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22 November 2010 By Rick Rozoff Barack Obama, the latest rotating imperator of the
first global empire, will arrive in Lisbon on November
19 to receive the plaudits of 27 North Atlantic Treaty
Organization allies and secure their continued fealty
on issues ranging from the war in Afghanistan to a
continental interceptor missile system, extended
deployment of American tactical nuclear weapons in
Europe, participation in the Pentagon's cyber warfare
plans and expanded military missions in the planet's
south and east. Perfunctory discussions of minor details
notwithstanding, strictly pro forma to maintain the
myth of NATO being a "military alliance of democratic
states in Europe and North America," the banners and
pennants of 26 European nations, Canada and dozens of
other countries contributing troops for the Afghan
mission will be lowered in the presence of the leader
of the world imperium. No fewer than 38 European nations have supplied
NATO troops for the Afghanistan-Pakistan war as well
as providing training grounds and transport centers to
support the war effort. As envisioned for at least a
century, through peaceful means or otherwise, Europe
has been united, not so much by the European Union as
under the NATO flag and on the killing fields of
Afghanistan. It is now relegated to the role of
pre-deployment training area and forward operating
base for military campaigns downrange: The Middle
East, Africa and Asia. So uncritically and unquestioningly compliant has
Europe been in the above regards that Obama and the
governing elite in the imperial metropolis as a whole
have already looked beyond the continent for
additional military partners. With the exception of
fellow members of the NATO Quint – Britain, Germany,
France and Italy (Britain more and Italy less than the
others) – Alliance partners are accorded the same
status and assigned the same functions as American
territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the Northern
Mariana Islands: Geopolitically convenient locations
for live-fire military training and for troop,
warplane and warship deployments. Two millennia ago the Pax Romana of Augustus
brought roads and ports, aqueducts and irrigation,
amphitheaters and libraries, and Greek writers from
Aristotle to Aeschylus to occupied territories. Bellum
Americanum burdens its vassals and tributaries with
military bases, interceptor missile batteries,
McDonald's and Lady Gaga. In Lisbon Obama will chastise his NATO and NATO
partnership auxiliaries and foederati, as is the
prerogative and wont of the global suzerain and as his
predecessor George W. Bush has done recently, for
being chary of expending more blood and treasure for
the war in Afghanistan. However, he will also display
the magnanimity befitting his preeminent stature by
patting his European satraps on their bowed heads and
intoning, "Well done, good and faithful servants. You
have been faithful with a few things; I will put you
in charge of many things." With the European continent placed securely under
the multi-circled Achilles shield of NATO, U.S.
nuclear weapons, an interceptor missile system and a
cyber warfare command, Washington is moving to realms
as yet not completely subjugated. Africa has been assigned to the three-year-old U.S.
Africa Command (AFRICOM) and perhaps only five of the
continent's 54 nations – Eritrea, Libya, the Sahrawi
Arab Democratic Republic, Sudan and Zimbabwe – have
avoided becoming ensnared in bilateral military ties
with the Pentagon and concomitant U.S-led military
exercises and deployments. The U.S. has also expanded its military presence in
the Middle East: Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Yemen. Two years ago Washington reactivated its Fourth
Fleet for the Caribbean Sea and Central and South
America and last year's coup in Honduras and this
September's attempted coup in Ecuador are proof that
the U.S. will not allow developments in Latin America
to pursue their natural course unimpeded. The U.S. has intensified efforts to forge and
expand military alliances and deployments in the
Asia-Pacific region, but there is still a small
handful of countries there not willing to accept a
subordinate role in American geostrategic designs.
They are, to varying degrees and in differing manners,
Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Myanmar. Attempts
to replicate the "color revolution" model used in
former Soviet republics in Myanmar and Iran since 2007
have failed, "regime change" plans for North Korea are
of another nature, and neither China nor Russia
appears immediately susceptible to equivalents of the
so-called Rose, Orange, Tulip and Twitter revolutions
in Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova,
respectively. The preferred technique being applied to
Russia at the moment is cooption, though its success
is not guaranteed as the U.S. and NATO military
build-up around Russia's borders continues unabated. What's left is the military expedient. In the first
half of November the quadrivirate in charge of U.S.
foreign policy – President Obama, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael
Mullen – all toured the Asia-Pacific area.
Collectively they visited ten nations there: India,
Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia,
Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. Clinton and Gates were in Malaysia at separate
times and both joined Mullen on November 8 for the
annual Australia-United States Ministerial (AUSMIN)
meeting in Melbourne, where the U.S. military chief
called the 21st century the "Pacific century." [1] In India Obama secured what William Hartung,
Director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the
New America Foundation, estimated to be the sixth
largest arms deal in U.S. history. [2] In Australia, Gates and Mullen won a backroom
arrangement to move U.S. military forces into several
Australian bases. While in New Zealand, Clinton in effect renewed the
Australia, New Zealand, United States (ANZUS) Security
Treaty as a full tripartite mutual defense pact after
a 24-year hiatus in regard to her host country. On November 13 Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan
"thanked the United States…for supporting Tokyo in a
series of recent disputes with Russia and China" [3],
an allusion to a statement by Clinton on October 27
that the U.S. would honor its military assistance
commitment to Tokyo over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands
dispute with China and her spokesman Philip Crowley's
affront to Russia five days afterward over the Kuril
Islands, which he identified as Japanese territory.
[4] In a tete-a-tete ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit in Yokohama, the Japanese
head of state "sought US President Barack Obama's
assurance on defence in the Asia-Pacific region," as
"Tokyo's territorial disputes with China and Russia
are becoming high priorities for Kan, who told Obama
through a translator, ‘The US military presence is
only becoming more important.'" [5] Verbatim, Kan said: "Japan and the United States, at this meeting of
APEC, of pan-Pacific countries, we shall step up our
cooperation. So we agreed on doing that. And in
Japan's relations with China and Russia, recently
we've faced some problems, and the United States has
supported Japan throughout, so I expressed my
appreciation to him for that. "For the peace and security of the countries in the
region, the presence of the United States and the
presence of the U.S. military I believe is becoming
only increasingly important." [6] In return, Obama "voiced support for Japan to
become a permanent member of the United Nations
Security Council and reaffirmed the U.S.-Japan
security alliance." He also assured Kan that the U.S.-Japan alliance is
"the cornerstone of American strategic engagement in
the Asia Pacific" and "the commitment of the United
States to the defense of Japan is unshakable." According to a U.S. armed forces publication,
"While Obama's support for the continuing security
alliance is no surprise, it comes amid tension in
Japan over China's…claims on territory in the East
China and South China seas." [7] In less than five months the Pentagon has made its
military presence felt throughout the Asia-Pacific
area: The U.S. Marine Corps and Navy participated in
Exercise Crocodile 10 in East Timor (Timor-Leste) from
June 19-26, which included "weapons firing skills,
amphibious assault serials, jungle training, flying
operations, and a helicopter raid on an abandoned
prison" and provided "an opportunity for
multi-national forces to work together in the planning
and conduct of a complex military exercise." [8] In October of 2009 2,500 U.S. and Australian troops
engaged in maneuvers in the country, which marked the
first U.S.-East Timor joint military exercise. This July the U.S. led the multinational Angkor
Sentinel 2010 command post and field exercises in
Cambodia with American forces and troops from the host
nation, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Australia,
India, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia and the Philippines. For 40 days in late June and throughout July the
U.S. led the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2010 war
games in the Pacific Ocean off Hawaii with 32 ships,
five submarines, more than 170 planes and 20,000
troops from all four branches of the American armed
forces and from Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands,
Peru, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand. From July 25-28 the U.S. conducted joint war games
with South Korea, codenamed Invincible Spirit, in the
Sea of Japan/East Sea with the involvement of 20
warships including the nuclear-powered supercarrier
USS George Washington, 200 warplanes including F-22
Raptor stealth fighters, and 8,000 troops. The next month U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Army
Pacific presided over the Khaan Quest 2010 military
exercise in Mongolia. In the same month American and
British troops ran the Steppe Eagle 2010 NATO
Partnership for Peace exercise in Kazakhstan. USS George Washington and the USS John S. McCain
destroyer led the first-ever joint U.S.-Vietnam
military exercise, consisting of naval maneuvers in
the South China Sea, in early August. Less than a week later the U.S. and South Korea
began this year's Ulchi Freedom Guardian military
exercise in the latter country with 30,000 U.S. and
50,000 South Korean troops participating. [9] In early September Washington and Seoul held an
anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Yellow Sea. At the end of the same month Indian troops joined
U.S. marines and sailors in Exercise Habu Nag 2010,
the fifth annual bilateral U.S.-India amphibious
training exercise with that codename, in the East
China Sea off the coast of Okinawa. In October at least 3,000 U.S. troops participated
in the nine-day Amphibious Landing Exercise 2011 in
the Philippines. "The bilateral training exercise,
conducted with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is
designed to improve interoperability, increase
readiness and continue to build professional
relationships between the two countries." [10] At the beginning of the same month U.S. warships
and troops joined 6,000 Australian soldiers and
counterparts from New Zealand for Exercise Hamel in
northeast Australia, described in the local press as
"massive war games." [11] Also in October, South Korea for the first time
hosted a multinational military exercise with 14
members of the U.S.-created Proliferation Security
Initiative, which included ships and military
personnel from the U.S., Canada, France, Australia and
Japan. U.S. marines "conducted urban training exercises"
in Singapore on November 6. A Marine Corps lieutenant
present "gave a short class on identifying danger
areas in a combat environment" and "talked about
isolating them by sight, or suppressive fire, and the
importance of gaining footholds in enemy territories."
[12] On November 14 the U.S. and Indian armies completed
the 14-day Yudh Abhyas 2010 military exercise in
Alaska. Last year's Yudh Abhyas featured the largest
U.S.-India joint military maneuvers ever held. 100,000 American and another 50,000 NATO troops are
fighting in the tenth year of their collective war in
Afghanistan. The U.S. is escalating deadly drone
missile strikes and NATO is increasing helicopter
gunship raids in Pakistan. The Pentagon has indeed marked this as its
Asia-Pacific century. 1) U.S. Department of Defense, November 7, 2010 http://www.businessinsider.com/top-10-us-arms-deals-in-history-2010-11 …. http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/../obama-gates-and-clinton-in-asia-u-s-expands-military-build-up-in-the-east 3) Russian Information Agency Novosti, November
13, 2010 http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/../u-s-supports-japan-confronts-china-and-russia-over-island-disputes 5) Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 13, 2010 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/../remarks-president-obama-and-prime-minister-kan-japan-statements-press-yo 7) Stars and Stripes, November 14, 2010 http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/../part-ii-u-s-china-crisis-beyond-words-toward-confrontation 10) U.S. Marine Corps, October 22, 2010 |
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