According to the Daily Telegraph, (via Drudge Report), the Chinese are using lasers to disable American spy satellites passing over China. An act of war, certainly, but what we might do about it is less clear.
What is it that the Chinese don't want us to see ? Or is concealment the real point ? Maybe the Chinese are just testing: seeing how Uncle Sam responds to some sand kicked in his eyes. The reported reaction is not encouraging: the Telegraph article says the administration is trying to keep this quiet, for fear of "damag...[ing] attempts to co-opt China in diplomatic offensives against North Korea and Iran." Translation: nobody knows what to do.
In general, we are far too exposed in Asia. Our position on Taiwan is unclear, most of all to us. The continued exposure of our troops in Korea is pointless unless we want to protect China from the re-militarization of Japan.
Iran, Iraq and terrorism are, in general, swilling way too much US diplomatic and military bandwidth. There are bigger issues coming down the turnpike, and the absence of an overall US grand strategy for securing and protecting its position is becoming an acute problem. Other strategic issues: East Asia; Latin America; immigration; and, the degree to which our population is not socialized to tolerate power politics -- cannot be put off forever.
1 comment:
i say we talk homer simpson into going up there and hang a big mirror from the satelite.
you can hang things in the weightlessness of space can't you?
i do not understand why a country that is so tied to the US economy would act in the manner that china acts. and if this administration thinks china is going to be any help at all with the iran nuke drama, you can quote that famous american philosopher john mcenroe, "you've got to be kidding?"
excellency lays out the playing field very well said in the final paragraph. that is one dicey landscape you painted there. myself i think the only thing this administration cares about is getting a republican elected president. if iran gets a nuke, so what it's the next guy or gals problem.
as for myself i can't tell the difference between dem/rep anymore. republikrat sounds good.
the vote in the senate/house this week should not have been a partisan issue regarding gitmo interrogations/tribunals.
snowe not voting.
chaffee nay.
i keep hoping for andrew jackson for president and keep getting andrew johnson. that comment won't set well with excellency's penchant for all things southern.
do i sound roman?
Post a Comment