In January of this year the three officials
in charge of U.S. global military strategy and operations - commander-in-chief
President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the
Joints Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey - unveiled the 2012 Defense
Strategic Guidance, entitled "Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities
for 21st Century Defense," which officially confirmed American plans to
increase its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region to counter China, now
the world's second-largest economy.
Alternately
referred to as rebalancing, reemphasis, refocusing and a pivot away from Europe
and toward the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, the new doctrine reflects the
past twenty years' consolidation of U.S. military and political control of
Europe through the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the
subjugation of North Africa and the Middle East except for, at least for the
present, Syria and Iran through the creation of U.S. Africa Command, NATO's
Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative military
partnerships and its ten-and-a-half-year-old Operation Active Endeavor in the
Mediterranean, and the wars against Iraq and Libya.
Having
not so much neutralized opposition - there were no effective challengers to
U.S. geopolitical hegemony in the indicated areas - as eliminated remaining
pockets of independence and nonalignment (Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya), the
Pentagon and its allies are free to move against China, having already
surrounded Russia through NATO expansion and partnerships from the Baltic Sea
to the Black Sea, the South Caucasus to Central Asia, the Arctic Ocean to
Mongolia.
On June
1 Pentagon chief Panetta spoke at the eleventh annual Shangri-La Dialogue
defense summit in Singapore, where the U.S. has recently gained basing rights
for its warships, and reiterated plans to expand, tighten and integrate its
alliances with defense treaty partners in the Asia-Pacific: Australia, Japan,
New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand. (Taiwan is practically
if not formally in that category.)
As the
Defense Department's news agency, American Forces Press Service, reported,
Panetta emphasized that "Defense policy in the region calls for the U.S.
military to expand military-to-military relationships well beyond the
traditional treaty allies." The allusion is to the members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand) not
already included in bilateral military alliances with Washington as well as new
partners like Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Tonga and others supplying troops or transit bases for
the U.S.-NATO war in Afghanistan. An old ally, Pakistan, and newly acquired
ones, India and Bangladesh, are also within the Pentagon's purview.
In the
past few years the U.S. has pulled Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam into its political-military
orbit and expanded partnerships with Malaysia and Singapore, which have troops
serving under NATO command in Afghanistan along with Australia, Mongolia, New
Zealand, South Korea and Tonga.
Panetta's
comments in Singapore included the following: "By 2020, the Navy will
reposture its forces from today's roughly 50/50 split between the Atlantic and
Pacific to about a 60/40 split between those oceans - including six aircraft
carriers, a majority of our cruisers, destroyers, littoral combat ships and
submarines."
To
appreciate the scale of what that redeployment portends, it's worth noting the
unprecedented and unparalleled military capacity the U.S. has built from the
end of World War II to the present, in the process establishing the first and
only global military force.
The
U.S. has eleven aircraft carriers with attached strike groups; all the world's
supercarriers and all but one of its twelve nuclear-powered carriers. (France
has the other.) The eleven American supercarriers are the largest warships ever
built.
It has
61 guided missile destroyers and 22 guided missile cruisers, all of which are
part of or can be upgraded to join the Aegis Combat System, thereby being
capable of participating in Washington's worldwide interceptor missile program.
The
U.S. Navy also possesses 72 submarines, 18 ballistic and 53 attack models, and
24 frigates, nine amphibious assault ships, seven amphibious transport docks,
12 dock landing ships, four littoral combat ships and scores of other vessels.
Washington
has pledged to deploy 60 percent of the above to the Asia-Pacific region in the
imminent future.
Ahead
of his trip to Singapore, Panetta visited the headquarters of U.S. Pacific
Command (PACOM) in Honolulu, Hawaii and American Forces Press Service reported
that "There are 330,000 U.S. service members in the Pacific Command area
now, and Panetta anticipates the proportion of the total military in the region
will rise."
The
same source added: "The American military also wants to strengthen power
projection capabilities in the region. Panetta said there will be new platforms
and capabilities for troops in the area."
U.S.
military chief Martin Dempsey is also attending the three-day Shangri-La
Dialogue in Singapore and his meetings in the Southeast Asian nation indicate
one component of the Pentagon's
"power projection" strategy for the Asia-Pacific area. He met
with the host country's defense minister, chief of defense and heads of its
army, air force and navy and toured the Sembawang Air Base and other military
facilities.
His
discussions included topics like the regular Commando Sling joint
U.S.-Singapore air combat exercises and the imminent deployment of U.S.
littoral combat ships to Singapore agreed upon late last year.
Singaporean
Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen visited the Pentagon in April, during which Panetta
announced the doubling of the number of U.S. warships to be "forward
deployed" to Singapore, from two to four, for exercises and operations
near the strategic Strait of Malacca.
In the
same month the U.S. deployed the first 200 of 2,500 Marines to northern
Australia as part of a military buildup which will also include aircraft,
warships and drones.
The
Philippines is the third Asia-Pacific nation where the Pentagon is securing new
bases to contain and ultimately confront China.
In
April the U.S. and the Philippines conducted the latest Balikatan military
maneuvers with 4,500 American Marines and 2,500 Philippine troops which
included an amphibious assault at Ulugan Bay on Palawan Island to rehearse the
"recapture" of an island near the Spratly Islands contested by the
Philippines and China.
Most of
the Asia-Pacific is in the area of responsibility of U.S. Pacific Command, one
of six Unified Combatant Commands the Pentagon employs to maintain control of
and pre-position for potential military actions throughout the world. It
consists of U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Marine Forces Pacific, U.S. Pacific Fleet
and U.S. Pacific Air Forces.
PACOM's
website boasts that its geographical reach "encompasses about half the
earth's surface, stretching from the waters off the west coast of the U.S. to
the western border of India, and from Antarctica to the North Pole."
Its
area of responsibility takes in 36 nations and over half of the world's
population.
The
website also itemizes American military assets already deployed to the
Asia-Pacific:
Some
350,000 military personnel, one-fifth of total U.S. forces.
The
U.S. Pacific Fleet, assigned to PACOM, includes six of eleven aircraft carrier
strike groups, approximately 180 ships, 1,500 aircraft and 100,000 service
members.
U.S.
Marine Forces Pacific consists of two-thirds of U.S. Marine Corps combat
troops, two Marine Expeditionary Forces and 85,000 personnel.
U.S.
Pacific Air Forces has over 40,000 airman and more than 300 aircraft, with an
additional 100 aircraft based in Guam.
U.S.
Army Pacific has over 60,000 service members and five Stryker combat vehicle
brigades.
There
are also an estimated 1,200 Special Operations troops assigned to PACOM.
Components
of U.S. Pacific Fleet, the U.S. Third Fleet is home-based in California and the
Seventh Fleet in Japan. The Seventh Fleet, the largest forward-deployed naval
force in the world, has 50 to 60 ships, 350 aircraft and 60,000 Marines and
sailors.
U.S.
Pacific Air Forces includes the Fifth Air Force in Japan, Seventh Air Force in
South Korea, Eleventh Air Force in Alaska and Thirteenth Air Force in Hawaii.
PACOM
has three subordinate unified commands: U.S. Forces Japan, U.S. Forces Korea
and Alaskan Command.
Pacific
Command has in recent years been making inroads into Asian nations that were
off-limits during the Cold War period and for the first decade and a half
afterward.
PACOM
has been running annual Khaan Quest military exercises in Mongolia since 2003,
mainly to train Mongolian troops for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
U.S. Army
Pacific conducts annual Angkor Sentinel exercises in Cambodia, as with those in
Mongolia including troops from American NATO and from other Asia-Pacific
allies.
PACOM
and its service affiliates also hold regular military exercises elsewhere
throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
In
January the U.S. and Japan held the latest Keen Edge command post exercise in
Japan and Hawaii.
From
January 15-February 17 of this year 7,000 U.S, troops and 3,000 from Thailand,
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea participated in the Cobra
Gold 2012 war games in Thailand.
The
U.S. and South Korea held their joint Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises from
February 28 to April 30 (February 28-March 9 and March 1-April 30,
respectively) with 11,000 American and over 200,000 South Korean troops.
In
March the air forces of the U.S., Thailand and Singapore participated in the
Cope Tiger exercise at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base.
At the
end of the month the three-week U.S.-led Commando Sling air combat exercises in
Singapore were begun.
In
April the U.S. and India engaged in this year's Malabar naval exercise, the
latest in a series of annual drills with that codename, in the Bay of Bengal.
The ten-day Malabar 2012 exercise was led by the U.S. Seventh Fleet and
included aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, guided missile cruiser USS Bunker
Hill, guided missile destroyer USS Halsey and American aircraft and a
submarine.
In the
same month the 7,000-troop U.S.-Philippine Balikatan 2012 exercise was held in
the South China Sea.
On May
30 the U.S. began the 18th annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training
(CARAT) in Indonesia. The nine-day exercise included a U.S. Navy Task Group and
Marine landing force.
Other
regular U.S.-led military exercises in the Asia-Pacific include the biennial
U.S.-Australia Talisman Sabre and the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercises,
the second the largest multinational naval maneuvers in the world. This year's
Rim of the Pacific exercise in and near Hawaii will run from June 29 to August
3 and include 24 nations, 42 ships, six submarines, over 200 aircraft and
25,000 personnel.
Having
vanquished most all islands of resistance and neutrality in Europe, Africa and
the Middle East, the Pentagon is moving its global military machine into the
Asia-Pacific for a showdown with China.
Rick
Rozoff
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment