Posted on 09/17/2009 2:40:45 PM PDT by traumer
China's increasingly advanced weaponry could undermine US military power in the Pacific, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday.
Echoing US intelligence guidelines released on Tuesday that warned of Beijing's military modernization, Gates said US naval carriers and air bases in the Pacific faced new threats from China.
"In fact, when considering the military-modernization programs of countries like China, we should be concerned less with their potential ability to challenge the US symmetrically -- fighter to fighter or ship to ship -- and more with their ability to disrupt our freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options," Gates said in a speech to the Air Force Association.
"Investments in cyber and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, and ballistic missiles could threaten America's primary way to project power and help allies in the Pacific -- in particular our forward air bases and carrier strike groups," Gates said in National Harbor, Maryland.
The new threats meant long-range military aircraft would take on greater importance as the latest weaponry would "degrade the effectiveness of short-range fighters and put more of a premium on being able to strike from over the horizon -- whatever form that capability might take," he said.
Defense analysts have warned that the US military will soon lose its dominance on the high seas, in space and in cyberspace as China and other emerging powers obtain sophisticated weaponry and missiles.
The United States released its 2009 National Intelligence Strategy document Tuesday, in which China's "natural resource-focused diplomacy and military modernization" were cited as factors making it a "global challenge."
The intelligence guidelines for the next four years also elevated the importance of the cyber domain, singling out China as "very aggressive in the cyberworld."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
The big plan proceeds well
“China could undermine US military power in Pacific”
Under Obama? Yes, it will. He is letting our guard down.
Under Obama - everything is possible....
Obama will be complicit.
Heck, under Obama, Vanuatu could undermine our military power in the Pacific.
This is a big DUH ....
If Obama gets a second term, China will take Taiwan.
China will simply buy out Taiwan and gain it without firing a shot.
Attention, all Walmart shoppers...
Agreed.
No doubt all this makes them libtards quite happy being they just hate a large standing military, external national interests, and oh wait....the need for US military presence anywhere in the world, especially in Afghanistan.
One way or the other...
I think in practical terms China already owns us...
Obama is planning to remove all US fighter aircraft from Japan.
In some aspects, you’re correct. Looking back at the past 15 years or so of leadership, it’s no wonder our country is sliding in regards to defense, standard of living, debt, all brought to us by a government that is unable or unwilling to balance a simple budget, or even secure it’s own sovereignty or protect it’s own borders.
Hey Gates, it hasn’t taken a genius to figure that out. The F-22’s that you and Zer0 cut to save money could winding up costing us a lot more.
And Japan has a new leftist prime minister....
“China will simply buy out Taiwan and gain it without firing a shot.”
They certainly have the economic leverage over us.
“Obama could undermine us military in the Pacific”
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