The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan travels through the Pacific Ocean with other ships assigned to the Rim of the Pacific 2010 exercise, north of Hawaii, July 24, 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dylan McCord
Will The Peace Dividend Sink The US Fleet? -- James R. Holmes, The Diplomat
Classes wrapped up this week with a review of maritime strategy past, present, and future. I like to kick off the closing seminar with a dramatic (he flattered himself) reading of Rudyard Kipling's "Dutch in the Medway."
The poet spins the tale of Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter's raid on Britain's Royal Navy into a parable about the wages of naval unpreparedness. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667), de Ruyter led his fleet into the Thames. The intrepid Dutchmen towed away or burned much of the British battle fleet, which was laid up for want of funding. Imagine some American foe stealing into San Diego or Pearl Harbor, making off with a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and burning some Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers at their moorings, and you get the idea. A seafaring nation that lets its fleet decay risks disaster.
Read more ....
My Comment: The peace dividend will not sink the US Fleet .... but it will be a shadow of it's former self.
No comments:
Post a Comment