The destroyer Lassen, left, and the Singapore navy frigates Supreme, center, and Intrepid trail the U.S. littoral combat ship Fort Worth through the South China Sea in July during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Singapore 2015. China Daily Mail
Breaking Defense: US ‘Steadily Retreating’ In South China Sea Dispute
When the Jedi Council assembled in Star Wars Episode I “The Phantom Menace,” they discussed a prophecy that they would soon be joined by one who would “bring balance to the Force.” Little did they expect that the One would achieve this balance by collapsing the old order.
Reality now seems to be mirroring fiction, as the Administration steadily obscures what it means by the “rebalance” to Asia in the six weeks leading to the next episode of the “Star Wars” franchise. American B-52s and the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier battlegroup both operated in the South China Sea recently, providing ample opportunity to conduct operations within 12 nautical miles of China’s artificial islands, and clearly sending the message to Beijing and the world of the seriousness with which the United States takes freedom of the seas.
WNU Editor: President Obama has no interest in having a confrontation with China right now over the South China Sea. Right now his focus is on his legacy .... the South China Sea .... that will be the next President's problem.
Could somebody please remind me why the U.S. is responsible to police the world, bankrupt its economy, and exhaust its military for populations and countries who could care less or want us to mind our own business?
ReplyDeleteWhy is it "good" for the U.S. to intervene in some hot spot in the world and "bad" for Russia or China to do so?
Seems to me that any person or country can make an excuse to not mind its own business, intervene in the internal affairs of another country, or find an excuse to defend the interests of another country by invading it and taking over.
My old World History professor, a world renowned scholar, used to give a great lecture on ancient buffer zones. He quickly demonstrated that no matter how many countries one invaded and occupied, there was always another one and another one and another one, etc. His point was that unless you control the whole board, your country will never feel safe until they either find a way to live together or take control of the whole board. Given that no country has yet to find a way to control the whole board, then the constant need to expand one's buffer zone will never end. A point that China, the United States, and Russia could well learn, assuming their leaders ever took a quality Civilization 101 course. A big if.
It appears more and more that Pax Americana is just about or is over, the next few years should be interesting.
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