Some 1,000 Asians Flock To ISIL: Adm. Locklear
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PENTAGON: Even as the latest Mideast war sucks in more US attention and resources — as well as wannabe jihadis from around the world — the outgoing chief of Pacific Command emphasized the much-derided “rebalance to the Asia-Pacific” is still going strong. Despite sequestration budget cuts the US is still strong enough to handle both theaters at… Keep reading →
From Afghan Sell-Off To Pacific Build-Up: The Strategy Of Logistics
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WASHINGTON: Some 45 football fields and gear worth $5 billion. That’s how much excess inventory and storage room the Defense Logistics Agency has sold or destroyed since the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it’s not finished. DLA’s first sale of surplus equipment to local businesses in Afghanistan is scheduled for next… Keep reading →
Army Sends Cannoneer To Korea, Acquisition Expert To Afghanistan
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The Army announced new assignments for ten generals this afternoon, but two in particular stand out as signs of the times. They’re sending a battle-hardened artilleryman from the 82nd Airborne Division to the No. 2 job in South Korea and a veteran acquisition officer to Afghanistan. Moving Maj. Gen. Harold Greene from the Army’s acquisition… Keep reading →
US Foreign Policy: Spin, or Spinning Out of Control?
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Occasionally journalists find a gem, buried in the Potomac muck. They’re hard to find and often even harder to convince they should be seen by the public. Harald Malmgren spends most of his time buried deep in the darkest muck of Washington — that almost impenetrable stuff surrounding economics. But he sometimes rises forth and… Keep reading →
Guam Not Ready For 5,000 More Marines: GAO
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Guam is America’s unsinkable aircraft carrier in the South Pacific, the fulcrum of the fabled Pacific “pivot.” It’s also kind of a mess. With a GDP per capita less than a third the US average, an earthquake-damaged harbor, geriatric generators that black out the entire island roughly twice a year, drinking water periodically contaminated with… Keep reading →
Philippine Typhoon Showcases US Strategic Edge Over China
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UPDATE: Aircraft carrier USS George Washington underway to disaster zone. It is more than a little ghoulish to look at a tragedy that may have killed 10,000 people and see a strategic opportunity. But that’s how strategists have to think. After all, what is war itself but human tragedy exploited for strategic advantage? And that’s… Keep reading →
Time For Congress To Rebalance On Asia-Pacific: Reps. Forbes & Hanabusa
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Rep. Randy Forbes can play the partisan as well as any of his GOP colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee, but he also makes a habit of reaching across the aisle to work with Democrats on select issues. As chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee, Forbes has pressed colleagues on both sides… Keep reading →
Isolationists Score While Hagel Scrambles To Maintain US Power; Lockheed To Furlough 3,000
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UPDATED: Lockheed Now Plans 2,400 Furloughs After DoD Decides To Bring Back Civilian Workers (10/7 at 12:45 p.m) WASHINGTON: OK. That headline is deliberately provocative. But here’s the evidence. The president of the United States cancels an important trip to Asia — including the first visit by a president to the increasingly powerful state of… Keep reading →
Why America Needs Aircraft Carriers
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The Navy’s aircraft carrier programs are once again at the vortex of intense scrutiny and debate, fueled by strategic ambiguity, questions about spending billions of dollars for a single ship during a period of painfully tight budgets, and uncertainty whether advanced technologies and systems will deliver the “goods.” As well, carrier critics point to supposed… Keep reading →
China’s Fear Of US May Tempt Them To Preempt: Sinologists
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Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted. WASHINGTON: Because China believes it is much weaker than the United States, they are more likely to launch… Keep reading →