Pentagon plans new arms to meet rivals like China (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(More evidence of what President Eisenhower called the "Military Industrial Complex.")

Pentagon plans new arms to meet rivals like China

Fri Feb 3, 2006 02:59 PM ET

By Will Dunham and Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will build new long-range weapons in a hedge against potential rivals like China, the major power best-placed to challenge U.S. supremacy, the Pentagon said in a new strategic blueprint on Friday. The Defense Department also plans to boost U.S. special forces to fight terrorism, strengthen homeland defense and step up efforts to thwart transfers of the deadliest weapons, the 92-page document said.

The Pentagon released the congressionally mandated Quadrennial Defense Review to outline its strategy for meeting anticipated security threats over the next 20 years. The study comes at a time when the U.S. military is under strain, with 138,000 troops fighting a nearly 3-year-old war in Iraq and thousands more in Afghanistan searching for the leaders of the al Qaeda network.

It said the choices of "major and emerging powers," including India, Russia and China, would be key to the 21st century's international security environment. "Of the major and emerging powers, China has the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States and field disruptive military technologies that could over time off set traditional U.S. military advantages absent U.S. counter strategies," the survey said.

The United States is eager to head off any showdown with China over Taiwan, the self-governing island off China's coast over which Beijing claims sovereignty. China has vowed to attack Taiwan if it formally declares independence. President George W. Bush vowed in April 2000 to do whatever it took to help Taiwan defend itself if attacked, although his position has become more ambiguous as the administration maneuvers to forestall any conflict.

(more and link to page 2 at link below)

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=11095198&src=rss/topNews>

[Inland]

1. When they go to borrow the funds from China, what will be on

the loan application? Probably "home improvement".

[murray hill farm]

3. The writing on the wall just becomes more insistant...

That survival..for any country in the world..and for the earth..will become more and more dependent on the distruction of the usa! And, yet daily..they insist more! WHy do we insist on it???????

[Up2Late]

5. Good point, but you know what this REALLY is? It's a set-up for more...

...anti-Democrat propaganda and "talking points" for years to come.

Since these "Tax-cut and Spend" irresponsible ReThuglicans won't be around to see this "plan" completed, when Democrats remove all the stupid and expensive proposed "military systems" from this plan in the future, they will begin the Echo CHamber of "...Democrats don't want to protect America..." again. :mad:

[Inland]

21. I hear you.

The point is to get the projects rolling, get enough money into them now so that they have a life of their own, that nobody can call for their termination without someone calling for completion solely on two grounds, namely, that we already have x number of dollars invested in the program so we might as well spend two times x and the opponents Hate America.

[blm]

2. So now we're gonna be in arms race with China while WE'RE the ones in debt

to......CHINA?

Brilliant. USA will go the way of USSR. This sounds like the BFEE's push to force global fascism in cooperation with their longtime Chinese industrialist allies.

[0007]

18. It was Afghanstan that did in Russia and it will be Iraq and Iran that

does in the U.S.

[seafan]

4. Pentagon Announces Sweeping Defense Review (Refers to 'Global War')

Pentagon Announces Sweeping Defense Review

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
February 3, 2006


The Pentagon announced plans Friday to increase special operations forces, expand psychological warfare and develop a program to fight biological terrorism as part of a military strategy for the 21st century.

The plan comes three days before President Bush sends Congress a 2007 budget that seeks a nearly 5 percent increase in Defense Department spending to $439.3 billion, with significantly more for weapons programs, according to senior Pentagon officials and documents obtained by The Associated Press.

snip

The plan, called the Quadrennial Defense Review, will reduce the number of Minuteman III land-based nuclear missiles from 500 to 450, and calls for the conversion of a small number of nuclear missiles aboard Trident submarines to non-nuclear ballistic missiles. But it does not call for the elimination of any of the largest weapons programs, as initially expected.

The long-range strategy document, more than a year in the making, broadly outlines plans to reshape the military into a more agile fighting force better able to fight terrorism in what the document calls "the Long War." It would also preserve the U.S. ability to wage conventional wars.

snip

"Now in the fifth year of this global war, the ideas and proposals in this document are provided as a roadmap for change, leading to victory," Rumsfeld said in a letter accompanying the document. This represents the second four-year review that Rumsfeld has led during his tenure heading the department.

The plan has no new information about future U.S. strategy in Iraq or Afghanistan.

snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/defense_budget&printer=1;_ylt=AjvABQDRo2_fmt0Vp2mqhIaWwvIE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

[Up2Late]

7. Here's some "...criticism from analysts..."

<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/defense_budget&printer=1>

...The proposal drew criticism from analysts who said it does little to match the Pentagon's wish list of programs with the money that will likely be available.

The review "fails to recommend the level of divestment in more traditional areas that is likely to be necessary to make these new initiatives affordable over the long run," said Steven Kosiak, an analyst at the private Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments....

[Lance_Boyle]

6. Pentagon needs to plan some new legs, too.

Seems lots of their fodder comes home without 'em.

[gizmo1979]

8. How are you going to fight China?

They own half our debt and now have three fourths of mfg.Maybe we can throw corn at them.

[Up2Late]

10. Not to mention that they have a population that's 5 times larger...

than the U.S., with a majority of them Male, just in case they ever had a thought about a ground war.

:kick:

[xxqqqzme]

9. "...views with increasing concern

its (Russia) sales of disruptive weapons technologies abroad and actions that compromise the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of other states..."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/...


WTF?!? Guess the chimperor needs 2 have Pootie Poot over 2 the pig farm and straightem him out. In uncurious george's world, he is the only one allowed 2 do this!

[teryang]

11. Greed is totally unreasonable isn't it?

We are neither in a cold war nor is there a "war on terrorism." Bush war profiteer family is in their element here doing what they have done for generations, profiting off of the defense industry, war or no war.

[Strelnikov_]

12. 80 Percent Of The Critical Components Of Our Smart Bombs Are Made In China

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1509484.php

Maybe we can get a price break by leasing the components, to be returned (with extreme prejudice) at a later date.

[Pavulon]

13. That is a quote from a senator

and not factual.

[Strelnikov_]

15. I Think I Will Take The Word Of A DEMOCRATIC Senator

Sorry. Back to Janes. Pip-Pip.

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:tmwsaPs8738J:www.insightmag.com/news/2003/02/18/World/Missile.Technology.Sent.To.China-357426.shtml++Missile.Technology.Sent.To.China-357426.shtml+&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a

An important U.S. high-tech manufacturer is shutting down its American operations, laying off hundreds of workers and moving sophisticated equipment now being used to make critical parts for smart bombs to the People's Republic of China (PRC), Insight has learned.

Indianapolis-based Magnequench Inc. has not yet publically announced the closing of its Valparaiso, Ind., factory, but Insight has confirmed that the company will shut down this year and relocate at least some of its high-tech machine tools to Tianjin, China. Word of the shutdown comes as the company is producing critical parts for the U.S. Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) project, more widely known as smart bombs, raising heavy security issues related to the transfer of military technology to the PRC. The factory uses rare earths to produce sintered neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets that have many industrial applications but are essential to the servos critical to precision-guided munitions. According to documents obtained by Insight, Magnequench UG currently is producing thousands of the rare-earth magnets for "SL Montevideo Tech," a Minnesota-based manufacturer of servos. That company confirmed to Insight that it holds a Department of Defense (DoD) contract to produce the high-tech motors for the precision-guided JDAM.

Bayh <-> Indiana <-> Magnequench

[Pavulon]

17. A magnet factory...

They are producing magnets, you can buy the EXACT type online for your fridge. Not guidance systems, telemetry, or even casings.

Not %80 of the components in the weapon.

I hate to see jobs leave but the statement is wrong.

http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com/detail.aspx?ID=88

[54anickel]

14. This is how we treat "friends", trading partners, lenders? I realize

diplomacy is not a priority with Bushco, but come on. This is lunacy. Emerging powers, economic rivals are not an enemy. He might as well have named China as part of the axis of evil.

[jwirr]

16. Is anyone else beginning to think that Isolationism is

not such a bad word?

[Auntie Bush]

19. So all those fat assed/oil men in the WH create enemies all over

the world so their friends can get ultra rich making arms and oil sales profits. Pretty good business! America would sink into a deep deep recession if we didn't have a war or an enemy. World War II is what got us out of the Great Depression. Bush* knew we were headed for another so he figured if he started a war with a rag tag army...he could one-up his father (with little collateral damage) and prevent a recession and make all his friends and family mega rich. Pretty good business plan! Who said he was dumb?

[symbolman]

20. If you want to see the future

simply watch "Catch 22", it says it all - MILO MINDBENDER is in Charge.. remember or look for the scene where they Corporate Milo makes a deal with the Germans to BOMB OUR OWN BASE and save them the trouble and cost..

We are an Occupied Country and the occupiers are Industry and Corporations in league with the media which they also own..

The Corps owe allegience to NO ONE.

[LibertyorDeath]

22. Well said

"We are an Occupied Country and the occupiers are Industry and Corporations in league with the media which they also own.."

[sadiesworld]

23. Well, that kind of puts the lie

to the whole free-trade-will-make-us-safer stratergy, eh?