for Confrontation in the Asia-Pacific

[vector7]

N. Korean air force sharply increases sorties


SEOUL, June 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's air force has sharply increased sorties since mid-May, with some fighter jets flying close to South Korea's airspace, in what appears to be part of routine exercises, a military source said Wednesday.

"Since mid-May, the number of sorties North Korean jet fighters make has risen sharply," the source said. "Up to 50 sorties have been made a day, and two to three of them approached close to the tactical action line (TAC)."

The TAC is an imaginary line that the South established about 20-50 kilometers north of its airspace as a heads up for possible provocations. South Korean fighter jets are required to scramble if North Korean aircraft approach the line.

On Tuesday, one North Korean fighter jet approached the TAC, prompting four South Korean jets to scramble, the source said.

"The number of flights is believed to have increased as the North's air force has been under its summer combat inspections," the source said. "We are making thorough preparations for the possibility of airborne provocations."

(END)

[Ryan Ruck]

Pentagon To Shift Warships To Pacific As Part Of New Strategy To Increase Presence In Asia, Panetta Says

June 2, 2012

The Pentagon will shift more Navy warships to the Asia-Pacific region over the next several years and by 2020, about 60 percent of the fleet will be assigned there as part of a new strategy to increase U.S. presence in Asia, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Saturday.

While noting it may take years to complete the transition, Panetta assured his audience at a security conference in Singapore that U.S. budget problems and cutbacks would not get in the way of changes. He said the Defense Department has money in the five-year budget plan to meet those goals.

Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue conference, Panetta provided some of the first real details of the Pentagon's impending pivot to the Pacific.

"It will take years for these concepts, and many of the investments we are making, to be fully realized," Panetta said in remarks prepared for delivery at the conference. "But make no mistake, in a steady, deliberate and sustainable way, the United States military is rebalancing and brings enhanced capabilities to this vital region."

His promises, however, are likely to be met with skepticism from some nations that are aware of the coming budget cuts and have watched the U.S. send the bulk of its military might to Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade. The boost in ship presence could increase tensions with China, where leaders have said they are unhappy with any larger U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

A key area of dispute is the South China Sea, which China claims almost entirely as its own. But Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines also have territorial claims there. The U.S. has pressed for a diplomatic solution to the disagreements but has also made it clear that freedom of navigation is critical in the region.

Overall, however, Panetta tamped down his criticism of China, choosing instead to issue broad warnings about the use of force in the South China Sea to block access. He praised China and Taiwan for working to improve their relationship across the Taiwan Strait.

He said he is looking forward to visiting China later this year, adding that he wants to see the U.S. and China deepen their military ties, including on counterdrug programs and humanitarian aid.

Panetta acknowledged that some see the increased presence of the U.S. in the region as a direct challenge to China. But he rejected that view, saying that a greater U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific will benefit China and improve regional security.

The increased U.S. naval presence in the Pacific will allow the U.S. to boost the number and size of the military exercises in the region in the next few years and to plan for more port visits over a wider area, including the Indian Ocean. Last year, the U.S. military participated in 172 exercises in the region involving 24 counties.

Currently, the Navy has about 285 ships, with roughly half assigned to each coast, but that total may decline a bit as some ships are retired in the coming years and may not be replaced.

The current fleet includes 11 aircraft carriers, with six assigned to the Pacific. But those numbers are slated to go down later this year, dipping to 10 carriers, with five assigned to Pacific ports in San Diego, Washington state and Japan.

Panetta, however, said he intends to go back to having six carriers in the Pacific in the coming years. And he said the Pacific will also eventually host a majority of the Navy's cruisers, destroyers, submarines and littoral combat ships, which operate in close to shore.

Numbers, however, aren't everything. So Panetta assured the conference that the region will also get ships that have greater technological capabilities. He did not elaborate on what those might be, but he noted that the U.S. expects to deploy more enhanced and high-tech submarines and fighter aircraft, along with new electronic warfare and communications systems.

Panetta is on a nine-day trip across Asia, with planned stops in Vietnam and India.

[Ryan Ruck]

The US Will Open Massive Philippine Bases Not Occupied Since The Cold War

June 8, 2012

With the U.S. moving the majority of its naval fleet to the Pacific, commanders are eagerly looking for invitations to park the planes and ships that will be pouring into the region.

Travis Tritten at Stars and Stripes reports that the Pentagon has apparently been fanning the old flame of friendship with the Philippines and will be re-opening two bases it left in 1991 — Subic Bay and Clark Air Base.

The U.S. had a falling out with the island nation in the early nineties and pulled out of the bases, which were then built-up by a series of private developers and builders. How useful what's left is a matter of debate, but the locations used to be major centers of operation for American forces in the Pacific.

Clark Air Base and its military reservation are 244 square miles of land that played a vital role for the U.S. during the Vietnam war and is capable of hosting the largest of America's military aircraft.

Subic Bay played an even greater role in U.S. operations and until the withdrawal in 1991 it was the largest American overseas military base in the world. The waters at Subic Bay should have no problem hosting U.S. submarines and the largest of naval ships.

The Philippines has been embroiled in a major dispute with China in the nearby Spratley Islands and Beijing is unlikely to be happy with this news.

[American Patriot]

In related news, the Iranians have moved 90% of their ships (three) to the coast of the US.... /chuckles

[vector7]

China says US naval shift to Pacific 'untimely'

by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) June 4, 2012

China said Monday a US decision to shift the bulk of its naval fleet to the Pacific by 2020 was "untimely" and called on Washington to respect its interests in the region.

The decision to deploy more ships to the Pacific Ocean and to expand defence partnerships in the region -- announced by Pentagon chief Leon Panetta Saturday -- reflects US concerns over China's rising economic and military might.

"All parties should make efforts to safeguard and promote peace, stability and development in the Asia Pacific," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters in response to a question on the US announcement.

"The practice of strengthening military deployment and alliances to give prominence to a military and security agenda is untimely."

In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue -- a major Asia security summit held in Singapore -- Panetta insisted the strategy was not a challenge to Beijing.

He said that "by 2020, the Navy will re-posture its forces from today's roughly 50/50 percent split between the Pacific and the Atlantic to about a 60/40 split between those oceans.

"That will include six aircraft carriers in this region, a majority of our cruisers, destroyers, littoral combat ships, and submarines."

The United States also plans to expand military exercises in the Pacific and to conduct more port visits over a wider area extending to the Indian Ocean.

"We welcome the United States to play a constructive role in the Asia Pacific region," Liu said.

He added Beijing hoped the "US side will respect the interests and concerns of all parties in the Asia Pacific, including China".

Beijing has been criticised for taking an increasingly assertive stance in the region -- particularly in the South China Sea which it claims almost entirely as its own, in conflict with other nearby countries.

At the summit, Japan's Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister of Defense Shu Watanabe also expressed concern over China's massive defence spending, saying the lack of transparency in the budget posed a "threat" to Tokyo.

China's military budget jumped 11.2 percent year on year to $106 billion in 2012, a rise that has caused unease around the region and especially in Tokyo.

Liu on Monday defended China's military spending, saying the nation's defence policy was transparent and added Beijing would not seek "hegemony when it is stronger".

[vector7]

Putin to push military ties with China

Posted on June 7, 2012



BEIJING (Reuters): Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he will boost military cooperation with China, including holding more joint exercises, after the United States announced plans to shift most of its warships to the Asia-Pacific by 2020.

Putin referred to recent Sino-Russian joint navy exercises in the Yellow Sea as an example of military cooperation which, he said, would go on.

"We will continue cooperation also between our military," he told Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where he is attending a security summit and meeting his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao.

"Recently joint navy exercises were held in the Yellow Sea, and they were the first of such exercises. We have agreed with Chairman Hu that we will continue such cooperation," Putin said.

Chinese and Russian naval forces held six days of exercises in the Yellow Sea off China's east coast in April, with drills including anti-submarine operations and the rescue of hijacked vessels.

China deployed 16 ships and two submarines, while Russia sent four warships from its Pacific fleet, according to Chinese state media.

"We assign an important role to the joint initiative on strengthening security in the Asia-Pacific region and in this context we will maintain the relationship between our militaries," Putin said in an earlier statement.

"We favor the formation of an open and equal-minded security and cooperation architecture in the region, based on the principles of international law," he said.

China and Russia have forged close economic and diplomatic ties following years of hostility and suspicion during a large part of the Cold War, and both have looked askance at US military involvement in what they view as their backyards.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Saturday the United States would reposition its naval fleet so that 60 percent of its battleships would be in the Asia-Pacific by the end of the decade, up from about 50 percent now.

China has long been wary of US intentions, with hawkish voices in the People's Liberation Army saying that the United States was bent on encircling China and crippling its rise.

China's fast-modernizing navy has stirred worries among neighbors, including in Southeast Asia, where several countries are in dispute with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Under the US plans, Panetta announced the Navy would maintain six aircraft carriers assigned to the Pacific. Six of its 11 carriers are now assigned to the Pacific, but that will fall to five when the USS Enterprise is decommissioned soon.

The number will return to six when a new carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is completed in 2015. The US Navy had a fleet of 282 ships as of March. That is expected to slip to about 276 over the next two years before beginning to rise toward the goal of a 300-ship fleet, according to a 30-year Navy projection released in March.

[MinutemanCO]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he will boost military cooperation with China, including holding more joint exercises, after the United States announced plans to shift most of its warships to the Asia-Pacific by 2020.

Now there's a big surprise. They are members of the same strategic organization. Of course they will support each other militarily as their goals of world domination are similar.

[American Patriot]

Guys.... Remember the Cold War?

Think of what you learned as a child. Ok, many of you are way too young. Some of us remember though. Luke? I think you're there with me.

Remember the "Duck and Cover" drills? Remember the constant mention of the "Iron Curtain"? Remember as you were older we talked of "triggers" and "signs"?

Remember we had tanks and troops all over Germany and Europe because we expected the Soviets to shoot the Fulda Gap?

For reference:


Basically... those of us who were children of the '60s (no not the hippies, the kids, the youngsters who sat in front of the television watching Walter Cronkite on the evening news) remember this stuff, we lived it. We worried about it (and some still do)

The stuff being posted today is a reminder of those days. The Russians are antsy, the Chinese are siding with them forming new, worse alliances than ever, the Iranians are now stating their agenda CLEARLY (nukes are NEEDED by the Middle East - more specifically by IRAN), the US Navy is building up the Pacific Ocean - big time.

You see kids, the Cold War never really ended. The Commies never really went away (and in fact have infiltrate even our highest offices of this land!). And Americans have become complacent, even STUPID when it comes to this.

Americans are weary of war, and war footing. We're tired of losing our young men on the battle front in the Middle East, and some are pressing for a "nicer America", one that is "Clean and Green!" (mean Red, meaning Commie).

Folks - we are coming up on a "history Node", one that where all the decisions, roads or plans must come to a meeting point, where the crap rises to the surface of the mix and has to be cleaned out.

Will it be Capitalism or Communism? Will America remain here another two hundred plus years or will America become a memory full of former Americans enslaved by the Communists and Muslims?

Only YOU can decide.

Only YOU can stand up and fight what is happening.

Only YOU can make something happen to the positive.

[vector7]

U.S. War with China “Inevitable,” Author Glain Says

By Aaron Task | Daily Ticker – Thu, Aug 11, 2011 2:57 PM EDT

Outside of the market madness, the biggest global news this week might be China sending its first aircraft carrier to sea.

The launch was not unexpected and China sought to downplay its significance, saying "it will not pose a threat to other countries."

Still, "it is the most potent symbol yet of China's desire to develop the power both to deny U.S. naval access to Asian waters and to protect its global economic interests, including shipping lanes," The WSJ reports.

Like many others, Stephen Glain, author of State vs. Defense, believes the U.S. and China are, indeed, on a collision course. "Absent a good faith attempt to negotiate this thicket of disputes between China and Taiwan and the Philippines and Brunei and others, I think it's inevitable," he says.

"The Chinese are not going to back down."

Just as America adopted the Monroe Doctrine to project power in the Western Hemisphere, the Chinese believe they have a right to their own sphere of influence in the Asia-Pacific region. "China is after all a 3000-year old country; Asia has been throughout most of that history Sino-centric," he says.

But to those who believe the U.S. and its allies must "bottle up" China, Glain says "there's nothing in those 3000 years of Chinese history" to suggest China's intentions are to militarily dominate the region. "On the contrary, they've always remained close to their own territory," he notes. "They have always been the Middle Kingdom between heaven and earth."

However, Glain fears the U.S. and its allies might provoke China into a war that might otherwise be avoidable. "Arms races tend to develop their own immutable momentum," he says, noting the Pentagon is embarking on an "enormous military buildup" in the region.

In his new book, Glain laments the rise of the "military industrial complex" President Eisenhower warned about 50 years ago, suggesting defense contractors and their patrons in Congress and the Pentagon have an undue influence on U.S. foreign policy. American hubris is also playing a role in the march to war, he says.

"Without an admission by the U.S. of its limitations, both fiscal and militarily…I think some kind of conflict between the U.S. and China is inevitable, probably in our lifetime," he says.

For more on this topic, see:
Niall Ferguson: U.S. Empire in Decline, on Collision Course with China
Too Big to Fail: Lockheed Martin's "Got Their Fingers Everywhere", Says Author

[vector7]

US tests of Interceptor missile off Hawaii coast

US forces using a new Raytheon interceptor missile downed missile in space in a test of a shield built to thwart growing capabilities of countries of North Korea and Iran.

11:08PM BST 27 Jun 2012

The mission off Hawaii late Tuesday was against a medium-range, separating ballistic missile, the Pentagon agency responsible for it said.

The mock warhead split from the target's booster section, presenting what is supposed to be a more realistic attack scenario.

The United States plans to deploy increasingly capable versions of Raytheon's Standard Missile-3 through 2020 to help counter missiles that might some day be capable of delivering chemical, biological or nuclear warheads from Iran or North Korea.

The new model is to be put on land-based launchers in Romania in 2015 as well as on ships. It is a key part of President Barack Obama's plan to guard Nato's European territory from Iran, which is at odds with the US over its nuclear programme.

[American Patriot]

So China is saying "War with US inevitable" and the US is saying "War with China inevitable".

So... we're planning to go to war.

Just as I thought, and planned. Now I can move forward with my final plan to take over the world. Muhahahaha

[Phil Fiord]

Nothing new here but confirmation.

[Ryan Ruck]

Report: U.S. Needs Greater Naval Presence in Pacific to Contain China

August 3, 2012

A report issued by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is urging a broadened U.S. military presence in the Pacific. Citing the unknown threat that could come from China's burgeoning military, as well as the known threat of China's already viable "anti-access, area denial" technologies, CSIS sugggests turning Guam into a permanent base for a squadron of B-52 aircraft while adding more submarines to the area as well.

In response to the report, Sec. of Defense Leon Panetta has announced a plan to shift naval power from "a nearly 50-50 split" between the Pacific and Atlantic to a 60-40 split that favors the Pacific.

Robert Sher, a Deputy Assistant Sec. of Defense for plans has also concurred with the report, stating his belief that a move toward a larger, more permanent presence in Guam would "send an important signal to the region."

As a result of the CSIS report, treaties to allow a heavier U.S. presence in the Philippines are also being considered.