The blood-thirsty war monger (Ass Carter) is on the loose...
Pentagon Announces “Third Phase” of Military Build-Up Against China. U.S. Economic Hegemony under TPP Supported by Military Might
Global Research, October 04, 2016
World Socialist Web Site 3 October 2016
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced last Thursday a
further dramatic expansion of the Pentagon’s “rebalance” or “pivot” to
the Asia Pacific that will only heighten the already tense military
confrontation with China in the region. He insisted that the Asia
Pacific was “the single most consequential region for America’s future.”
Speaking on board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in San Diego,
Carter outlined what he called the “third phase” of the US military
build-up and the strengthening of a “principled and inclusive security
network” in Asia. While claiming that Beijing was not excluded from the
“network,” every aspect of the “third phase” is aimed at preparing for a
war with China.
The importance that Carter attached to the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) to “bind the United States more closely together with 11 other
countries” underlines the real purpose of the “pivot:” to maintain
American dominance and subordinate China to the interests of the United
States. The very terms of the TPP ensure that Beijing will be excluded
unless it accepts the rules set by Washington.
The defence secretary made clear US economic hegemony had to be underpinned by military might.
In outlining the “third phase,” he declared that “the United States
will continue to sharpen our military edge so we remain the most
powerful military in the region and the security partner of choice.”
Carter indicated that the “first phase” of the “pivot” announced in
2011 involved a quantitative boost of the US military and the
restructuring of its basing arrangements. Tens of thousands of American
military personnel were redirected to Asia, with a commitment to station
60 percent of overseas naval and air assets in the region. The
restructuring of US bases in Japan, South Korea, Guam and Hawaii was
begun and new basing arrangements reached with Australia.
The “second phase” involved sending the “most advanced capabilities”
to the Asia Pacific, including F-22 and F-35 stealth fighter jets, P-8
maritime patrol aircraft and the navy’s newest surface warfare vessels,
as well as continuous deployments of strategic bombers. It also included
a concerted effort to expand military ties throughout the region in an
effort to encircle China with allies and strategic partners. Carter
highlighted strengthened security relations with Japan, South Korea,
Australia, the Philippines, India, Singapore, Vietnam and New Zealand in
particular.
In order to maintain the “military edge,” Carter outlined extensive
plans to “qualitatively upgrade and invest in our regional force
posture.” He provided a list of hi-tech projects that will be funded,
starting this year, including:
* Making Virginia-class nuclear submarines “more lethal and more capable” by trebling their cruise missile payload.
* Increased funding for multiple types of undersea drones, as part of
more than $40 billion in allocations over the next five years to
maintain “the most lethal undersea and anti-submarine force in the
world.”
* Providing $12 billion over five years for the new B-21 Raider Long-Range Strike Bomber.
* Spending $56 billion over five years to buy more than 400 stealthy F-35 joint strike fighters.
* Investing nearly $16 billion over five years to upgrade the aerial tanker fleet.
* Re-purposing the SM-6 missile “so that it can also strike enemy ships at sea at very long ranges.”
* Investing in improving the “range and accuracy for land attack and anti-ship missiles,” as well as new torpedoes.
* Making large new investments, to the tune of $34 billion next year alone, in cyber, electronic and space warfare.
Every one of these new weapons and upgrades is geared to fighting a
war with China, premised on the Pentagon’s AirSea Battle strategy—a
massive missile and air assault on the Chinese mainland supplemented by a
crippling naval blockade.
Moreover, as Carter indicated, there were also “more surprises”—some
“leap-ahead” investments—that will “keep our decades-old commitment to
undergirding security in the Asia-Pacific, strong and unchallengeable.”
The “third phase” features the intensification of the “Asia-Pacific’s
growing principled and inclusive security network,” which Carter
declared was “not a formal alliance, nor is it an effort to contain or
isolate anyone.” The use of the term “principled”—denoting “shared
interests and values”—is designed to exclude China, by cynically and
hypocritically contrasting a network of supposed “democracies” with the
autocratic regime in Beijing.
Carter’s speech was delivered just before attending a meeting of the
defence ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN), in order to draw these countries into the US-led “security
network.” It is worth noting that the 10 ASEAN members are: the Thai
military junta, Stalinist police-state regimes in Vietnam, Cambodia and
Laos, virtual one-party states in Malaysia and Singapore, the absolute
monarchy of Brunei, the Philippines currently headed by the fascistic
President Rodrigo Duterte, along with Indonesia and Myanmar, whose
militaries continue to play a significant political role.
Carter nevertheless declared that the second informal dialogue with
ASEAN defence ministers would “reflect on our shared interests and
principles and identify new ways to partner together to realise them.”
The real purpose of the gathering is to draw the ASEAN countries into an
anti-China alliance and ramp up pressure on China over the South China
Sea.
The meeting, which focussed on “maritime security,” came in the wake
of the July 12 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague
in favour of a US-backed challenge by the Philippines to Chinese
territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Washington is increasingly concerned that Philippine President
Duterte is backing away from a confrontation with China over the issue
and announced a loosening of military ties with the United States. In
this context, Carter’s declaration that “our alliance with the
Philippines is iron clad” is a thinly-veiled threat to Duterte not to
move into Beijing’s camp.
Carter sought to impress the assembled defence ministers with a
display of American military might with flyovers by F-22 Raptor fighters
and a B-1B strategic bomber. Friday’s events concluded with a dinner on
board the battleship USS Missouri, followed on Saturday by a tour of
the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon.
The defence secretary outlined new maritime security initiatives,
including an ASEAN maritime dialogue and a maritime domain awareness
exercise. The Pentagon is already providing $425 million over five years
in a Maritime Security Initiative to provide hardware and boost
collaboration with some ASEAN members—the Philippines, Vietnam,
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
There is nothing innocent or peaceful about the Pentagon’s
determination to rapidly roll out the “third phase” of its rebalance to
Asia. In the name of maintaining regional security, US imperialism is
rapidly and recklessly preparing for a showdown with China, with
potentially catastrophic consequences.
The original source of this article is World Socialist Web Site
Copyright © Peter Symonds, World Socialist Web Site, 2016
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