This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Pakistan blames U.S. drone strike for the ‘murder of peace’
- China’s strategic failures in the South China Sea
- China boasts about submarines capable of attacking cities across U.S.
- Report: China sending reconnaissance ship to Hawaii
Pakistan blames U.S. drone strike for the ‘murder of peace’
Hakimullah Mehsud in 2009
Pakistan is calling the U.S. drone strike that killed PakistaniTaliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud a “murder of peace,” because it’s anattack on the peace process that Pakistan has been pursuing with theterrorist group.
The U.S. has put a $5 million price tag on Mehsud’s head because heled of some of the most damaging strikes against U.S. interests byTehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP – the Pakistani Taliban). The worstincident was a suicide attack at a CIA base near Khost in Afghanistanin 2009 that killed seven CIA agents and injured six others. Theincident was later recreated in the film about the hunt for Osama binLaden, Zero Dark 30.
However, according to Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar:
“Pakistan does not see this strike as an attack on aperson, it is an attack on the peace process. Islamabad’s effortshave been ambushed. It was not even an ambush from the front.
Seven-week behind-the-scene efforts by us, where brick by brick wetried to roll a process for peace in our homeland, and what haveyou (US) done? You reduced our weeks-long efforts to ashes hoursbefore a delegation of respected ulema was to leave for Miranshahand hand over a formal dialogue invitation to theTaliban.”
Let’s be clear that this statement by Nisar is fantasy. This wasn’t aMehsud to attend negotiations. That’s all. As soon as the peacetalks were proposed, the Mehsud immediately started to imposeconditions: TTP prisoners must be released from jail, the army must bewithdrawn from the tribal areas where it has been fighting theTaliban, and the government must agree to impose Sharia law on thecountry. These conditions could never have been accepted by thePakistan government. So Nisar’s claim is just another totallyabsurd claim by another politician.
Nisar is demanding that the U.S. end drone strikes. He’d better havea chat with his government’s own Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)agency, which has always worked closely with the U.S. to identifydrone strike targets. It’s quite likely that the ISI was aware of thestrike on Mehsud before it occurred. Daily Times (Pakistan) and VOA and Telegraph
China’s strategic failures in the South China Sea
China’s aggressive demands in the South China Sea, demandingsovereignty over the entire region, including areas that havehistorically belonged to other nations, have backfired in the sensethat they have had adverse consequences for China:
- The South China Sea disputes have become “internationalized,” something that China desperately wanted to avoid. That is, China had hoped to force Vietnam, Brunei, the Philippines and others to negotiate with China individually, giving China an enormous advantage in each case. Instead, the disputes have been referred to the United Nations, to ASEAN, and to other international forums, allowing the other countries to “gang up” on China.
- China has polarized the region, due to growing perceptions of the unfolding “China Threat.”
- The South China Sea disputes triggered America’s “Strategic Pivot to the Asia Pacific.”
- Japan and India have forged a strategic partnership, and are fast-tracking the modernization of their armed forces.
- Russia has also declared a Strategic Pivot to the Asia Pacific.
- Russia is also fast-tracking a military upgrade bordering China and in the Pacific.
- The U.S. has been forced to adopt a clear declaratory statement on freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
- The U.S. has been forced to publicly declare its commitment to mutual defense treaties with Japan and the Philippines.
China has become increasingly isolated, with no “natural allies” inthe region besides North Korea and Pakistan. [I would add Cambodia tothis list.]
These adverse consequences to China’s diplomatic policies do not meanthat China will retrench and rethink its aggressiveness. To thecontrary, the adversities will make China more nationalistic, and morelikely to use military force, instead of diplomatic policies. Chinaseems to be set on a collision course with the United States, Japanand India, and probably Russia as well. South Asia Analysis Group (SAAG)
China boasts about submarines capable of attacking cities across U.S.
Map from China’s Global Times displaying intended targets of China’s submarine-based missiles
China’s state-run media are boasting about a submarine fleet capableof launching warheads at cities across the United States. Thisopenness is a major change of policy. According to Chinese militaryexpert Major General Yin Zhuo:
“By showing the world China’s military development,the army hopes to deter those who have ulterior motives. Those whowant to challenge China’s core interests: they will not only faceits naval aviation forces, but also its underwater submarineforces.”
One Global Times article explains the military strategy as follows:
“Because the Midwest states of the U.S. are sparselypopulated, in order to increase the lethality, [our] nuclearattacks should mainly target the key cities on the West Coast ofthe United States, such as Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco andSan Diego. …
If we launch our DF 31A ICBMs over the North Pole, we can easilydestroy a whole list of metropolises on the East Coast and the NewEngland region of the U.S., including Annapolis, Philadelphia, NewYork, Boston, Portland, Baltimore and Norfolk, whose populationaccounts for about one-eighth of America’s totalresidents.”
China’s submarine fleet is reportedly the world’s second-largest, withabout 70 vessels. About 10 are nuclear-powered, and four or more ofthose are nuclear ballistic submarines capable of launching missiles.CNTV (Beijing) and Washington Times and Daily Mail (London)
Report: China sending reconnaissance ship to Hawaii
China has for the first time sent 4,000 ton electronic reconnaissanceship to Hawaii, within the U.S. 200-nautical mile EEZ (exclusiveeconomic Zone). The ship is believed to have jamming equipment, andhas a potential for offensive actions against the U.S. Global Research
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail