July 7, 2004
Jim Sinclair
This is the first time that we have heard that the rendezvous point for this naval taskforce will be within "striking" distance of major centres in China.
Have you ever heard the phrase "gunboat diplomacy?" This is just that but in spades as these warships carry an entire array of nuclear muscle.
I cannot overstate the inherent danger of putting so much firepower within striking distance of another major power. How would the US react to a rendezvous of a major Russian attack force off the coast of Long Island within striking distance of New York and Washington DC? How did the US feel about Russian missiles in Cuba which is much the same as having a US mobile attack force within strike range of major Chinese targets?
The US has a stated policy of preemptive strike. That has to unnerve any nation we approach with an armada at the ready. The killing power of each of these warships makes their captains the most powerful men on the planet.
A major war could be started here by accident given the complexity of maintaining security for a large taskforce like this - not to mention the complexity of their weapons systems which are hardly fail safe.
War ready commanders must assume a commercial vessel within the strike zone of a carrier is a potential threat. A simple computer glitch could initiate a confrontation and let's not forget that China and the US have played chicken with each other on numerous occasions before.
There have been incidents of missile radar locking onto each other's fighter aircraft. Sometimes awful war games can result in a serious collision of aircraft or warships. In fact, there has already been one collision between a Chinese MIG and a US surveillance aircraft which was subsequently ordered to land in Chinese territory. The Chinese went through the aircraft with a fine tooth comb and would only allow it to leave in containers.
I wonder if the powers that be have lost their marbles because this is surely the most dangerous type of war game. If this wasn't the case, the armada would be meeting in some neutral location - not at a point where it is within striking range of another major power.
Clearly this event is a chicken fight with China over a HYDROCARBON DISCOVERY in the East China Sea as no one in their right minds would go to war over Taiwan which has been at loggerheads with China for decades. A major war over natural gas and oil? Now that seems to be the flavor of our times.
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