Imperialism For Cash-Strapped Era: Storms Below The Surface, U.S. Can Only Afford Half A Cold War

[jakeXT]

..

Last week, Panetta indicated that the Pentagon would be fielding a “smaller and meaner” military force, while other administration officials have been quoted as saying that Army and Marine Corps personnel levels might be reduced by 10 to 15 percent through the coming decade. On the whole, therefore, Gordon Adams, a professor who worked on budgets in the Bill Clinton White House, was spot on: “This is a classic resource-driven strategy document. That’s not a criticism, that’s just a reality. It’s inevitable. Strategy always wears a dollar sign.”

So, is this the end of history? Is US imperialism on the retreat in the world arena? Are the Marines packing bags and returning home for family reunions and for a life happily ever after? Actually, the defence strategy document is deceptive. The more things seemed to change, the more they will remain the same. The heart of the matter is that the United States is making adjustments by way of preparing for another Cold War, and unlike Cold War I against the Soviet Union, this will be primarily fought in the Asia-Pacific. But before getting into that, the salient of the national defence strategy needs to be understood.

In a nutshell, the US would prefer not to get involved in any massive land invasions such as in Afghanistan in 2001 or Iraq in 2003 and the priority will be on cyberwarfare and unmanned drones. The US forces “will no longer be sized to conduct large-scale, prolonged stability operations”, the document says, and even small overseas incursions will be rarer, since “with reduced resources, thoughtful choices will need to be made regarding the location and frequency of these operations.”

The US will reduce the number of nuclear weapons in its inventory as well as review their role in the overall security strategy. It’s goodbye to the decades-old goal of a unilateral US force that can fight two major ground wars simultaneously, and instead the objective will be to “fight and deter” – to fight one-and-a-half wars. Also, the US will as far as possible operate with allied and coalition forces. In short, it’s boom times ahead for US military contractors, spies and drones and contractor-managed military logistics overseas – and for close allies like Britain and Australia (unlike France or Germany) who are unfailing partners for the Marines as they set out for foreign intervention as well as new partners like Qatar. The plan is indeed to shrink the military significantly and to rely much more on the capacity of air and naval forces to balance a competitor like China or face down an antagonist like Iran.

..

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/imperialism-for-cash-strapped-era-storms-below-the-surface-u-s-can-only-afford-half-a-cold-war/