By Toshi Yoshihara, Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Toshi Yoshihara is John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies at the U.S. Naval War College. The views expressed are his own.
The Imperial Japanese Navy’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor remains a popular, if somewhat tired, metaphor for the dangers of unpreparedness and overexposure to risk. For years analysts and policymakers have warned Americans about all kinds of new Pearl Harbors in space, cyberspace, the global financial markets, and even the earth’s climate.
But the real possibility that U.S. bases in the western Pacific could once again be vulnerable to a bolt-from-the-blue military attack has occasioned little publicity or debate. Yet it should take no stretched metaphors to appreciate this emerging threat.
This time, China – armed with a large and growing arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles – is poised to reprise Pearl Harbor. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) now possesses the means, the motives, and the opportunities to deliver disabling blows against U.S. bases in Japan where the bulk of American military power in Asia is concentrated.
First consider the means. The Chinese military can now lock their crosshairs on Japan, home to the largest U.S. naval and air bases in the world. China’s DF-15 ballistic missile can reach Kadena airbase in Okinawa, the hub of American airpower in Asia. The PLA’s non-nuclear version of the DF-21 missile boasts the range to hit all military facilities across the entire Japanese archipelago. According to the Pentagon’s 2010 annual report on the PLA, the DF-15 and the DF-21 missiles numbered over 300 and 80 respectively.
Think about Yokosuka naval base, where the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS George Washington, is permanently stationed. The DF-21s could be launched against fuel storage tanks, ammunition depots, dry docks, and pierside facilities located there. Docked warships and supply vessels fixed at their berths would be sitting ducks. Civilian and military personnel, including shipyard workers so essential to the base’s main functions, could also suffer casualties in such missile raids.
Next consider the motives. China’s regional missile force would facilitate what the Pentagon terms “anti-access/area denial” operations, meaning efforts to bar regional bases to U.S. reinforcements while keeping military forces already in the theater from nearing China's backyard. In effect, China hopes to erect a no-go zone across large swathes of maritime Asia.
For a local military campaign (against Taiwan, for example) to obtain its maximum effectiveness, the PLA would need to inflict substantial damage on Japanese airfields and naval facilities that are critical to U.S. air superiority and sea control, the two operational prerequisites for thwarting Chinese war aims. As such, salvoes of missile strikes to render inoperative Kadena airbase and Yokosuka naval base would likely be among the PLA’s opening moves.
Crippling bases in Japan would by no means constitute a war winner for Beijing. But denying American use of bases near China would shove back the start line for U.S. warships and aircraft by thousands of kilometers to such military hubs as Guam and Hawaii. And the more distance U.S. forces must cover to reach China, the less staying power those same forces would enjoy while operating in the war zone.
Finally, opportunities beckon. Perceptions of American overdependence on forward bases could tempt the Chinese to hit first and hard. No naval base in Asia rivals Yokosuka’s strategic location, physical infrastructure, world-class repair facilities, and highly-skilled local workforce. Chinese strategists believe, perhaps rightly, that if the PLA could knock out Yokosuka, the U.S. fleet would need to fall back to Hawaii or even San Diego to meet its critical logistical needs.
A preemptive Chinese missile campaign, so goes this reasoning, could deliver a massive blow to the logistical foundations of U.S. power projection in Asia. By disrupting the supply system and degrading repair capabilities, Beijing may hope to choke off the American capacity to conduct combat operations at the outset.
Still, as events after Japan’s bombardment of Pearl Harbor show, an operational triumph alone does not beget strategic success. Indeed, disaster awaited Imperial Japan. The Japanese diplomats accepting unconditional surrender onboard the battleship Missouri would surely have agreed.
It is unclear whether Beijing has thought through the likely strategic fallout following a missile blitzkrieg against U.S. forces on allied soil. But, the PLA’s continuing missile buildup suggests that Chinese leaders might succumb to the false promise of a quick military fix that so beguiled Japanese strategists seven decades ago.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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It appears that this Toshi Yoshihara is trying to scare us about the Chinese which should surprise no one since this individual is obviously J apanese. Actually, the U.S. military has the very best wepons that money can buy and are immensely superior to those of China. These scare tactics are starting to get old just like the boy who cried "wolf" a number of times until no one believed him!
He's absolutely right about Kadena and all our bases on Oki. Okinawa is within range of Chinese TBMs. We'd need like a bagillion Patriot batteries to stop even half of the missiles they can lob at the island. In a no holds barred war with China, Kadena is toast.
Why would China venture into a "no holds barred war"? In such a case, all of the major cities of China would be toast. China isn't going to attack a nation that is capable of payback. China isn't going to attack the US, its global business partner.
China's national govt is too concerned about internal instability if its citizens are denied greater economic advantages. Too much economic contrast is apparent in their major population regions where 200 million economic immigrants have come from the poorer rural districts. The modern communications era, via social networking media, has changed the game for national politics in China. China will posture and dabble in Cold War politics, half-heartedly, but it's facing a future in which friends, not enemies, have more value.
While I agree it is unlikely, a quick look at history shows that trade and business partners going to war is the rule, not the exception. Germany and France, England and Spain. The list goes on and on.
Wrong Al. The patriot and iron dome type missile shields would stop these attacks, unless the military and press are lying about the success of Iron Dome just a few weeks ago in Israel. The defense budget must be cut, but with talk like this we keep ourselves tied to a Military Industrial Complex that will destroy us.
I agree with the others. This is just fear mongering. In a war, sure, China would attack, but how likely is war, really? China knows that if they attacked our military bases, they had better be ready for a retaliatory attack – a big one.
What is much more likely is that they would attack our infrastructure – power plants, gas distribution, etc, and not push the missile thing. That way there is a) deniability, and b) it isn't as obvious to most people that it is a major attack while it still cripples this country. China is in our networks deep and can do this pretty much whenever they want.
The only time I would expect any of this would be if things heat up over Taiwan.
We need to cut our ties with China, though. We are paying to build their military which will most likely be used against us. We need to impost bigger tariffs and ratchet them up to ween this country from its addiction to cheap (both in money and quality) Chinese junk that just makes them bolder. The huge amount of industrial and military espionage they do should be enough already for people to want to cut this cord.
For an economy recovery, US is playing China and J pan to waste each other.
Can't you install anti-missile a defence system in Kadena airbase and Yokosuka naval base? The Iron Dome interceptors in Israel had proven quite useful lately in the Gaza conflict und there are more sophisticated batteries under development.
And ignores key pieces of information such as the U.S. has the most capable military, including ICBMs, and it isn't confined to any one region of the world. All countries/individuals have a right to protect themselves. The U.S. needs to recognize the sovereignty of other nations and their rights. This does not justify increased spending or meddling in foreign affairs.
If China can strike that base from their homeland, then that base can also strike China homeland. Remember that the US base is closer to China homeland than any China base is close to US homeland. If some one should worry, it is the Chinese.
I agree with everyone saying China will not, in all likelihood, attack the U.S. I was trying to type another response stating such, but this shizzles forum wasn't allowing me to earlier.
The Iron Dome system won't stop ballistic missiles. MRBMs are not Grad rockets like those used against Israel. The DF-21 has a terminal velocity close to Mach 10.
Mike, here's a scenario for you. We have x number of operational Patriots ready to launch at any given moment, China has 2(x) TBMs being launched at area covered by Patriots. Even if every one of the Patriots intercepts a TBM, another x will not be intercepted.
They wouldn't do that, unless they become irrational. Within 20 minutes all the Chinese bases would be toast from our submarines stationed in the China sea.
This is the entertainment side of news – Jerry Springer journalism. I read it...I was entertained. Thank you.
Yea but Al the obvious implication of the article is that the bases are vulnerable so we better get better protection, but you are saying no amount of patriot missiles would do the job. So while you are agreeing with the statement in the article you negate its actual position.
svann, we can always make our bases safer and less susceptible to attacks. But the likelihood of whatever type of attack occurring should be the deciding factor as to whether we invest in implementing protective measures against those types of attacks. I haven't invested in zombie protection yet because the likelihood of that happening is extremely small in my opinion.
Wow this guy gets paid for this crap?? Draw a circle of 500 miles around those bases. Any other countries come to mind that are crazy?? This is like Romney saying Russia is our biggest global threat.
This article must have been written by a defense contractor.
Which brings up the next question: Why would China start a war with the US???? Especially when we owe them a ton of money. Not likely to get paid back if we go to war.
I will point out that one day the wolf came.
China is the new Russia, the new WMD, the new Sadam, the new Bin Ladin used to scare the American public to buy into the insanely large defense budgets.
Exactly how would a conventional strike against Kadina affect the US ballistic submarine fleet, and the devastating surprise attack they could deliver on Beijing immediately following an overt aggressive move against US military bases anywhere in Asia? Remember the Triad defense system we bought? Still operational.
@ macbaldy – The only reason that China might attack is its internal instability. Distracting the masses, especially in a strongly nationalist country, is a proven way for a repressive regime to stay in power.
However, they are not stupid and are clearly far more capable of taking the long view than the west. I doubt they would attack militarily when they can beat us economically.
For those that keep repeating that they "own" us, that was election year rhetoric. While they do own 8% of our debt, the vast majority of our debt is owned by (drum roll, please) us. We borrow from ourselves. The social security trust fund invests the money we pay in until it's needed. They invest in strong securities – US Treasuries. In other words, we get our operating budget by borrowing from the social security trust fund, which we pay back with interest.
Al, you mention 2x as being the number of TBM's China has. According to the article, currently that number is 380.
Here you are talking of missile war but remember China proper is also much more vulnerable to a retaliation war by American using its missiles!
And just exactly WHY would China want to start WWIII? It would really be the last war.
There is no such thing as a "last war."
By "last war," he's referring to nuclear annihilation, wiping out humanity.
When nationalist reflexes kick in, rationality goes out the door.
Not true Gary. Otherwise the world would have ended in Oct 1963.
Based upon the current political climate in the U.S., nobody needs to attack. The U.S. is destroying itself nicely from the inside out and BOTH political parties are to blame. Beyond that, if the Chinese attacked Pacific U.S. bases, Obama would make a quick trip to China, bow to their leadership then ask for forgiveness and understanding as to why the U.S. p i s s e d them off.
Exactly! Why would China attack anyways.
Stop with the fear mongering. It makes no sense.
I only have one thing to say.......If China is such a threat that the U.S. worries about that......then why the $#%@#$ are we still importing stuff made in China to the U.S. Seems to me that if we are so worried about them doing something like that, then they must not be that good of a friend so whey should we import their stuff.?????????? Just does not figure.
well said...warmonger CNN
When people are in the bliss-(we are good and they are good) is the time when authoritarian regimes show their hegemony over others.
Oh, the fearmongering makes excellent sense. Historically, since Alexander the Great and before, the one group who always benefits from war is- the weapons makers/dealers. You see all the comments here about how wonderful the new Iron Dome "missile defense" is? Never mind that a) each shot costs $50,000, just for the rocket, and b) they still let 20% of the rockets through- somehow people buy the idea that "only 20%" is a win for our side. It's not- it's triumph for the other side. But- boy, are we ever willing to spend billion$ here now. Yep, lots and lots of sense.
It's indeed fear mongering. The People's Liberation Army would not launch missile attacks on US-bases in the Pacific. Many, many Chinese would not support this kind of foray. We will see more sabre rattling, but not real attacks.
Well put John. Why do the western world countries keep manufacturing everything in China? Is the profit margin ALL that matters in this world??? Do these countries leaders not realize this is directly funding China's agenda of a military powerhouse which will soon rival all Western countries combined???
You brag about our abilities and in other post condemn the M.I.C. Playing both sides?
Other than war the worst thing China could do is cash in their U.S. Treasury Bonds. Remember almost 20% of Obama check is paid by the Chinese holding our debt.
China only owns about 8% of our debt, plus we are their largest trading partner and China has never fought an expansionary war. They have strong interest in keeping th US financially afloat.
Wrong, USAF ret. China actually owns far more than that. Only J apan owns more of our debt than the Chinese do. If it wasn't for China bank rolling us right now, our national economy would be far worse than it currently is and we'd all be languishing in a very severe depression!
China owns 7.6% of U.S. government debt. Ja.pan less than that, and the UK less than that. By far the largest debt holder of US Debt is ...The US Government. The Social Security Trust Fundand the Federal Reserve own 6 times what China owns. 2.7% of personal spending goes to chinese made goods. The vast majority of money spent by Americans goes to Americans. I know you guys like to use great One-Liners and fear mongering, and luckily for you plenty of people are too ignorant to call you out on it, but it doesnt change the fact that you are simply lying and exaggerating to try to get people to listen to you. http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2011/el2011-25.html
Seems like the first thing the US would do if China attacked our bases would be to cancel the $5T in debt we own to them. So – it would have to be worth more than 5 trillion dollars to China...
While it's fun to think that we have that option, that's not really going to hurt China nearly as much as it hurts us. Our total debt is in the vicinity of $16 trillion. China holds about ten percent of that. But if we default on payment to them, it still counts as a default. Our creditworthiness would tank – banks would have to treat all of our publicly held debt as bad debt and write it off – and all the other debt we have (not counting gov't guarantees that don't count until they are called into use) would become equally worthless. Not a big deal you say? Bear in mind that the majority of our public debt (i.e. more than half) is actually owed right here to ourselves. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face – we would be shafting ourselves out of $7.50 for every $1 we didn't repay the Chinese. Not a good strategy to start things off by shooting ourselves right through the heart.
Pat Reardon: I don't think the cancellation of our debt to China due to China starting WWIII would cause banks around the world to downgrade our creditworthiness, or even question our credit in the least. On the contrary, if China starts WWIII – M.A.D – credit would mean absolutely nothing at the worst, and in the very least, we would hailed for standing up to China on all fronts possible, including the crippling of their income potential.
Let's face it: the country that starts WWIII won't exactly be the most liked country in the world. I would expect every country against M.A.D. would follow suit by cancelling their debt to China, too, and stop supporting them in every way possible. I at least hope if we, the U.S. of A, start WWIII, the same thing would happen to us.
China owns more like 1.2 trillion of U.S. bonds. Our own citzens own just over 6 trillion. Please just don't spit out numbers.
Don't default on the debt, just charge them for all of the patent/copyright infringements....
China also has a 3.2 trillion foreign exchange reserve, the vast vast majority of which is held in USD. Going to war against the U.S. would be economic suicide for them as much as it is to us. As hawkish as the PLA may sound, they can't unilaterally attack the U.S. military without government and popular support.
the reason for this is the military is seeing the end of the ridiculous terrorist-insprired gravy train coming to an end as we finally begin spend more rationally on defense so they have to find new bogeymen to scare the coward$ into spending more money for "bolt" attacks.
thats the same a spending on a asteroid proof glass dome over your house cause you know, it just MIGHT happen. right.
Agreed, just because the US has the capability to nuke the world doesn't mean that it will.
Just another sensationalist piece
Racist much?
China's ports (and therefore entire export-based economy) are critically vulnerable to US missile attack. That alone is all the deterent needed to keep China from doing anything that is theorized in this article.
We do have superior weaponry and training so I personally think we could win a war with China. Problem isn't the Military its our Politicians and the restrictions they place on our military when they put us in Danger. I can't see China for what ever reason starting a war with us. I would be more concerned with countries like North Korea,They are the wild card so to speak.
This is fear mongering at its best. Any intelligent person who reads this article knows it's sensationalized. It's a sliding scale with China. When they had the motivation to start war with us, they didn't have the means. Now that they have the means (somewhat), the motivation isn't there because WE'RE the ones who give them the means. You typically don't bite the hand that feeds you, especially when that hand is more than capable of taking your head off, even if it was to its own detriment. There are many other countries that we need to focus on, before China.
So donate money to the Pentagon if you are worried. I'm Taxed Enough Already.
Good points to ponder, but that same overconfidence in our superior technology and assumption of the opposition's inferiority is how Pearl Harbor got bombed in the first place. I wouldn't discount Chinese hackers and sat-killing missiles in disabling our military very cheaply. I don't think we should throw more money at our military industrial complex, since we're already deeply in dept, but instead find practical low cost ways in countering potential threats.
There was no overconfidence in the superiority of our military technology. There was overconfidence in the size of the Pacific Ocean being large enough to prevent a significant attack.
All of you are so focused on the United States' advanced technology that you fail to recognize a very simple fact: the US has 200 million or so people capable of fighting in a war. China has over 1 billion. All they need are a bunch of jumbo jets, a lot of parachutes, and a few thousand cargo containers to be a significant threat to the US way of life.
Pretty easy to shoot down jumbo jets! Huge radar cross section, slow, no defenses...
The last time the most technologically-advanced country with the most powerful military in the world went to war was in 1939. The German Tiger tanks were so technologically-advanced that they had kill-ratios of around 10 to 1 against Soviet and American tanks. The problem for the Germans was that both the Soviets and the Americans were able to throw a lot more than 10 inferior tanks at each Tiger. The country with the biggest manufacturing capacity wins more often than not. And the US has an inferior manufacturing capacity.
He is probably right about the vulnerability of the bases .But has left one very important fact out retaliation . So I would suggest if that is what they do dg some slit trenches for there bodies
I think that isn´t the right question, but why USA needs so much military power in Pacific when its people are eating with food stamps?
Today December 7,2012 is a day to REMEMDER PEARL HARBOR Attached T adde to our Remember todays! we can never prepared. I had enough of RememberingWWl WWll Korea Vietnam Iraq 7 so on . We have see heard and lost too many to all wars yet we still think they are the answer. I don't know but preparing for he worst is th ebest way to do what we can. The waste In washington on so called special progects and promises to friend of politicians could arm us better feed the hungry and lower outr taxes a lot. This President however doesn't plan onanything like that just TAXING & SPENDING his way through the next 4 years
Its stupid for anyone (except maybe those at the Pentagon paid to do such things) to speculate on a first strike attack from China. I can't conceive of any rational reason why they would strike first. Not only do we still have the nuclear deterrent which kept at bay a much larger stockpile of missiles from Russia during the Cold War, but we are in a worse financial shape then China. Eventually, as we will continue to spend ourselves into oblivion (with the Democrats in charge it has gone from bad to worse!), China can continue to buy us up at market price! Hell I think you can buy Detroit for $500 and a book of McDonalds coupons!
STOP! JUST STOP!! Oh please.. why would China attack the US militarily? This author is an IDIOT. Why are you people trying to reason with insanity?
ANd, of course, the United States has nothing resembling Anti-ballistic missiles or anything along those lines. The author is obviously unaware that we are no longer living in the 1940's.
So they hold a pile of our debt and, therefore, war with us would make a lot of sense. Okay Mr. Yoshihara, the Expert, where did you get your education? B.S. Central University?
US weaponry is superior to Chinese? Your blind nationalism is showing my dear sir. American naval forces are far more vulnerable than the public is led to believe. Don't believe me? Google the Sunburn missile. If that gizmo dosen't make you wet your pants you're still living in Fantasyland.
but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...
IF you believe this story, then the Chinese have already won without lifting a finger. IF you believe this story, the U.S. would ramp up it's military operations in East Asia. What does that mean? Money. And LOTS of money to sustain U.S. forces in the area. Who do we get that money from? China. The Chinese government could easily bankrupt the U.S. and cause a MAJOR economical collapse in the U.S. Why invade the U.S. and shed their own blood when they can do it via computer or telephone?
wrong! if China were to try and Bankrupt the US then there it is WAR. and if there was a war with china we would not go Bankrupt because our dept to china would drop to $0.0000. the US would just be forced to quicly become more self sufficent just like during WWII. As you stated war is money, money to be made and money to be spent. and europe would support the US over china any day of the week.
Interesting how many individuals look to power and might for peace ... perhaps we are seeing how futile all of it really is. It doesn't deliver real PEACE.
Anyone open to another way ... one we can afford?
This is not a scare tactic or a boy crying wolf. in order to be prepared we must talk about things like this or we will get caught with our pants down. if and when China were to engage US forces in Asia it will be about resourses. China has been building up it's amphibious capabilties and navy for a while now. the main target appears to be indonesia and the phillippines where there are large amounts of natural resourses like natural gas, rubber, oil and of course fishing grounds (huge for china) china is the world's largest consumer of oil at the moment and their need is growing. so if china were to go after these resourses they would need to get the US out of their way first. China has nukes just like we do and i believe the last thing anyone wants (on both sides) is a nuclear holocaust. so any war would most likely be conventional, nuclear weapons if used would most likely be used on opposing naval fleets where there would be little civilian casualties. and look back at some articles the major news outlets have posted about rising tensions in asia over disputed islands, fishing teritories ect. its not calming down but escalating! war in asia is a major possibility and should not be ignored.
It's fine to talk about readiness and preparedness but just how realistic are your scenarios? Philippines and Indonesia? Most of China's military modernization efforts have been geared towards a strategy centered around forming a defensive perimeter within 200-500 miles of their own coastline, not the conquest of new territories. They have little military power projection capability beyond that extremely localized region, much less an amphibious invasion over longer distances. Sending hundreds of unescorted landing vessels to a target 500-1000 miles away is like throwing away the lives of tens of thousands of marines.
It's this type of thinking that led to the original pearl harbor. If you don't concede your enemy- and the Chinese are our enemy- the fact that they are at least as capable as you are and maybe even smarter you are setting your self up for disaster.
You have it backwards. The government and people of China are *smart enough* to know that there is little point behind an all out war with America. Can they realistically achieve meaningful territorial or natural resources gains? Nope. What about additional international support or global soft power influence? Nope. Can they even realistically cripple America's economic and military power? Nope. Essentially, they have little to gain but everything to lose. Recklessly taking on more than they can chew has not been the M.O. of China's rise during the past 3 decades so a drastic and non-sensical move like this would be extremely out of character.
Just because you have the safest car on the road doesnt mean there isn't any risk. What good are your toys if the people using them are all dead? So your foot is greater then an ant, but if you are covered in ants and there is more on the way...you are toast.
i totally agree. this sort of scare tactics designed to beef jup the dod budget during a budget debate is ludicrous.
a bureaucratic animal moving to defend itself. and all it can see is eat more and more . like the burmese pythons in the everglades. eat, eat, eat.
enough!. they are volunteers. not welfare recipients.
Quigley, you're off base regarding Toshi Yoshihara. He's at the US Naval War College and obtained all of his degrees in the US and has long been recognized as an expert on the Chinese military.
Doesn't alter the fact this article is a blatant propaganda piece.
Its his job to point out defense weaknesses in his area of expertise. It would be equivilent of a home security specialist telling you you should not leave your front door wide open when you are not home and you dismissing that assessment as propaganda.
I bet you would be the first in line to scream how could this have happened if his warning came to be.
and he sees DoD funding being correctly reduced by 30% as it should be. its his pals that'll have to get an honest job not him if he's a Chinese specialist.
BS,BS,BS...don't you Americans believe this crap for one minute. Do not let your country be dupped as it has so many times before. Good god, stop this madness now before you are dragged into yet another useless war.
How is realizing that our positions in the Asia Pacific Theatre are unsustainable, a prelude to war?
Because we have a "new" doctrine in warfare in this country called "Pre-emptive war", remember Iraq? That has turned out real well hasn't it?
Yes, the DoD has forward vulnerabilities...but any remote strategic location carries a level of vulnerability. Do you not think the DoD has taken the possibility of a threat into consideration? We have far greater tactical superiority and could mobilize scores of troops to the region almost instantly. If you really want to worry about an Asian "threat", write an article about North Korea. They have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. China is not ignorant enough to start WW3.
The United States is just goofy.
I've known that a surprise attack could deal a crippling blow ever since I saw what that Decepticon did to the US base in Transformers.
you're right. the author is completely ignoring the much graver and more plausible threats posed by transformers, canadians and alaskan secessionists.
Published on Friday, December 7, 2012 by Common Dreams
For Whom Do You Lobby, Madame Secretary?
by Tom Gallagher
On the same day that we learned Michael Bloomberg would like Hillary Clinton to succeed him as New York City mayor, the Secretary of State was making modest headlines on her own: “Clinton lobbies for US firm in Czech nuclear bid.”
Please tell me why, exactly, would China attack its most vital economic partner,the United States? What would be their motivation? Articles like this are trying to justify the ridiculous amount of money we spend on an outdated military based on 20th century mindsets.
That's exactly right. The article doesn't answer that question either.
Best check this piece for plagiarism... it reads like the preface to a Tom Clancy novel.
FACT: China already owns the US. Why attack what you already own?
FACT: We still have mutually assured nuke destruction.
FACT: Why spend billions more to defend against a "surprise" when there are bigger threats we know are coming: eg. the next Hurricane Sandy, Katrina, the next SARS or other pandemic.
Having twice passed through Newark and US customs yesterday and now seeing this article as front page news ... I can't help but get the impression that the US lives in constant fear ... not preparedness but... fear. Sad.
I don't know where my readers are on this planet, but I was recently in a wealthy area of Southern California visiting my sister. She told me that some of these brand new houses in her area run for around $3 million a piece. Do you know who's buying them? Yep, the Chinese. And, they don't take out mortagages like you or me. They pay in CASH!!! Who the hell pays $3 million in CASH for a house. And get this! They don't even live there. They buy the houses for their kids who go to college here...and it's basically a real estate investment. Same thing applies all over the U.S. Not just the Chinese, but Saudis, etc.
Expect nothing, be prepare for anything.
Yes, you are correct.
Just take a look at the China world map published by the Chinese communist government. The new map also appeared on all Chinese passports.
To me, China threat is not a major concern to me. My biggest concern is the current mindset of many American. We are becoming a zombie nation. We are more concern about what in it for me (me..me...me..) and not about our nation well being. Our nation will collapse if we continue following the Democratic divide and conquer strategy.
Let me summarize... American bases in Asia far from America are vulnerable to surprise attach by missiles. Let me guess the hidden subtext. We need to spend more to protect those bases (which are there to protect the host countries).
I have a suggestion. Let's close the bases. Let's save some money and stop being the world's policeman.
Excellent idea – close bases we can't protect. Our military budget is driving us to bankruptcy as we continue to be the "world's policeman". Let Asia take care of itself. Let Europe take care of itself. It is laughable that people whine about the cost of healthcare – taking care of our own citizens – but are so gung ho about starting trillion dollar wars. Syria or Iran is next...as soon as the Republicans win the presidency back...
Hey I don't think so. I hate people keep claiming the Republican for starting wars. Who started the two biggest global wars?YA that's right FDR and Wilson who are both Democrats.
Democrats started WWI & II? Wow, you sure know your history...
Gee, Kim, and all these years I've been thinking it was the Germans and their various allies. Thanks for the education.
John your last sentence says it all.
Kim, you do realize both of those presidents had nothing to do with actually starting either of the world wars? Your post adds nothing to this discussion. Thanks.
I agree 100%. We should withdraw from all our overseas bases and spend the savings on the US. The only one making out on this is the military industrial complex
Let UN do this job.
real talk: who would actually attack us? No war would all of a sudden happen.
Yeah really it's not like terrorists will hijack...never mind.
Let's not forget about 9/11/01 and make sure we do everything possible to prevent it from happening again.
9/11 was not by a nation though. It was a terrorist act. Terrorists have no nations. Afghanistan just happened to be where they were located and they refused to give Osama bin Laden up so we invaded and we are still there over a decade later. No nation has attacked the US since World War II, yet how many wars and minor conflicts have we been in since then?
What the H**L?
How did this guy cook this up? He must be a neocon gone wild.
Old news is old. The DF-15 missile was launched in 1996, it could reach Okinawa then, it can reach it now.
I seriously doubt that China is looking to go to war with the U.S. It seems that this article is off-base.
What would China hope to achieve by picking a military fight with the US?? The two countries are linked economically to such an extent that it makes no sense to start this kind of fight.
why would china ever attack us, we're their best customer
The Chinese are not going to kill the goose that laid the Golden Egg. We have heard all the Sabre Rattling before trying to maintain the the great Military Industrial Complex forever.
It is time that we invest in this country with education, infrastructure, research, & development which China IS doing.
We will be left in the dust if we continue to be World Cops for everyone else..
Agreed. "Cops" in general, though brave, don't make millions....here, or anywhere in the world. If we're going to continue to be the worlds police force, then it's acceptable to think that eventually, we'll be ranked as a country similarly to how domestic police rank economically. It's just a bigger scale.
The only time having so much military power can gain you anything is if it is used to acquire.....which, obviously we're not above. Unless our "police force" is used to acquire wealth, it saps wealth.
China owns how much of the American debt? Why would they resort to childish pre-emptive military actions to "get us"? What would happen if America decided to remove all of its manufacturing jobs from China? Don't you think the Chinese government likes having those companies there? Would a random missile attack really be in the best interest of China? There is no logic in Yoshihara's fear mongering here. He's obviously pro-military and pro-military industrial complex, and I wouldn't put it past him getting some kick back from some defense contractors who fear their ungodly incomes waning in the near future.
Yoshihara is right about the Chinese military capabilities. The question is whether the political and economic calculus of war would ever make sense to the Chinese. We are a large market for their goods. However, as the U.S. Navy increasing opts for a very small number of costly high tech ships in fewer bases, the possibility of a "Pearl Harbor" style surprise attacks knocking out a lot of combat power in pre-emptive strikes increases. If you are a Navy commander of a ship tied up in Norfolk, how fast can you get the skeleton crew on-board to general quarters to repel some sort of nasty surprise?
Well, that's an easy way for us to write off a trillion dollars in our national debt.
Anyone that seriously believes that another nation is going to attack us militarily in the manner of the WWII Pearl Harbor attack is so far off base that a three-year old could throw him out.
Put this guy in a funny-house suit so that he cannot harm himself or others.
Yea, then there was that 9-11 thing, a hand fulll of Hajies and box cutters and 4 airplanes. 2 in the towers 1 AT THE PENTAGON and the other flown into the ground. NO nothing like Peral Haebor could EVER hapeen again. Not in a million years. Excuse me for a minute. look who is Commander In Chief... YEA, we are totaly safe. I rest so well at night.
Right on 5785hrs! I'm reading some of these posts, and wonder if school must be out on some of these people...
You just proved Wizard's point. The threat isn't from another powerful nation, it is an asymmetrical attack from radicals. How war is waged has shifted, so should our defensive strategy. Beefing up bases in Asia will NOT protected from guys with boxcutters...
9/11 style attacks have no return address. Any actual nation that attacked us would be turned into a plain of radioactive glass within 24 hours – China included. It is simply foolish to think that will EVER happen. Terrorists may try to hurt us, but nations will not.
Do you think that the 9/11 terrorists have billions...if not trillions invested in the U.S.? Do you see those 9/11 terrorists selling goods to the U.S.? Do you see those 9/11 terrorists snapping up expensive real estate in the U.S.? Do you see those 9/11 terrorists sending their kids to Harvard, MIT, and Stanford WITHOUT a scholarship (because they are foreign students)? No, you don't. But the Chinese do.
Some folks have trouble with comprehension when reading.
I specifically noted that an attack by a nation in the manner of the Pearl Harbor sneak attack, which attack was launched by a major military task force of a sovereign nation consisting of dozens of capital ships, hundreds of aircraft and thousands of seamen and airmen is simply not going to happen.
Anyone who is foolish enough to believe that such an attack can or will happen needs to join the article's author in some idyllic retreat.
With direct respect to China. We still maintain a obscenely large nuclear force, and you can rest assured that several hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the megaton warheads are currently aimed at mainland China. The Chinese know this. The Chinese are not stupid. Thus, I would further doubt that China would resort to a preemptive missile attack onto US soil or the soil.
With respect to a couple of the other "crazy nations." North Korea strives not to be able to attack the US with the intent of subjugating the United States but to alter our perceived antagonism. At best, they hope that attacking South Korea will draw us into another un-winnable conventional war from which they could extract major concessions.
Iran may, in the far future, use their nuclear capability to attempt the destruction of Israel. Their theocratic leadership, however, would probably not permit the megalomaniac secular government to preemptively strike Israel. More likely they might use the threat of nuclear weapons use in a misguided attempt to close the Straits of Hormuz.
In any case, I will sleep soundly tonight as I have done ever since the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis which is the only time since WWII that the US was ever in danger of being nuked. As far s a land-based invasion, I think you need to remember that the movie "Red Dawn" was fiction.
What a load of crap!!! Why in the world would China attack the US when we send enough cash to make millionaires a day??? Probably the stupidest article I have ever read on CNN... Fox is worse, but I am about to just shut off the internet after this speculative, propagandist, GARBAGE! If I were you and read this... Don't even post. Maybe they will just take it down and throw it in the trash where it should be.
Try the BBC Al-jazeera and xinhua compare with cnn and in the middle will be truth
Unfortunately this is true, I was in Okinawa a few years back and on two occasions I saw people filming the base for whatever reason I don't know, one was on the base in civilian clothes and looked Arab or Pakistani, and the other was an Asian guy at the fence on the outside. I called the MPs who didn't take me seriously and made no effort to investigate.
Guess what? those same okinawans kicked all 50,000 US marines off the base a year ago. Why would they do that, and now say they are scared?
They closed a couple of bases, but lots of Marines remain, the base I was on is still there in full capacity.
Interesting points. The author is clearly qualified and brings to light a possibility, which is what the war college does. It's not a "scare tactic" as I doubt the war college would ever think to consider this as more than a theoretical issue but one that is a possibility as anything with China should be considered a possibility. The only issue not brought up is that in WW II, we could not hit the enemy capitol after they attacked Pearl Harbor. With the US's ability to literally hit any and all parts of China as necessary via ballistic missles, I wonder how that would work into the equation. China's actions and reasoning is always a big unknown. The US military needs to and always should plan for worst case scenarios.
Working on your worse scenario, the meteors are more likely to hit the earth than China attach USA.
And Will be nuke China to the the stone age.. or ming dinasty. They attack us and it's mutual annihilation and we would probably have to nuke russia, pakistan and iran at the same time. China will never dare. I thought this article was more of a car bomb exploding inside our bases our a few rogue marines killing their own... this scenario wont happen is a lose-lose for everybody involved
It isn't mutual annihilation. We would not be annihilated. China would.
here's a solution: close all bases. there, vulnerability fixed. you're welcome.
I think all this really goes without saying, but it in no means outlines a political motive for China to throw away it's necessary connections to the U.S. in terms of trade just to retake Taiwan, which will probably rejoin the mainland eventually, anyway. Good to prepare for the contingencies, which I'm sure we have, but I don't see this scenario playing out any time in the near future.
I'm surprised the he did not also include a couple of the Marine Corps bases there, two in particular would cripple leadership and one in particular would cripple communications...
Couldn't we just move our basis to the US? The money we spend will then re-invigorate our economy, and not somewhere else.
While attention grabbing; the article leaves out a few important facts. The US military can detect a ballistic missile launch anywhere in the world. So the chances of a surprise missile attack are very slim, even if the missiles are stealthy in flight during launch and fuelling they are vulnerable. Aircraft carriers and the like have detection systems out the wazoo to detect and defeat such threats. Lastly though, and to the author’s credit for mentioning it, getting the first blow is all fine and dandy, but what happens when America starts to swing back??
In that case its like giving US a green light to nuke. First strike still apply.
China is absolutely winning the economic war, what possible reason would they have to attack the US? We are their greatest source for stolen intellectual property and largest market for their goods.
If we get into a war with Iran or Syria we will find out from Russia and China just how vulnerable our bases are.
Let's get that fear ramped up again America...we need to blow more of your cash on Defense!
Good plan for China, but the problem for them is this: They have never participated in a modern-day war situation. Drill all you want, but when the missiles start flying back and forth, its a different ball game the US has been playing for quite some time.
Good point as I agree. They are only good at bullying smaller countries like Viet Nam or Philippine and stole/rob their islands.
Like the US have done any better? Looking at the numbers of countries INVADED since WWII.... let see, Vietnam had agent Orange dropped on them and the Korea war went no where. Oh and there's the mess with the Middle East that still isn't resolved now.
The paper tiger is going to be the US, your military will cripple you, just like the Roman empire, and uneducated ignorant fools such as yourself.
Well maybe if we didn't have bases all over the world we wouldn't be so vulnerable.
Read John Toland's book about Pearl Harbor. There was no "surprise" or "bolt-from-the blue" attack. Cordell Hull, George Marshall and Franklin Delano Roosevelt all knew well in advance of the attack.
The American public did not want to enter the war in Europe, and Hitler was taking over the continent. In order to instill anger in Americans, Roosevelt let the public believe it was a surprise attack, and he knowingly allowed the massacre. He also ensured all the aircraft carriers were sent out of Pearl before the attack. They would be vital for the coming war.
I'll read it as soon as my protective tinfoil hat arrives in the mail.
I am disappointed to see this article on CNN, especially associated with Fareed Zakaria, someone who I respect for having a balanced perspective on global affairs.
Of course China is capable of wreaking military havoc on us. So is Russia, and many other countries. Likewise we have the capabilities for mass destruction anywhere, anytime. It doesn't happen because those actions have terrible consequences for those who carry them out. The article is pure fear-mongering.
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Go back under your bridge, troll.
First off, it is absolutely foolish for the United States to challenge China for the Asia Pacific Region. War between the United States, and China is inevitable, as China has long forseen this inescapable confrontation. The Obama Administration's decision to move focus to the Asia Pacific Region suggest a real concern on the battlefied that China will be a direct challenge to their Military superiority, not only in the waters around China, but abroad, mainly the Middle East. China has, and is underestimated in their achievements, and capabilities militarily. China is too powerfull of a Superpower for the United States to wage a serious conflict with. China won't back down, especially in their own backyard. China is over 10,000yrs old, they won't let the U.S. rule over them. China's military strategies are superior to U.S. strategies, and this is where China will defeat the U.S. on the battlefield, by shear strategy.
Shannon, apparently you have absolutely no clue regarding the effectiveness of modern weapons in neutralizing traditional concepts such a number of troops and regional location. If China was stupid enough to attack us in such a way that would cause significant damage, they would be counting on our mercy not to send them back to the Stone Age within 72 hours !! The American war machine has really only been seen in action during the peak of World War II but those who study history (I am sure that some people in China's military establishment do !!) know that, even back then, our industrial complex was producing 1 tank and 1 plane per minute !! All the wars we have fought since then have only involved 1% of our population and strength. Let's hope nobody ever challenges us in that way again because with our current capabilities there is no doubt we could end up commiting genocide (talking 10's of millions of people here, not thousands). You are right, China has a 10,000 year civilization and during all that time they never came up with a plane, a submarine, a motorized car, a computer, etc. They are excellent copiers and very hard workers but I am certain the wisest among them know that they are nowhere near ready for a confrontation with the US. I for one think that with all the social changes ocurring there, they are soon going to have to be dealing with major internal stabiility problems and challenging the US for world supremacy is wayyyyyyy down the line in their agenda.
You will wish I was misstaken.. China is way more advanced, and way more powerfull than you realize.. The United States is not as powerfull as you think.. I try to think soberly.. I know the United States is not powerfull enough to take on a Superpower like China.. China is wiser on the battlefield, than the U.S... When China strikes, and your heart sinks.. you will remember I was right..
All the inventions that you mentioned are only after the industrial revolution. Which Western countries robbed from the "global south," just look up silk trade India and opium war China on google. If it weren't for these robberies, and the eight nations ganging up on China and stole her treasures. Both China and India would have a greater percent of the world's GDP.
And nice, generalizing 1.2 billion people as copiers, I see the education in the US is still leaving out critical thinking but still promoting arrogance!
You are clueless. If we were ever provoked to us our full (nuclear) power, there is no nation on the planet that could stand against us. Within 24 hours all that would be left of China is a smoking plain of radioactive glass. Yes, China is advancing their military as fast as they can. But, they are essentially still a 3rd world country. Their capabilities in all aspects of technology – especially military, are decades behind us. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, our military power has continued to increase, and the only other credible threat no longer exists. China may be able to disable a few of our forward bases, but it would cost the entire nation their lives. I do believe that they have very value for individual life, but I sincerely doubt that China's leaders would want their nation to be completely destroyed.
USA! USA! USA! Look bud, you have a big advanced military, yet why can't the US wipe out the terrorists in the Middle East?! It's been over 10 years. You can boast about your military but you're still behind on healthcare, education, science etc...
NASA only gets a drop of the US military gets? Why?
We have a capability to annihilate any opponent. However, the conflicts we have been involved in do not allow us to use our full capabilities. We should have nuked Afganistan right after 9/11, that would have sent the proper message. Instead we try to be politically correct and do as little collateral damage as possible. In an all out war scenario, we have nothing to fear. And, I would much rather have any health issues treated in the US than any other country, especially China. And, we are still the only nation to have put a man on the moon. So, yes – USA! USA! USA!
Shannon, you are obviously Chinese, but using a non-Asian name.
Obviously not, I just know the U.S. military is not as powerfull as a lot of highminded American's think..
Also the article bashes our preparedness, but yet refuses to provide any changes that may prevent a surprise attack from being affective. Dumb CNN
For crying out loud, who the heck is this guy, Tohsi Yoshihara? According to him, we'll be push back to Hawaii or San Diego. What he forgot is we have a very little known small base in B.I.O.T, called Diego Garcia. And yes, we have B2 bombers there. And don't forget about Guam. This guy, Tohsi, sounded like America going to be doomed! Probably watch too much "Red Dawn."
how is it we are the bes
China and the US have become one organism. China would cripple herself with an attack on US assets. It would be like china trying to cash in the $trillion+ notes they hold on US debt. They again, would cripple themselves.
The US and china are one. The US cannot hurt China without crippling itself and vice-versa.
what is the purpose of this article??? seriously, a war between the u.s. and china would plunge the world into economic disaster, which would be far more crippling to the chinese than the u.s, since they hold all the debt....a matter-of-fact instead of lobing cruise missles and such, if china wanted to really cripple the u.s. just dump the bonds
I beat you to that point by a minute.
Bring it China! I'm sick of your crap anyway. Time to bomb you into the 21st Century.
your words bring us back to the 20th century.
Your words bring us back to the Stone age
Geeez, 10 yrs boys shouldn't comment on CNN websites.
Why don't you stop buying that crap? It is much easier way to stop them from making it than bombing them into the stone age.
Are you related to Bush? Why don't you think outside your brain? Ha ha!
Bomb China !!! Are you crazy do you realize how boring Christmas shopping would be....... And I would miss Walmart
the only thing that is provocative is this article, i think it would be a huge blow to china's economy to go to war with the u.s. what if the u.s attacks china with some f-ed up motive, they certainly have the ability, but thats about as far out as me after i get blunted.
The America People live off the fat of the Lamb and is like a drunken Sailor in the golden hour of guard duty. How Ni-eve, to share the wealth of the world, downsize the military, and to think the world holds hands and sings kum by ya, LOL I served and know whats outside the American bubble. I will laugh at those sons and daughters of america that are drafted because of the apathy and appeasement of their parents. Only when the American people reach the precipice of losing this country, will they have to fight in their last hour to save what those before them built. Fools fools fools
Good Post. Have to laugh at these naive liberal fools who want to gut the military and leave us defenseless. They also live in a fantasy land thinking that since the end of the cold war no country will ever be a threat to the United States again.
You spend 15 times on military comparing to all other nations downsizing 20-30% isn't gutting it. Your military will cripple you just like the Roman empire.
You ignorantly leave out the fact that our nearest enemies are thousands of miles away and a land-based invasion would prove all but futile thanks to our nuclear capabilities. You also (ignorantly) leave out the fact that any war we might enter would be with a third world country and an interventionary war, as should any major superpowers really compete with each other, only the ones who built fallout shelters will be left with the last laugh. As we've seen through the US in Vietnam, Russia in Afghanistan, Israel in Gaza, and the US in Afghanistan/Iraq, almost no amount of technology can compete with guerrilla warfare and paramilitary troops placed within a civilian populace.
Just cause you've served doesn't make you a great strategist. I'm guessing you didn't come out of West Point.
Yeah, there is movie about it, called Red Dawn, the reboot was originally China but they did computer work and made then North Koreans.
Considering that we owe the Chinese 5 trillion dollars, and we are the largest buyer of their goods, I don't agree with the statement that they have the "motive" to attack us. Our two economies are intricately linked together, so China would be inflicting a great wound on themselves were they to start a war with the US. Also – lets not forget that the US has armed troops in almost 200 countries around the world, and nuclear missiles capable of striking anywhere. Who really is the agressor?
As a former US military aviator, there is some truth to this. A Chinese attack on Taiwan would be devasting. The US has more than enough capable troops to deal with a ground attack. However, if China is able to throw more fighter jets than the US has AAMs to respond with, it would be a disaster. All of the "exercises" and "training events" that you hear about and don't always hear about are preparing for this very situation.
Perhaps Taiwan should spend their money to protect themselves.
Nuclear ICBMs. We have THOUSANDS, China has NONE. Doesn't matter how many aircraft they scramble, if we are sufficiently provoked, China will cease to exist. Before you start sputtering, yes China does have nuclear missiles. They do not have Intercontinental missiles. They do not have the capability to hit any part of the continental US with any major attack. Sure, they could nuke Taiwan or a few of our forward bases, but the cost to them would be far beyond catastrophic.
^ WAR MONGERING TROLL! POST WWII, THE US HAVE BEEN PROVOKING/INVADING OTHER COUNTRIES!
Sorry Howie they have put up satellites and have put men into orbit. They have the means for ICBM's and they have them.
At the rate they are spending the money we buy things from them on there military. And there in upgrading the same how long do you think it will be before they have ones that can hit any where in the USA. They are putting a lot of hardware up in space. may be they are building there own ICBM defense. Then what will we do when the are strong and no longer need us to spend buying there things. After all they can sell to a lot of other country's. And what will we do when they call in there loans to the USA. I think it's more likely they will just ask for our country in payment for what is owed them, Makes one think a lot does it not??
This is some seriously ridiculous fear mongering. This neocon throwback needs to reevaluate his perceptions on modern warfare. Troll for funding much, dude?
Apparently someone forgot about the Patriot Missile defense system....
To do what the article suggests in a surprise attack would result in immediate retaliatory missile strikes in an all out counter attack as no one would assume the incoming missiles were non-nuclear. It would be the end of the World or pretty darn close.
No, it would be the end of China.
Oh CNN, will you never cease to post nonsensical BS?
Scare tactics. Yes, a military base is going to be vulnerable to attack. This is where we need to follow the 80/20 rule. We have to accept some risk because we cannot afford perfection. I would like the press to STOP TALKING ABOUT WAR. We who are watching you know what you are doing. You are being the tool of the MIC to condition, to program Americans to accept war. Not only accept it but to call for it. Dumber people will read an article like this and get their patriotic bile stirred up.
Just stop it. America is the top nation. How many stories do we know about the risk of being on top? If we truly want to be safe then let's become a neutral nation like Switzerland and Costa Rica.
China just landed their first jet on an aircraft carrier ever LAST WEEK. Coupling that with the fact that they have no interest whatsoever in attacking us leaves me unconcerned. This piece can be translated into a direct plea from defense contractors to not let us go off the fiscal cliff triggering massive "defense" spending cuts.
Your main point regarding their capabilities is correct. I think you are mistaken about their motivations. China has a goal, a VERY long range goal – They want total world dominion. If they felt they could neutralize the US, they would strike in a heartbeat. Fortunately, they realize it would be suicide to do so as our capabilities are vastly superior to theirs.
We already waste billions of dollars over a threat that's less than lightning. Might as well waste more to protect bases we shouldn't have against attacks that won't happen.
Yay for more fear tactics! Gotta keep the public in line!
This article is so far off base that is is not worth reading, ANY country that would attempt such a misguided adventure would be imediately in an all out war with the United States. No country in the world could withstand the ensuing counter attack. Additionally it would result in millions of deaths to thier own people, and for what, to disable 1) large millitary complex ? It would be be sheer suicide, we may believe that some heads of state are crazy, but China isnt one of them.
This article makes absolutely no sense and its intent is to cause fear mongering and only the sheep of the people would buy it.
The Chinese have had ICBMs and other missiles, nuclear and non-nuclear, capable of hitting any of our assets in the Asia-Pacific region, and many of our major US cities, for decades now. They also have plenty of capable nuclear subs with missiles on them that can hit pretty much anywhere. They would've done it already if they wanted to, especially during the Cold War, they could've teamed up with Russia and the US would've been in deep trouble.
China is interested in making money, not war. Why would they even start a war with the US? It would cripple their own economy, turn her own neighbors against her, and even cause her own citizens to have an uprising. The reason why the people there are happy and don't mind their current leaders is because they're richer than ever and enjoying life there.
China does not have ICBMs, and during the cold war they did not have any nuclear capability. they have tactical battlefield nukes – capable of hitting targets within about 100 miles of their borders. They do not have nuclear armed submarines. They could not damage us in any significant way, while we could absolutely destroy them.
Brian is right about Yoshihara. He's War College educated and is one of the foremost experts on the Chinese military. That being said, I don't really see this article as propaganda or fearmongering. He is simply pointing out that the US DOES have some military bases in the Asian theatre that are grossly unprepared for an all-out Chinese sneak attack particularly Kedena. And what with the Cinese getting the carrier they bought from the Russians in working order, it becomes just that much easier for the Chinese to accomplish such an attack should they have good reason to do it. The folks who point out that the Chinese have no good reason are correct as well. They would never get all the money the US owes them if they did something like that.
He's on target about the vulnerability, and the commenters are on target about how stupid it would be for the Chinese to attack. However, a lot of wars have started based on stupid, particularly when there is clear weakness. Shoring up US defenses of its forward bases adds yet another reason not to attack to those you've all listed here, and makes a stupid conflict even less likely. That's the author's real message.
Is it really possible to discuss a war between the US and China that does not involve escalation to nuclear weapons? The main deterrent to such a war to begin with.
China has made it clear, that they posses the technologies, the know how, and the ability to execute war. China has Anti-satelite Weapons, China has Nuclear armed Submarines, China has Direct Energy Weapons, China has Biological Weapons, China has Cyberwar Weapons, China has ICBM's, China has Aircraft Carriers, China has Stealth Fighters, China has Drones...etc. You do not want to take on a Superpower like China, as you do small Middle Eastern countries. China is absolutely lethal, and I would honestly not want the U.S. to learn this the hard way. China would strike the U.S. mainland with precise Nuclear strikes. This move to Asia, jeopardizes the lives of U.S. citizens. Obama is inexperienced when it comes to War. Consider this are 50' F22 Raptors better than 150' J20 Fighters, in a head on dog fight ? Or 100' F-35's up against 325' J30's in a head on dog fight ? Can U.S. Carrier battle groups defend themselves against overwhelming numbers of DF 21 missiles ? Are the loses worth it, because China can sink all of the U.S. naval ships in a matter of time. Wipe out all U.S. Satelites, and bring down the U.S. military in just a short period of time, to the shock of the world. Do you really want to ramble on about, how the U.S. will rock China's world, when it is they who will rock the U.S.'s world ?
I do not agree that China would overwhelm us. We have the nuclear capacity and capability to turn vast areas of China into radioactive glass. And I have no doubt that SOMEONE, probably not Obama but someone, would launch those weapons.
This is why I state: " China is GREATLY underestimated ", and the United States is overly hyped.. Consider this illustration America is like a prized Heavy Weight Champion boxer, well fed, rich, muscular, and a track record to show for it, in all his glory.. wearing the red, white, and blue shining trunks.. " China is like a ages long taught Martial Arts Master, who is poor, maybe only eats rich, slender, and skinny, with a long history in Martial Arts, but with a peaceful promotion.. The two are compelled to do battle against eachother, no way out.. When the Heavy Weight Boxer enters into the Ring, he is praised, and the like...Himself bouncing around with his gloves raised high,... then the Martial Arts Master is compelled to enter the ring, and the crowd is like, " Are you Serious ? " this little Asian guy ? the crowd kind of laughs, but is more suprised that he would even go up against such a Muscular Boxing champion. So the bell rings, and the two do battle.. The boxer is strong, and big, and the Martial Artist is swift, and quick, with much stamina.. As a Martial Arts Master would hit key pressure points with such precision, and quickness, the strong boxer wouldn't be able to defend himself against, and the poor man from China would wear him down, overwhelm him with rapid punches, and strikes in areas he could not defend against, or block quickly enough. Eventually the skill of the Martial Art's Master would bring down the Heavy Weight Champion boxer.. leaving Victory to the more skilled fighter, the Martial Arts Master..
You have no idea what you are talking about – I think you read too much science fiction. China does not have ICBMS. They just managed to land a jet on an aircraft carrier FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. No one has 'Direct Energy Weapons'. China is no threat, they are not a superpower in any respect other than economic.
DF-31 and DF-31A are Chinese solid fuel road mobile ICBMs with the ability to strike the continental US using multiple independent re-entry vehicles. There is also the JL-2 SLBM fired from two known Type 094 submarines. They also possess laser weapons (most nations do, their combat debut was in the Falklands when the Royal Navy used them to down some Argentine Daggers, I have seen the actual weapon).
Nonetheless the US has a depth of capabilities China cannot match if the battle is confined to air and naval warfare. In a land war, about the only place the US might prevail is defending South Korea. An invasion of China would not be possible, however you could make them wish they never angered us with the vigorous application of air and naval power. You could cripple them, but never conquor them.
Shanon....get real! 1 old used not china made vs. 11 US made nuclear aircraft carriers battle groups.....just one example of many. Do your math! stop bluffing.
Shannon, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about... How you can continue with your shallow rhetoric about what China would do to the U.S. in case of a war is so far off base that I can't help but laugh at everything you say.
The United States military budget is much, much higher than the entire worlds, combined. Think about that for a second, oh that's right, you aren't smart enough to undertand this simple fact.
I don't hate China. There's no question that they can hurt us and win some battles near their homeland but when it comes to all out war it simply wouldn't even be close. I don't know what you are smoking but China is in fact DECADES behind the US in military technology and prowess.
If you also think a Chinese commander is tactically smarter than an American commander in WAR then you are very sadly mistaken.
It's funny how you try and list all the things the Chinese have that would beat us when we have the same technologies, much higher technologies, and much more of these kind of things than China could hope for. Sure they recently got themselves a USED aircraft carrier from Russia and they landed their first plane ever not too long ago on it. WOW, we've been doing that for decades now and we build our own aircraft carriers and have 10 times as many.
Do you think NATO would stand around doing nothing while China attacked one of our bases either?
You need to get a grip and a long lesson on reality girlie.
China does not have ICBMs. China has ONE aircraft carrier, which is already out of date, being built almost twenty years ago, and purchased as scrap. They only just even managed to land an airplane on it. China is around 20 years behind the western powers in terms of stealth and fighter technology, and those F22 fighters would obliterate their J20 counterparts before they even appeared on the Chinese radar sets. China doesn't have nuclear submarines. I'm not even American, but it's painfully obvious that if China ever did decide to use it's recently acquired, somewhat menacing capabilities against the US, it would be completely leveled within 24 hours. The people in power in China surely know this, and would never be so crazy to sentence their entire population to death.
Jay, China has four different ICBM models, two of which can reach the continental US. China also operates SSBNs with 12 JL-2 SLBMs each, and these too can reach the continental US. Also, do not discount the ability of a Chinese SSN firing nuclear tipped long range cruise missiles at the US. China is not a signatory to the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty as the US and Russia are, so they remain free to build such weapons where we are constrained.
What Reagan and Thatcher had was overwhelming belief in their superiority of their system. Obama and Clinton don't have that at all. The Chinese are confident and prepared to wait. Doubtlessly they believe Western power economically and militarily is stagnant and eroding. Crucial are the declining number of western heavy long range bombers B-52 and B-1 and the stagnatiion of CVN and SSN design since the end of the Cold war. Polmar is a useful source on that.
The USN CVNs are vulnerable to simultaneous attacks in a sort of global pearl harbour. But without nuclear armament of the carrier bombers and nuclear depth charges the carriers are hopelessly vulnerable and have little ability to really destroy a society, city or civilisation. Selective Tomahawk strikes might criple a third rate version of soviet intergrated C4 like Iraqs but will not work against a determined opponent with dispersed leadership and talent. In destructive power a conventionally armed carrier is really far less power than a Iowa, Des Moines or Alaska class CBG or even a Zumwalt in ability to level city in a day.
Do some countries have the means to attach US? Absolutely! Do some countries have the motivation to attack US? Absolutely! However, are these the same countries? Why China wants to attack a US base? Because Chinese want to go back to stone age or loss the huge market?
The notion that China has the motivation to attack a US base is simply absurd.
As an American who served in the US Navy aboard a submarine, I'd just like to say this guy is full of crap. Shame on him for putting the military at risk through his fear mongering and trying to perpetuate a continual state of war. Orwell would be proud! So, I'm at least one American vet who doesn't buy this BS. Why would China attack its biggest market? What sense does that make? China has done a much better job rapping the US through economics. How about shifting money from the military and putting into schools so our labor force has the skills it'll need to compete. Anyway, I'm sick of this type of dung from the rightwing nut jobs of this country. They're going to get a huge blowback from the rest of us.
..................................EUROPE IS CHINA'S LARGEST TRADING PARTNER..............................
CHINA IS THE LARGEST COAL PRODUCER IN THE WORLD
Again you are incorrect. The US is China's #1 trading partner. Who cares who produces more coal? That has zero strategic value. China is a joke, as are you.
I remember from only two or three decades ago that the analysis was that in the event of a major war starting, everything on Earth would be turned to ash in about nine minutes or so. So I guess this is an improvement...
First of all, All Air Force, actually most bases that are not on American mainland have CWIS, A powerful weapon that is used on ships to block a crap ton of missiles that was developed for ground use to defend against mortars and rockets and stuff like that,the ground variant is called C-RAM. So, with that being said, those bases are pretty safe, especially with are advanced warning systems and secret agents abroad..
Really CNN!!!!!! This is the only coverage you are giving to Pearl Harbor – an opinion piece that only discusses it in terms of our bases today – SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This article contains the sort of war hawk fear mongering rhetoric that started and fueled the cold war. If we went to war with China, where would be buy all of our cheap junk from?
If people think that China's military capabilities, and technologies are cheap like the products they have made for the U.S. economy to bring it down, then they are not thinking clearly...
Yeah Shannon, you are right, that is why we keep hearing about all the technology we are trying to steal from the Chinese and keep copying all their inventions (?).
)). You have to be a troll with I don't know what motivations or inclinations to continue trying to make your ridiculous arguments. Of course, if you live in China, a society that controls and limits the flow of information about the outside world, then I don't blame you for being so uninformed and off-base, but really? Research and Development in China amounts to trying to copy whatever we come up with as fast as possible. With that philosophy, all they can hope for is to try to catch up. Not happening.
You are right Shannon. A lot of China haters just don't realize their Dollar don't buy much nowadays. We are all poorer now because of all the debts piling up and the Fed printing endless paper money! So meanwhile Chinese factories cut corners just to stay in business, yes, selling us junk because many of us are too poor to buy the higher end stuff! Be grateful you even have those junks because your money don't buy much. You want high end stuff, China can surely make them too. Think Apple perhaps?
Meanwhile China make high quality military weaponry to match Americans but this is art of war, so they won't tell you they have better tech like lasers. Don't underestimate China to your detriment!
A fine discussion to have in West Point classrooms or in standard operational readiness reviews, but really has no significance on CNN other than to make people paranoid. China is not attacking Taiwan anytime soon.
I respect our military to plan for various war contigencies (that's their job), but lets not read into it anymore than that.
Finally...reason. Chris gets it. The writer is paid by our gov't to find deficiencies and holes in our armour....Thats his job. Now why did CNN think that they should publicize his research, thats the real question
If things become that critical it will ecalate to a nuclear war in quick time.
I know a little about the military, theirs and ours, and would simply point out that, by buying a few more of our bonds, China could own us without a shot being fired. Just sayin.....
Not worthy of a response.
There is no point in wasting money on military defense at this point. We have already been invaded and taken over from the inside.
This article is complete nonsense and rubbish.
Nothing like a little fear mongering to start the day. Way to go CNN.
Agreed. Guess who enables the fear mongering – defense contractors who bribe journalist to write this gabbage. They know it leads to more contracts. We know the defense budget is inexhaustible. Who wants to be seen as "soft on defense"?
don't worry we will cut our defence department that way no one will attack us.
Yeah CNN!
Keep making stories about how we should do away with our over-seas bases because they're too costly!
Or just like send an email to someone important.
China sells just about everything to the US ... what's the point of this article ??
Ohhhhh nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
Let's hurry up and spend trillions of dollars more on our military!!!
We have no choice!
I call b.s. More propaganda designed to support defense spending. If you military folks can't protect your military bases, you are incompetent at what you do! More support for limiting defense spending.
If China needs "Kamikaze" pilots, they can recruit them from Foxconn. Hey, if you are gonna jump from the roof of your employer, you might as well serve your country, instead.
China doesn't have the technology, brains, or guts to attack their meal ticket. PERIOD!
If China attacked US military bases in the Pacific, the Pearl Harbor analogy might not be as relevant as the Hiroshima analogy, because the US would launch a massive nuclear weapons strike against China darkening the skies worldwide with the smoke and particles of a billion nuked Chinese people. The only credible threat to Pacific Military bases on this side of the apocalypse is from rogue nation or group that would launch a terrorist attack against a base. China does not want to be the recipient of thousands of two megaton warheads sprinkled across every Chinese city, and military base, nor do I think that the Chinese are ready to wipe out human civilzation by provoking a nuclear attack. In case we haven't noticed, the Chinese leaders are shrewd business people, and provoking a nuclear armageddon does not make good business sense.
Whoa: CNN is fear mongering about China again! It treats Americans like sheep to be shown a dummy big scare wolf now and then so they would follow the shepherd!
That is a pathetic piece of propaganda! How can some people here have serious considerations about it!
A war wouldn't even have to happen. The US owes China so much money from loans...and we import an extreme amount of items "Made in China". Wouldn't taken anything more than telling the US to pay up the debts and we'd be at the brink of war since. And, by the way, many Americans would be suprised how many company are already Chinese-owned and run, and how much land they own in the US.
what is the point of this story. if 1/2 trillion dollars annually does not keep us safe, there is no amount of money that will.
More fear mongering to keep amreicans in fear so they will approve ridiculous defense budgets brought to you my the military industrial complex. Please wake up. China needs our markets we need their slave labor for our silly electronic toys....
China forsee's the U.S. as trying to rule the world, and has seen what they have done in the past. China, as well as Russia want to end this. China desires to take out the U.S. for several reasons, for one. Without the U.S. economy, the rest of the world will have to turn to the rising market of China. The reason China is modernizing it's military, and expanding it's reach is to secure it's financial assets. China will not let the U.S. take hold of what is theirs.. China knows the U.S. has no real plans on paying them back, but that is ok. China see's that U.S. mainland is their's anyway. China will seek to take the U.S. soil by force. Look into this, and you will indeed see China is planning on an actual invasion of the U.S. RED DAWN, pails in comparison to the actual intensions of the Chinese for the U.S. Russia will join in the war, after China has successfully prevailed against U.S. defenses. The Draft will me made mandatory in the conflict to come, when it starts in the Pacific. This is really coming.. time is running out.. I am not a fearmonger..
No..your just stupid
One day you will wish I was misstaken..
agree with Tim on this one
I think you forgot to take your meds. China would love to rule the world, and they have an actual 1000yr. plan to do so. At this time they do not possess 1/1000th of the might required to defeat the US. Maybe one day, if the US stops improving, and the Chinese are given a few hundred years to catch up, it might be worthy of conversation.
Shannon girl! it's time to take your Rx. Stop the stupid nonsense.
Calm down Shannon! I see you are very rational elsewhere in your comments but this is paranoia! You are like those doomsday survivalists who let their minds think wild thoughts. China does not ever do invasion of other countries, this must be clear. Neighboring countries you have to know their histories better. What China is doing and will continue to do is using soft power to effect a cultural change to her favor. This is like Americans exporting Western ideas and behaviors to the East. It is a clash of cultures, no real military conflict. Americans don't have to 'buy' into Eastern cultural lifestyle if we don't want to.We have our own free will and China can do nothing about it.
Although your comments are a possible scenario, the invasion of the USA, by the Chinese, would be very difficult. ALL of America's Air power would HAVE to be knocked out, not just at Kadena but all over the USA and the forces based overseas, as well , to enable ANY SIGNIFICANT invasion on the North American Continent. The logistics would be SIGNIFICANT. Any ship boar innvasions would have a difficult time landing troops and maintaining supplies in the face of ANY, remaining, American Air Forces. An Invasion across the narrow water between Russia and Alaska would face the same problem. I would make the landings and storming of the beaches in Normandy look like "child's play". The USA is just too LARGE in land mass. It would be much like the problems the Germans faced when they invaded Russia. In the words of a German officer: "It just kept going...on and on...we could see no END to it"!
Your article was well received as was your research on each strategic location. Every scenario you outline would, in fact, occur assuming the Chinese were to launch such a radical campaign. However, everything else written is purely ‘point/counterpoint’ in that retaliatory efforts (Armageddon) would naturally follow. So why even write such an article about ‘What ifs?’
And.....who dropped the huge bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thinking that was just fine and justified??
It was 'fine and justified' Saved millions of lives.
Everybody knows that it's the Dutch we have to worry about !
The author did a really lousy job of coming up with motives for the Chinese to do this. China is winning the economic war by working hard and not going into debt, fighting actual wars is so outdated, too bad the US does not realize it yet.
This is such a retarded article. Like China would attack us. It would destroy not only their country from a retaliatory response but the global economy.
Trying to beat the drums of war again?
Wow...This is a truly ridiculous article and I am embarrassed for CNN for having put this up. I am definitely stupider having read this piece of garbage.
Toshi – Why would China ever launch a massive attack against US bases through out the Pacific?
China is one of our largest trading partners and IF they attacked us they would be committing economic suicide. Not only that, but IF China ever attacked the U.S all three elements of our nuclear deterrent system would still be very much so in working order. SAC is still (for the most part) located in the U.S, most of our land based ballistic missiles are in the center of the continental United States, & the Navy's ballistic missile submarines would more than likely be safe and sound and ready to ripple fire ICBMs on China.
Even if you take the nuclear card off the table we have 11 carriers to their .1 and our navy is a true blue water navy while China's is a brown water force. If you know anything about the military you know that I am referring to the U.S's ability to project our naval might across oceans rather than merely defending our coasts. Let's not even get in to our significant advantages in air power...
Seriously Toshi…write about the dangers of the U.S using military force v. threats to the U.S. That is the real threat to our country. No country that wanted to last more than 2 weeks in a conventional fight against the U.S would seriously consider attacking us. You are obviously bored.
Scare tactics 2.5
Preemptive attacks.
Pearl Harbor.
Decapitation attacks.
Pearl Harbor NEVER HAPPENED just like 9/11 NEVER HAPPENED!
Hogwash. Why in the hell would the Chinese go after US forces in the Pacific? They are not controlled by an extremely powerful body of war profiteers, like we are. These guys are smart enough to know that if they wanted to inflict serious damage on the US, the dumbest way to do it is with war.
The US citizenry just can't seem to get their heads around this....It's just not 1950 anymore.
The cyberwar is already in progress.
Well, is anybody surprised? The Chinese people are very intelligent, as orientals more so that white folks, black folks, brown, or red. Most if not all know multiple languages, English just being secondary to their native tongue. Their minds are wired for learning. Just think about it their language symbols exercise their brains more than the English language does. The 1974 Trade Agreement gave them the cart and horse of manufacturing now they have surpassed the USA being like the Ferrari of manufacturing based economy. What does the USA produce that other countries still want? The in the box thinking greedy CEO's thought of the Chinese just as the coolies that built the railroads across America in the 1800's well, They are a lot smarter than that. They have lobbyist that buy our the politicians which pass legislation to curtail further USA manufacturing based economic recovery. Duh, and the election of Nov 6 2012. This is no surprise.
You seriously need to lose the tinfoil hat. Asians are no more intelligent than any other race – in fact, with most of their population still not receiving adequate nutrition, especially protein while brains are developing, the chinese as a whole are significantly LESS intelligent than the populations of first world countries. there are no racial differences in potential intelligence, but poor nutrition during childhood has permanent effects. The US still manufactures MANY products that are shipped throughout the world, and the only reason so much outsourcing does occur is the difference in labor cost. If the cost picture changed (which it is slowly doing) we would be fully capable of ramping up our manufacturing capabilities rapidly.
Just because they have the capability doesn't mean they will do it. The deadly response they can expect is the deterrent.
While I disagree with the premise of this article, considering the likely total nuclear response from the US, the message is essentially correct. We should be on our guard 24/7 concerning possible attacks from likely and unlikely quarters. Our military and civilian authorities should be conducting preparedness drills regularly. As they say, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".
To think, you used to have to go to Fox News for this type of warmongering.
This story is completely goofy. Shame on you CNN
I think the writer is playing too many video games!
Good try CNN! We'd turn China or anyone else into glowing zombies and shoot them in the dark!
Just a thought...Is there American restaurants on every corner in China?
Yes, they're called McDonalds
So China "wins" Taiwan and then loses it's ability to sell anything to anyone?
We'd also strike back and if not nuclear, a concerted series of non-nuclear attacks.
China would lose so much more than it would gain.....if it was successful, which is doubtful, in the first place.
China is the biggest investor in the US. If they attack the US bases, it will actually hurt china a lot more than the US and stop China's growth.
Can I say we need to stop importing items made in china and produce on our own land with environment controlled engineering?
I think one nice way to increase jobs.
Also, can we get more american consultant and educate them other then having non Americans? In big companies private and gov sectors....
Can we create more technical jobs inland then outsourcing to other countries?
Can we just mind our own business and call troops back home?
Please help citizens.
If the Chinese really wanted to attack, they would poisin the food in their Chinese restaurants here in good ole USA and we'll all be dead in 3 hours.
China has already invaded America! Do you know that there is more chinese restaurants in this country than MacDonalds, Burger King and Wendy's put together? There is your Red Dawn!
none sense!
You are right David.... Lets help each-other to make things sensible !!!
When resources run short , you'll see who your buddies are.
The main reason China has not taken Taiwan by force is because of those bases.
In time China wil go to war with the U.S. on the battlefield, and prevail agasint the U.S.,....
.
The U S has a very, VERY powerful deterrent toward China - We could threaten to surrender !
.
No.. you are misstaken.. The U.S. is not that powerfull, and China is more powerfull than you think..
Yours is the best reply of all, Allen. Kudos!
Ahhh, but what better way to ensure a regiment of supporters for heavy defense spending than to beat the fear drum. With large defense cuts looming and the credibility of this guys background and work product can you think of a better opportunity? Besides, it would seem every time the chinese do something against the United States be it economic, dangerous consumer products or militarily our leadership just drops their pants shoves their head in the ground and does nothing. Go figure.
ummm. no. china is not that stupid. does china or anyone in the usa doubt that the usa would retaliate? look, it may be more fun to pick on china, but the real threat is Islamic terrorism. this happens to be inconvenient for the left media however as we should respect other peoples' religions. when it comes to religion and left media, everything is off limits, unless you're making fun of southern white evangelical republicans. it's ok to pick on them.
This is silly, I am not afraid, sorry guys. China has better things to due then start a war. That's what we do.
A bolt from the blue like the Pearl Harbor attack. Um it was not that unexpected, CNN should stick to influencing elections for their liberal brothers. Leave the news to some credible news services.
All China has to do if they want to attack the US is stop shipping Chinese made consumer goods. Nothing we can do militarily can make up for the fact that people like Mitt Romney have exported so many thousands of American jobs to China that we are no longer capable of providing ourselves with the daily goods that we all rely on.
Why do they think China wants to attack the U.S.? That would be my first question. Without that answer all the rest of this is paranoia.
You're right the article is pure paranoia.
Double BS. You ever hear of satellites? No one is sneaking up on the US any more.
Cyberwar in progress.
USA spends / wastes way TOO much $$$ on military junk. USA drives the sick world militarism ... a few USA military contractors make big profits. It will drive USA to oblivion.
Anyone who thinks the U.S. foothold in Asia hinges on a single Navy base, or the Navy as a whole is still living in the WWII era. I'm not saying that the Navy is obsolete, but its status, power and budget allotment have more to do with politics than its effectiveness in war. We fight wars with missiles and aircraft, not boats. The Air Force would have jets in the area long before those Navy boys can decide what spiffy uniform to wear into battle.
Can anyone think of one reason that China would want to attack the U.S.? China's export economy is so dependent on the U.S. market. By attacking the U.S., it's automatically WWIII. Who in the right mind want that? You really think Chinese is that irrational? Be serious!
The scenario that China would hit the U.S. would only work if China was engaged with its rival in the area, which is India, another proto-superpower in the wings. In the event of a Indo-China war, depending on the conditions, China would hit us as a logical step if we sided with India. Now granted, all of this is theoretical. Bottom line, its Pearl Harbor Day, better off reporting on the historical attack, than doing a Tom Clancy on a potential future war.
Why attack a country like the USA which is hell-bent on destroying itself from within?
Our response to the Pearl Harbor attack, I would think, would be a sufficient enough deterrent for such a move.
Its funny that this gets on the front of CNN's webpage, scare tactics boooo shame on you cnn
This writer is an idiot. Do you even know anything about the military? Do you really think the U.S. doesn't already have a practiced plan for this situation? Not to mention there will be hard sites that the rockets can't destroy and the bases will still be relatively functional and would be operational again very quickly. Don't forget that China is dependant on U.S. trade. They could not even fund a war without our money and trade. We also owe them quite a bit.. This is just more anti-China propaganda.
Yes. Just browse through the posts here you will see that most opinions reflect total agreement with you. Just fear mongering, that's all. This writer should find areas of human suffering to write about in order to help alleviate it, not create more human heart aches with un-informed "writings".
Well , just keep buying those Chinese goods at Walmart. Your financing the Chinese Communist Military Machine. Fully 20% of import taxes china levies on imports goes directly to the government infrastructure. Military included.
you gave no motives. The only rationale for a perquisite to war that the author delivered was that our forward bases are potentially open to an attack from Chinese missiles. I personally cant see any strategically sound motive for a war against america and her allies unless the desire and means to create a new world order were in place, something china probably has no desire and especially does not have the means to do by itself at the moment. People need to stop assuming china is an enemy unless they make it apparent what that their desire is to be so.
I hear China is really upset that Apple is going to start assembly in the US now. Maybe that will put them over the edge.
US military need more bayonets and more horses: that is the area where they are lacking the most! Obama recognizes that but does nothing to fix it!
We are fighting the monster we created .
Very true , kind of like Afghanistan.
That is ludicrous. Unlike 1941, U.S. Airpower can be projected anywhere in the world from a myriad of bases including all the carrier strike groups. Any attack on U.S. bases by China would lead to a profound response from U.S. air power. Every Chinese vessel on the high seas would be sunk within 24 hours. Every command and control facility on the Chinese mainland would be obliterated. Any Chinese troops invading Taiwan would face carpet bombing from B-52's and B-2 bombers. They wouldn't stand a chance.
Just stop talking with your phucking a-s-s!!! "All Chinese ships, will be sunk in 24hrs" All F-22 pilots will die from a defect fighter, is more it.
They're so sure that TSA can keep things secure, let them handle it then?
Minor side note..... if China takes out the 7th fleet we can nuke China 100 times over.
The notion of a conventional war with China is laughable. Millions can be killed on both sides literally within hours. So what's Chinas motivation again? LOL
And you think they don't have the same capability?
Did you not read the part where he said both sides?
Actually, they don't. (different Bob, BTW)
This article is total nonsense! It is pure speculation and is meant to get people scared so they'll stay glued to CNN's psuedo-news. The writer used dozens of conditional modals, "may" "might" "could". None of the speculation is based in anything substantial.
Great! Mr. Miyagi says, "Best block...no be there." Solution #1: close bases outside the US. And inside the US if not in a border state. What are we afraid of, anyway, that Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo will resurrect themselves, regroup their armies, and restart WWII? Why do we have bases in Okinawa, Italy, Germany, Turkey? It's just defense pork. Any danger we're in now is a self-fulfilling prophecy based on our perpetual trigger happy war footing.
If our military strategists have not already planned for such a scenario, that's all the more reason to cut our useless defense budget. It's just living proof that no matter what we spend, we are as vulnerable as ever.
Agreed, throwing money at problems only causes more problems to pop up.
With so much money we give to contractors and idle military bases in countries, even allies, that don't like our over-stay, we need modern alternatives. Skim the edges of international waters with mega carriers? Tourism companies imagine floating islands, why not the greatest military of he planet?!
Part of the misstake the U.S. makes is thinking it is more powerfull, than it actually is.. , but if they wish to be foolish, let them be foolish, they will learn the hard way..
Folks. you are describing the start of a thermo nuclear war here as this suggested move by China would only be to destroy the United States and take over the world. This needs to be carefully communicated as an international policy of our rules of engagement that such a move would litterally be aniliation.
This is a terrible piece of journalism. CNN's stories have just be getting worse and worse.
I think Toshi Yoshihara is dead on. America should immediatelly redirect all of their finanicial resources at beefing up these Asian bases. One just doesn't know when those sneaky Chinese will launch an attack at one of our bases.
Tora Tora Tora!
Sorry folks, I never posted that stupid statement above. Some jerk is trying to make me look like a complete idiot!!!
China just ran out their first aircraft carrier made from an old Russian hull. We have 11 of the most advanced aircraft carriers our tax payers can buy. China is so far behind us in military technology they are likely never to catch up. And China is about as tight with their money as they can be. There is NO way they want to get involved in a costly war with anyone. Which is why they turn a blind eye to conflicts like the ones in Syria.
Step #1 to acquiring expensive new military toys: Validate a threat and build public interest through major media outlets.
The latest and greatest gadget is out on shelves just in time for the holiday season and we just GOTTA have it. "Please daddy, PLEASE can I have an iRondome for Christmas?" My only question is does Toshi Yoshihara get his wallet filler from the Pentagon or the weapons maker?
This article is unfounded horse crap. Why on god's green earth would China wage war with their largest trading partner? It would be sheer economical suicide, you idiot.
Very well said, Concerned Citizen. Thank you.
Comedy.. a surprise attack. The response... if this was even a possibility... would be for our sub based nukes to liquefy every one of their major cities within minutes. Most of their nukes are based on 50's technology... and we are perfecting anti-missile shields here. They would hand us their own complete and utter destruction with a reason to boot.... not going to happen.
Good to know we have citizens that are so enlightened to the full military capabilities of all our potential adversaries.
This article is relevant because it's December 7th. As a war college thinker, the writer's job is to raise the question about whether a Pearl Harbor surprise is feasible today. It's the military's job to be prepared for these sorts of scenarios. By being prepared, they all help make the possibility of such an attack a fanciful scenario. However, if the military is not prepared, then foreign powers and terrorist groups might calculate that they can get away with an attack. When we get down to a little over 100 very costly ships, lots of enemies will be doing the math.
When we get down to 100 costly horses, people will be doing their math. Ships are antiquated. 1 cruise missile can take down a billion dollar ship.
Quick, quick we need an emergency authorization to double defense spending to protect these bases. After all, there are American Defense Contractors on those bases whose lives we can't risk. What crap.
lol
China would be hurting their own economy by attacking us... I'm not sure I see the benefit for them..
Imagine that, a sovereign country not wanting a large military force to be located near them.
Why do people insist on picking a fight with the Chinese? The US and China have a very nice "you don't mess with me, I don't mess with you" mentaility... let's keep it that way shall we?
No one has even mentioned the hundreds of guided missile destroyers that the US Navy has at it's disposal. Each of them could wipe out a large city in China or port all by themselves using nothing but conventional warheads. And we have hundreds of them. We wouldn't even need aircraft to level China, and they would have no way of tracking and knowing the exact location of every single warship we have at sea, or submarines underwater.
China could inflict some damage, but they'd be stirring up a hornets nest and if we really wanted a modern "Shock and Awe" attack, we could flatten several key cities using nothing but conventional warheads. There is a reason we did away with battleships and instead invested in guided missile destroyers.
Wow critisize CNN and your post disappears, guess only liberals are allowed to point out errors
Fiscal cliff defense cuts so of course there has to be a looming threat somewhere in the world. SOOO transparent.
senate just unanimously passed DOD budget with tens of millions added as bonus to what DOD requested.
just imagine how vulnerable OTHER countries feel since the arm of the most violent empire in history aka the USA reaches all corners of the globe.
Really? Another low-information voter...Maybe you should move to one of those vulnerable countries...How easy you forget history.
An attack from China would not be all bad.
It would instantly eliminate most of our National Debt, since China is the primary holder of a lot of the US Bonds funding our debt.
the food is good, and the ladies aren't half bad
Lets see there are to DVD players:
(1) Made in USA $49.98 Sold at Sears
(2) Made in Mexico $39.99 Sold at Kmart
(3) Made in China $33.48 Sold at Walmart
You have $50.00 to spend and a week to payday.
Where are you going to buy your DVD player?
This is the choice we buyers face everyday.
I would, quite honestly, go with #1 for a number of reasons. The problem is, #1 doesn't exist.
Is CNN the new FOX NEWS?
Of course we are vulnerable. Our bases yes, but our home land more so than anything else. Attacking America is simple. cross the Mexican border.
What is truly sad is that the left has some mind numbing excuse for been prepared, having a military or taking measures to protect ourselves. Liberals/Progressives you hate America. We get it. So leave. We would rather die than descend into the cesspool of socialism.
China has over 1 billion population and has plenty of territory. Why should China invade anyone?
China is much moresmarter than the USA. It knows full well that it already owns the US and can inflict a fatal economic blow to the USA any time it wishes to inflict pain. The US has already bancrupted itself with massive military spending. It's economy is in ruins. The men who deal in arms sales are stuffing their pockets with the money....while the taxpayers who pay for this stuff go broke.
I think most of you miss the point of the article. Its not an opinion article saying that China will or is going to attack the US pacific or asian regional assets, it simply points out the weaknesses that American bases have in the area in the event an attack did occur. Furthermore, those of you saying "Lose the bases" and "Cut defense spending" are setting yourselfs up for hypocracy. While I agree that the US needs to rely less on host countries, we do need forward operating bases worldwide. The one thing that all of the great governmental units and/or countries from history books have in common, they are not still around today. Governments toppel, regims fall, and all reigns have a start and an end. It may not be China, but eventually somebody is going to attack, and when they do, it will be all of you demanding defense cuts that will be asking "Where is our military to protect us, how were we so easily defeated?" Oh yea, its because we demanded a cut in defense spending and the goverment used that money to finance research to find out pointless stuff like why pee is yellow and to give food stamps to people scamming the social security systems.
If you want the country to save money, push for the government to stop pouring billions into pointless research and bailing out other countries and private companies. DO NOT make a push to cut defense spending – if you knew that you were destined to fall off of a cruise ship, would you rather the cruise company had cut spending on life jackets and boats, or cut back on peanuts, pretzels, and martini olives?
The funny thing to me is that those who want defense cuts sure don't mind using services the defense budget provides I.E...GPS.
Everytime the military budget is about to get cut they come out with a scare headline like this one. Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my!
a bunch of saber rattling just like isreal. why the hell would china attack out the blue at no provocation like pearl harbor? there is nothing to gain besides economic destruction. china needs us buying their goods.
There is a war already in play. It is being played out in cyberspace. I work in IT , and I can tell you from personal experience that literally thousands of cyber attacks are happening daily. This is the 21st century battlefield.
Oh my god, what are you even talking about? First, Pearl Harbor wasn't a metaphor for unpreparedness, it was an *example* of unpreparedness. It ... happened. It's not a stretch. It's like...right there. Secondly, why would you talk about the means before you would talk about the motive? I have the means to punch my coworker in the face, but why in the world would I do that? Thirdly, your "motive" is still means. Your "motive" is just strategy. That's still "means". For the love of god, who writes this crap?
A non story...Move along! Move along!
Comments like this make me realize that I should start writing because I have no idea why some terriblly thought out article such as this was published.
"Yet it should take no stretched metaphors to appreciate this emerging threat."
is this really an honest statement? your guess is to how long it will take for the emergence to take place? (I won't hold my breath btw)
why go around the globe, build bases right under china's nose, and threat to bomb their cities first?
The most devastating aspect to the Pearl Harbor attack wasn't the damage to port facilities; it was the damage to the actual fleet which had foolishly been docked en mass. The Navy no longer does that, ensuring that a large majority of the fleet is not in harbor at any given time. This measure alone makes a surprise attack on our ports ineffective at neutralizing our immediate response strength.
The author strikes me as a kid in the school yard trying to get two other kids to fight each other.
Napoleon once said an army marches on its stomach. China will march because of its stomach. We will see happens during the next major rice crop failure.
Any way Dec. 21 is comming fast.. Bye Bye Bye
If we are truly vulnerable, then instruct the Military/CIA/SService to get un-vulnerable and quit talking about it.
There are enough "real" situations going on in the world right now. The last thing we need is some paranoid alarmist dreaming up more crap!
Really?
Some of our 180+ Military bases worldwide are vulnerable to attack?
The hell you say!
BD
If the chinese do attack the U.S., They will no longer have a population control issue once the U.S. is done with them. Guaranteed!
The same will be true for the US... Military strength between both countries is almost on par! Regardless of that fact it is dumb to suggest mass murder in response to a made up story...
Yeah! Let's spend even more money on military crap we don't need. Seriously!? Our military simply doesn't get it. The times of endless spending are gone! Get used to it and live with what you have. What we really need is more money for education. Then we wouldn't have to read these dumb "news stories".
Old ideas of full scale sneak attacks are for our grandparents generations. A world mega power assaulting another world mega power would just result in complete disaster (nuclear) so no reasonable country is going to make a move like that. The current focus is on the right countries, the countries that are trying to build just one large bomb to use it effectively as a terrorist scare tactic. This article is old and outdated. The U.S. doesn't fear China because China owns too much of the U.S. to attack it's own interest. The U.S. fears countries like Iran that have no idea what they are doing and are just crazy enough to sacrifice their own people just to make a statement.
Exactly! Why would China attack the US? We are a bog customer for them and they have a lot of financial interests in the US. This is just a made up story to create fear and support for more military spending that is not needed...
While the author may be correct with regard to Chinese capability, the analysis falls far short of rational thought. Chinese ICBM forces capable of ranging the Continental United States are few in number (perhaps 100 or less and at this point per the Federation of American Scientists) These numbers and thier associated yields (in the low megaton range) are insufficient to adequately attrit US offensive nuclear capability. In addition it is plausible that their liquid fueled DF5A of which there are 20 could be destroyed in their silos (due to required fueling delays), and that some, perhaps not many of the weapons targeting the US may be intercepted by our ABM systems.
It flies in the face of logic to conduct such a devestating strike against conventional US forces with no warning while leaving the US with such a potent nuclear counter-strike capability, one that it would almost certainly consider using in the face of such massive loss of assets and lives.
Is the author out of his mind? Sure, China whose major trading partner is the U.S. and who holds a large percentage of U.S. Treasuries, and a country which has never had an aggressive internationalist policy, is about to launch a surpise attack on the United States! How did this author ever reach the stage of credibility where CNN would publish this nonsense?!
This article is great in enlightening people who still think China can be run roughshod over. Sorry folks, the day of China containment is over. China can shoot down your satellites, can surface submarines close to your Carrier Groups, can attack your Carrier Groups with ASBM. Do all your calculus and you will realise China's real purpose is to push you back to Guam and away from the China Seas without firing a shot. Now, will US stop meddling in the China Seas disputes? It is called the Art Of War!
and we wouldn't detect the inbound missles and destroy most of them...?
I'm sure the Chinese are building all of these offensive weapons at a fantastic rate with nothing but love in their hearts.
The Chicom is the enemy of the West. Period. Just because we have forgotten that, doesn't meant that they have.
Whatever if we gotta to go to war with china im sure the usa, canada and the uk will kick ass as we always do!! but really china dosnt have the navy or air force to try anything silly. for now....
Do you even know what you are talking about. Who the hell let a Pakistani get on CNN?
Isn't this paranoia???
So, we are vulnerable to the Chinese in the Pacific, therefore, CNN and other news agencies decide it would be a great idea to put that all over the internet and inform China and others about our weak spots. Great job, guys, keep up the good work.
China has already defeated us economically, it would not be in their best interest to invade America, they need us to keep sending them jobs, thanks to all the traitor CEO's and Executives.
Well I think we all agree that Toshi is full of cra p and obviously needed some spending money so wrote this useless piece. A military expert? save us from them.
China has the economic means necessary to put the world in an economic warfare. As it stands right now, the Yuan is intentionally undervalued so China can keep exporting. Sooner than later, when China's economic cycle is on the downward spiral, war with China's neighbors is the absolute solution to rally the communist party to unite the Chinese people.
History keeps repeating itself like what Hitler did when Germany's economy was in the Depression. Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat. The same thing China is doing right now. China is blaming unrest on Islamic unrest, southern and eastern neighbors encircling her with military buildup because of Chinese paranoia.
World War III will start in the Pacific with one of China's neighbors as any Chinese Communist hawks will likely use to advance his own agenda.
Don't be so hard on the author. He is describing a what if scenario, not predicting the near future. Somebody has to look at the what ifs in these matters. I'm sure there are what is scenarios pre planned for all kinds of possibilities. He makes a lot of valid points. Right now I don't see China attacking us, but ther is no doubt China is a rising power and their military is growing. We are at odds over NK and Taiwan. Not looking at the what ifs would be foolish.
This article should not have been link-to on CNN's homepage. It contains little relevant information and a lot of fear mongering. Yes, China could do a lot of damage to US Naval bases if they wanted to, but they don't gain anything from attacking their largest business partner.
Yeah. I'm sure we have a lot to fear from their one beat up, used Ukranian aircraft carrier. LOL I think I see the old military industrial complex trying to figure out a way to move their money from Europe and the Middle East to Asia by creating a new "threat" from the East. The problem is, the "Teabillies" will probably buy into it lock stock and sinker. What fools we all are! We have much more to fear from the Pentagon than any other country. They are the one stealing the money!!!!!!
In all honesty, I think it's more likely the US will be invaded by space aliens than by China. The two are virtually joined at the economic hip.
^ Author = war mongering idiot!
How about an article about cutting down the US "defense" budget?!
If this article makes it so I cannot watch Jackie Chan movies anymore... I'm going to be really angry
Considering the "might" of the US military , what was the last US engagement that was won decisively? Panama , Grenada?Some third world armpit. Iraq is a waste , Afghanistan will be the same. The only reason we are there in any capacity is as an access to Iran. A highly dubious staging area. And guess who is Iran's ally? It might be prudent to look at the picture with a much brighter light.
What a nice time to scare the crap out of people right before the budget talks. Anyone who thinks that is just a coincidence is not that bright. Nobody wants to be cut but says cuts need to be made. That is the U.S. in a nutshell. The Fiscal cliff well at least 50% is what one side wants. One side wants tax increases and the other doesn't. On side wants to cut government and the other doesn't. Well cuts to everything EXCEPT the defense. Why is that? I say lets jump off go into another recession and when we pull ourselves up again the hard part will be over. Because both things need to happen if we ever plan to pay off our debt.
Proactively preparing for a false flag no doubt.
China would never attack us. We owe them too much money.
Due to the nuclear threat and deep economic ties, such dreams of conventional warfare are extremely unlikely. The U.S. cannot maintain a massive military any longer to combat tiny possibilities.
Let's get this straight. China might attack the US. That is what are we hearing here? Before doing that the Chinese will have to make sure the US will pay the trillion dollars owned to them. Why you want to kill the guy who own you lot of money. Let's try Cuba, maybe Cuba will attack the US together with Venezuela. About that?
There will be NO military war between the US and China, while Chinese economy still depends on the US economy purchasing from it. If China's economy doesn't depend on the US, THEN and ONLY THEN does China have the option.
But in reality, China is beating the US in economic war... Chinese business people and citizens are doing a fine job being capitalists... while 53% of the US population wants a nanny-state and Obama-phones and welfare and money for nothing. If the US loses economically to China... it is our own damn fault.
Of course fear-mongering about China is one way American businessmen can scare up government military contracts...
...so I don't really expect this kind of stupidity to end.
But I thought the nanny state was a Communist idea? Isn't that what China is, a Communist state? Are you calling the U.S. a communist state and China a Capitalism state?
China would be crazy to attack the country that buys all of their cheap junk...
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."..... H. L. Mencken
As soon as America does stop being the world's policeman, that is the day nobody on earth will regard America as a superpower. I hope I won't be here to see that, because we will be toast.
China and the USA would never have a direct war with each other. They are both nuclear powers.
Stop reading this rubbish. Any outbreak of hostilities on this scale would end in nuclear annihilation. It's not going to happen, so stop wasting all the money and time on it.
Everybody has a right to free speech, but this article is an odd choice by CNN to commemorate the Pearl Harbor anniversary. Just because China has a capability to launch an attack on U.S. naval bases does not mean it will. I can throw snowballs at a funeral procession, but that does not mean I ever will, simply because it makes no sense.
Completely unrealistic 1940's thinking applied to a 21st century world.
- Economic retaliation is significantly more crippling than it was sixty years ago. By launching such an aggressive attack China would immediately cut itself off from the entire Western world. China depends on Western trade for continued growth. Even a successful 'reclamation' of Taiwan would result in setting the Chinese economy back a half century or more.
- Potential for uncontrolled escalation. MAD is just as serious a deterrent today as it was during the Soviet era. Any direct attack on US forces anywhere in the world runs the risk of rapidly escalating into a nuclear conflict. Any "controlled" nuclear exchange has a very real risk of becoming an uncontrolled nuclear exchange which for the most part is likely to end human life on earth as we know it.
Nixon and Clinton were right – the more you engage your adversary the less likely they are to act against you because your interests become their interests. The loss of that relationship becomes as painful as any type of military retaliation.
This seems very unlikely. We should be prepared but China has way too many investments in this country to jeopardize the situation. They need us to coninue to be productive. It would be like investing in a company and then blowing up the buidling that houses it. And, if you look around the world, who is firing more missiles and fighting more wars – the US or China? China stays out of every conflict they possibly can, even small ones – and even conflicts that are justified and needed. Their main concern is facilitating good business and improving their economy. If a war with the US would help on that front, we might begin to worry. All that said, we still have to heed history's lessons a remain prepared.
The discussions about Iron Dome and Patriot are intersting, but a quick look at the numbers knocks the argument that we can shoot down Chinese missiles on the head. They have 1400 BALLISTIC missiles, all of which require a Patriot-class launcher to shoot them down. We would need around 3000 Patriot missiles just to cover this, since a single Patriot can't guarantee a hit.
We just don't have that many!
China also has a lot of aircraft capable of delivering short range missiles. As for the 'China is low-tech" argument, just ask who builds 90% of the electronics used in the US.
China's economic ties with the region are much more important and relevant than war.
Why would China risk its standing as an economic superpower by engaging in a war? China has been able to attain superpower status without firing a shot. Presumably any hostile action would result in Chinese assets in the U.S. being frozen. That alone would significantly affect the Chinese economy, if not bring it down entirely.
Here we go with another paranoia. There is NO indication that China or any other nation, is preparing any attack on the U.S. When I hear these stories it just brings back memories of the lead up to the Iraq War. There was the "mushroom clouds", the "Slam Dunk", etc. These "experts" are at it again.
There is NO indication that China is preparing any attack on the U.S except pursue economic policies to pull its 1 billion poeple out of poverty. Unfortunately, when these "experts" say this gabbage enough it becomes self-fulfilling prophecy and the next stupid leader will find a way to justify another attack on a country that did not attack the U.S and plunge the world into another series of hear breaks, all for defense contracts. When would humans learn???
"The People's Liberation Army (PLA) now possesses the means, the motives, and the opportunities to deliver disabling blows against U.S. " – Yoshihara
What a reckless thing to say.
Means? Yes. Opportunities? Yes. Motives? NO!!!
The word motive implies an emotion desire, which is just not true.
Reason? Maybe.
I have reasons to rob a bank as well. Fat chance I'm going to do it.
So we should pretend the truth away??
"So we should pretend the truth away??" – DasBishop
No. The truth is, there is no motive, no intent to attack our bases. My point was that the article's tone implied an intent, and that was irresponsible.
It is obvious to me that China's military buildup is for national pride and self defense; plus they have too much wealth and resources to do nothing with it. I remember an article on CNN that quoted a Chinese official saying that they will limit their eventual carrier count to half of that of the US. Now what aggressive nation would say something like that?
Fine if they attack those bases in a sneak attack then we launch one thousand nuclear weapons their country is a parking lot then end of story lol
This article is ridiculous. America has 11 operational aircraft carriers. China has 1 refurbished aircraft carrier that won't be ready for service for a couple of years. They've only just landed their very first airplane on it last month, the first Chinese carrier landing in their history. NATO and allies have another half dozen carriers in service. In all, only 22 carriers are in service on the whole planet today. And, of course we have far more combat tested cruise missiles in service than the Chinese can shake a stick at. Lastly, China can't afford to bomb its best customers. So no, this article is absurd. But that's pretty much par for CNN.
I am so glad a lot of readers find this article ridiculous.
So are the Chinese no doubt.
The Liaoning achieves operational status next year.
That's a lie. Liaoning is nothing but a floating piece of trash. There is a Russian article about it. Even if China can get its propulsion working (highly in doubt), the carrier-based jets China have are too heavy. Right now China wants to make a steam catapult lauch pad, but only United States have the technology to do that.
No, I believe the Liaoning could be operational by next year... but I don't believe it would matter. It's still outnumbered 21 to 1 in terms of Aircraft Carriers of equal or greater size operated by the US, and each of the 12 super-carriers in that list (roughly 50% larger than the Liaoning in terms of displacement, and 100% larger in terms of deployable aircraft) has an accompanying fleet approximately equal in size to the entire Chinese navy.
Mike, your technical data is correct. But you don't know the state of this aircraft carrier. Russians did not want China to have this operational. It was Russia that negotiated with Ukraine to have the carrier stripped. What China received in the end was a very sad piece of joke. Even Chinese made fun of it. IF (very big IF) China can build a propulsion for this carrier, the biggest hurdle would be to build a steam catapult. You and I know that only United States has that technology. There is no chance in hell China can perfect it. So in the end China wouldn't be able to carry any attack planes with it. Your conclusion is correct. It wouldn't have mattered. But I'm willing to put money that China cannot get it operational with steam catapult.
China's military just buys what it cannot take by force. The government has its hands in just about every company in China. Americans are funding their own downfall.
I think US should attack China first: what about now!
Seriously, China owns a trillion dollars of our debt and we buy so much crap from them, the economics alone would stop them from attacking. Sounds like that author of this piece has been drinking out of the same well as John McCain. Give Me a break.
Now why would China commit such an overt act of war against the USA when we owe them so much money? If they destroy us, who will pay them back?
America's greatest deterrent to war with China is WalMart. Personally I would put as many Walmart's near US bases as possible.
Unlikely event. Suprise attack = Nuclear War = End of species. End of problem.
I can't figure out if this article is more fearmongering or racist.
Jimbo...it's Haliburton trying to shake us all down for more money.
This guy is an idiot.
I'm interested in a much more important question: if a regional conflict with China already broke out, and Chinese missiles attack Kadena, is the US capable of defending it? That is, can the base defend itself against not a surprise attack, but a well anticipated one.
I understand the sensational appeal of contemplating another Pearl Harbor type, but the likelihood of preemptive attack from China is very low (Mao died almost 40 years ago, mind you). However, if China attacks Taiwan and US intervenes, then China has every right and reason to attack Kadena. In this case, if US cannot defend the base, it will be deterred from intervening at the first place. The likelihood of this is much much higher, so why don't we talk about this less sensational, but more serious, question?
I think if we were to intervene in action against Taiwan, it would involve bringing another fleet or two into the area. We don't just have a technological edge over other nations, we have a numbers edge as well. China may have 3 times more people than we do, but we have 12 times more warships than they do. Our tactics would likely be to force them into a situation where they either have to choose between escalation beyond the point of no return, or giving up on Taiwan, knowing that no sane individual would choose the former.
Really...who put you up to write this garbage? Haliburton? Try to scare us into shucking out more and more money to support the ever-greedier war machine? No way....we see through you.
This has got to be the most ridiculus article I have read in some time. What a bunch of BS
What a waste of thought. Why would the Chinese consider such a move? We are already crippled by this communist nation; they make most of the products necessary for our daily lives and much thanks to the idiot who borrowed from them for an unjust war in Iraq and our continued reliance upon them financially, we as a nation are so indebted to China we'll never likely win our independence! Sigh. Steve
J-15 is vastly superior to F-18. 1 Chinese carrier can easily take on 4 American carriers.
well, i think you should learn how to drive a car first.
One chinese carrier, about the size of an assault ship (of which we have 9) can take on four American super carriers, with twice as many fighters, of which we have 12? All because your J-15, which is just a watered down Su-33, is somehow better than an F/A 18, which eats Su-33's for breakfast. I guess it's a good thing you only have one carrier then...
The Liaoning is Nimitz sized in terms of dimensions.
No... it's not. Its displacement is about 67,000 tonnes. The Nimitz is around 100,000 tonnes. The Ford class carriers (our newest, as opposed to the 40 year old Nimitz) will be slightly smaller, but still capable of carrying twice as many aircraft as the Liaoning.
This is just silly fear mongering. There is very little reason for China to even initiate a war, and "Just becasue they can" isn't a solid reason. Our two economies are so heavily tied together that it would be impractical and costly on both sides, and both of us know this.
Any such attack would trigger a massive response from the USA launched from subs and the US mainland. China would be winning for about two hours then would no longer exist as a functional society.
So let me get this straight... Members of the military-industrial-complex who are enrich by war think we should spend more TAXPAYER DOLLARS ON THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL-COMPLEX? It all makes sense now.
The US has the greatest weapon of all against China..... the trillions of $ we owe them. China would never want to forfeit that money.
A drop of in the ocean compared to China's GDP. China isn't dependent on America for anything. China was a super power for thousands of years before America was created.
WRONG. It is definitely not a "drop in the bucket." Trillions of dollars is a lot of many to any country, and America's GDP is greater than China's, so I guess you're just talking out your ass. Yep, that's what it sounds like.
Let them be vulnerable, we have more important things to spend out money on.
Interesting timing- just when Congress is about to put in some spending cuts, a military man puts out an "OMG, we are so at risk!" commentary. It's BS.
This author is a straight up idiot. China will never ever bomb us. Of course a "military expert" is pushing for more money to the military, no surprise there.
Contractors have made our military less ready and more vulnerable. A person I knew that went to Iraq said a contract worker called in coordinates for a mortar strike. They hire locals for pennies an hour with no loyalty while the defense contractor charges like they hired US citizens and sent them over to work. It is gross.
Why do people always worry about Chinese? Chinese attacks American? Chinese attacks Asian countries? Please check out what Chinese doing right now? Most of them are thinking how to get more money, especially people in the government... for themseleves. Why do Mr. Zakaria not talking about India? India announced they have long range missle ability... Of course, America is a free country, anyone can write anything they want, especially people in medium.
I still dont buy the red dragon as a real threat ~ They are enjoying the money too much from manufacturing the garbage and junk the entire world buys – they'd be cutting their own throats attacking their biggest markets – wont happen.
As a US Soldier, i'm glad i'm getting out of the military next month after 5 years service. Our country has become so pathetic and paranoid about EVERYTHING. I've become quite concerned at the scaremongering conducted by the media concerning China. Our military has conducted various strategic moves in the past year or so by putting combat troops in a permanent role in Kuwait and now putting troops in Australia and we continue to add more countries our military is in. I love the US, but I can no longer support what our foreign policy is all about and especially if nutjobs continue to act like China is going to attack the US especially. Yes, China is becoming more advanced and aggressive in the Pacific/Asia, but they are not a realistic military threat to the US. They aren't that stupid, but i'm afraid WE might be. Just because another nation wants to have a military footprint in their backyard, we act like we own it and that they are the ones who are the problem. The US is the problem in most cases. We need to back off for once.
Complete garbage.
If China did this, there would be a huge radioactive smoldering hole in the earth where china used to be. No nation state will attack us.
even if they take down our comms, sats, everything .. we have so many Nukes out there in the ocean, in other countries, and in space ... they would be wiped out no matter how much of our infrastructure they were able to disable across the globe... we would still remove them from the face of the earth and they know it.
Yet America does not care that a Canadian oil company is taking Americans' land through eminent domain to build a pipeline?
China ever attacks a U.S. base, I have 3 words. H-Bomb Beijing. End of story.
A well reasoned and well written article. A nice change of pace from the usual far left of center CNN.
So you buy into this toxic article designed with an ulterior motive to keep the military going and busting our budget?
We know the globalists want America to have no borders or national sovereignty. Now, the U.N. is condemning the lawful use of force by our U.S. Border Patrol agents! Officials have begun to protest any enforcement taken against violent drug traffickers caught in the act of illegally crossing our southern border. In the meantime, Barack Obama makes no plans to either secure the border OR enforce existing immigration laws, as he garners praise from the international community for FAILING to do his job!
Our counter strike would be Wal-Mart stops buying their stuff – China would become a third world country overnight.
China has no beef. Doesn't mean America can underestimate China. A country with over 1.3 billion people has enough power to take on any country.
While NATO troops were dying in Iraq to protect the oil fields, China just went in and bought oil rights. China did not lose one soldier to obtain oil. So, which countries are the aggressors to keep the oil flowing?
Why isn't anyone talking about how unprepared we are for an alien attack? They have phasers and ray guns!
Rober is exactly right – if China attacked the US all of the debt owed to them is immediately gone. Won't happen.
Loose Hawaii & debt relief: can we just we just do a peaceful trade.... I'm just saying.
America would need to borrow from China to fund weapons to attack China.
While you focused on means, motive, and opportunities, you failed to touch the most important point: reason. The Chinese have no reason to attack US Navy interests in the Pacific. Also, your explanation of 'motive' falls short as well. It serves no interest of the Chinese to take our or inflict significant damage on our naval assets in the Pacific. Therefore, they have no motive for doing this.
I agree that our Pacific bases may be vulnerable to some extent, but it's not China that bothers me. I'm more concerned about the odd terrorist group that tries to sieze the opportunity to make a name for themselves. I think they are the greater danger.
I'm betting that China wouldn't want Beijing turned into a radioactive parking lot within 20 minutes. I can't see China biting the hand that feeds them either.
China is not going to attack U.S. forces in the Pacific. This article is pure speculation, and a poor one at that.
This is obviously a republican ploy so the bloated whale of the defense department is expanded rather than be cut in half. Even if it was to be cut in halt it the department would still be more than the next 7 national defense spending combined. Having been in Vietnam I saw a lot of waste, I'm sure the situation has only gotten more wasteful.
What should be clear in this article is that the costs of a US-China war would be far greater than any potential benefit that other side could hope to acheive in even a conventional conflict. Yet the point of the article would suggest though that China does have the military capability of doing considerable damage to our military assets in the Pacific. A conentional war against China would be a long and hard fought struggle; the US wouldn't just be able 'shock and awe' China into defeat, mistaking them as a North Korea-esque horde armed with malfunctioning Cold War era weapons.
we support there economy... without america there production would halt.. This is the main reason why the tariff system hasn't been modified to make it so American companies can compete with the chinese. That might create a war in itself. I think if China started thinking about it's own people and helping them thrive it would in the end make them more $$$ than the greedy methods they use today to squeeze money out of there people.
Thanks for letting our enemies know how vulnerable we are.
I saw several posts saying why they would attack someone who owes them so much. If I where China and the US decided not to pay I would be giddy with happiness. That’s because I would consider Alaska and Hawaii mine. Probably most the other nations would too. No different than a foreclosure.
Simple Outline:
-The Jews print money at will (giving them all the power to do with as they please).
-With that money, they purchased (stole) the entire American manufacturing industry (we create, they corrupt & destroy).
-Then, they moved it all to China (this all happened right under our noses in a relatively short span of time, yet very few are able to recognize the obvious, even to this day).
-All the while, they tax us into slavery, and sell us back OUR goods, that are now laced with lead and other toxic substances (think that was a coincidence/accident or the fault of the Chinese slaves on the other end?). Yes, this is just another way the Jews have poisoned us (and our children).
-In the meantime, they stole OUR technologies (all they do in China is reproduce everything we invent, discover, and create), our military secrets, and fund the very RED army they will eventually use to strike the final blow in our coffin justified by our false "debt" to them. Do you "think" they are arming them for "nothing", and convincing the Chinese that we "owe" them for "no reason"? Will you still "believe" that as the RED Chinese army is marching down your street?
And on the back end of all of this, they have most of the American sheeple convinced that we somehow "owe" the Chinese, as they have engaged in a relentless propaganda campaign in China as well to convince them of the same ridiculous lie.
Wow.. What a scam these Jews have pulled off. Robbing us blind, destroying our economy, stripping our entire manufacturing industry down to the bones, and convincing the Chinese that we are in "debt" to them (of course the Jews have complete control over China, so all that "debt" they created on this end, goes right to them on the other...screwing us both coming and going)
Unless of course you "think" this was all a "coincidence" and "believe" that the Chinese somehow out smarted us, swooped in and stole everything on their own, and beat us at our own game...To point out the obvious: these are OUR inventions and OUR technologies, nothing originally "Chinese" about ANY of "their" products or weaponry.. (what would they threaten us with if not armed with OUR military "secrets".. bows and arrows?).
Again, they are using OUR technologies against us... to include, in the not too distant future, the military technologies that were stolen from us. "Ironic" isn't it? Or so it would seem, to a person who is unaware of the Jewish agenda and their usual modus operandi.
TheForbiddenTruth net
Some people will believe even mindless drivel like this.
Hey CNN... Nice article today (of all days), you SUCK!
Don't forget that the U.S has the most experienced army in history. And that does count for a lot. If you get in a fight every week and then you go fight a kid who hardly ever been in a fight, the odds are greatly with you. China is a sleeping dragon, sure...A force to be reckoned with, definitely. But much more inexperienced in actual combat.
Pearl Harbor – an icon of government treason – bringing us into the war 71 years ago whether we wanted to or not.
Hollywood thinks North Korea could attack at any moment!
This isn't news. I remember hearing about this in the early 90's. Instead of investing in a powerful and expensvie to maintain navy, China invested in a satallite network to track our navy, and guide missiles to our most important ships if there was ever a need to do so. This is a concern for the military obviously, but not one for the rest of us because China has no intention of starting a war with us. But it should be a wake up call that our military isn't strong enough to be the bully on the block for much longer. We need international support if we're going to accomplish anything without risking our children having to fight a war they can't win. As a nation Americans are anti-science and anti-intellectual. Hate to break it to you people, but that means we won't have a technological edge on the rest of the world for much longer (and that includes more than just hardware, by the way, training based on out-dated methodology is also gradually becoming an issue).
Ladies and gentlemen, the military-industrial complex has its new boogeyman! In the modern nuclear era, two superpowers going to war is exceedingly unlikely given the devastation that can now be wrought. Nevertheless, some factions will try to scare the masses into approving military funding, the single aspect of our budget most responsible for our ballooning deficit.
First I think China realizes who their largest customer is and that is the US. Second, I think that an unprovoked attack will again backfire, because nothing will bring together this country than this type of action. Thirdly, there would be again an outpouring of support from our allies. And this time, our leadership won't bungle the opportunity that brings together the American people. We must be willing as our parents and grandparents did, and that is to put country above politics. Finally, China has one (outdated soviet) aircraft carrier. I will bet on our highly trained pilots over the Chinese counterpart any day. From the battle of the coral sea, to Mig Alley, it is the skill of the pilot that usually wins the day.
When was the last large scale conventional war between two nuclear nations ? Thats right... never. Fact is great Conventional wars of the 20th century are over. For the peaceniks...yay!! For the Guys who wanted the same glory as their dads and grandads in ww 2 and Korea ... sorry buddy. well just have to make do with Talitwits.
Space aliens are more likely to attack us than the Chinese ... this so called "military expert" is a freakin' moron!
crap. zero chance. less than nil.
MR. YOSHIHARA is right, but not all right. The danger to American forces in the western Pacific is far greater than is generally known. Don't let your patriotic nationalism blind you to severe consequences. Don't believe me?
Google the SUNBURN MISSILE.
If that little baby doesn't make you wet your pants then you don't know what you're reading. Add to that recent Russian development of TNW's (tactical nuclear weapons) and you've got a potent mix that can defeat ANY American presence or assault. Check it out. USA isn't as hot as we like to think it is. Not any more. Not by a long shot.
but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...
As long as the sunburn doesnt dry up the seas and expose our subs Ill die knowing we will get the last missile off against Russia or China. I guarantee we have a few satellites with some type of nuke device on them as well that will not be affected by a war on the surface either.
@Tosh.No
This article belongs on some random Tea Party/NRA blog at best. Implying that China in ANY way has a military advantage to the United States shows a complete lack of understanding (excluding the number of ill trained foot soldiers but unless China forms a human land bridge to Oahu I think we're safe).
Talking about ICBM's is silly and a simple re-hashing of Cold War discussions. Move the conversation forward, talk about non-proliferation or real scenarios and threats to China's neighbors. Silly fear mongering is beneath real journalism.
And then our Subs pop up and wipe some of the biggest population centers on Earth off the map. Same with Iran, they arent crazy enough to come at us head on so they fight by proxy or in Chinas case probably a kill switch for every flipping piece of electronics we have =) Imagine a black-out of both telecom and electrical grids. If it lasts and we go ape -shh it then they invade.
Nuke China now!
I think the USA is getting bored again. I hope they find something better to do before antagonizing China.
Why the heck would they attack us? Why would they want to take over a country of people who would rather, as a majority, punch a time clock everyday instead of venturing out on their own and take charge of their lives. Oh, wait, jeeeesh, I guess China would be interested in taking us over.
We can' go to war with China! Where would I get 49¢ tube-socks and lead-painted toys? Calamity!
The military alarmists are at it again. If China wanted to destroy the United States the only thing it would have to do is dump its holding of US Treasury Bonds. But that of course that would destroy their economy too.
The worst thing the US could do is to spend more money on our military industrial complex while China spends its money building up its infrastructure and world-wide markets.
Is this the fear-mongering angle for the next 4 years?
He who defends everything defends nothing. Sun Tzu
Ironic.....considering there is a movement to make December 7th International Sushi Day. Had a couple of rolls myself for lunch without even knowing about it until later.
And have a Yoshihara fantsizing war between US and China on Pearl Harbor day.
This article is ridiculous scaremongering. China does not have the staying power necessary to win any conflict with the US in the Pacific. Even if by some miracle they knocked out all these bases, within a couple of hours they would face a massive retaliation from Strategic Bombers located in the US and Europe. This would quickly decimiate the Chinese Military and industrial base.
Let's not also forget that both sides have nuclear weapons. We've never seen a conventional war waged between two heavy nuclear powers before. Could it really be kept conventional – even if one side looked to be losing badly? It's doubtful.
The Chinese know this. They are not stupid. We're not stupid.
That's why this will never happen.
People judge the United States as having all this power, especially firepower. Yes, to date, the United States is the only nation to have used a Nuclear bomb on another country. Those nuclear bombs were very small though. Russia has used the largest Nuclear bombs ever known to date, at least to the public. To undermind the possiblity, that no other nations will ever use Nuclear bombs is just foolish. It is also unwise to think, that other Superpowers like China, or Russia will never use them against the U.S. It is also just pride speaking, when people, say We would wipe them off the map. The U.S. again, is not that powerfull. If a major conflict arose between China, and the U.S., where Nuclear Weapons were used, China would be successful in hitting vital, and key components of the U.S. military. China has the power, the capability, and the know how to coordinate a Nuclear strike against the U.S., to bring the U.S. to it's knees, and this is not hypothetical reotoric speaking, this is known fact.. China is not some small Middle Eastern country, they know what they are doing, and they will surely crush the hearts of the proud American's who think too highly of their Military strength, and capability. China will humiliate America.., not the other way around.
According to a public report by RAND (I think), an all out nuclear exchange between the U.S. and China would result in China being annihilated and maybe the West Coast of the U.S. being destroyed. Which means China would be more of the loser.
Very sad to see CNN sink to this level. The article is nothing more than propaganda to get ignorant Americans scarred. Anyone who knows the least bit about China knows that they fear war with the US and the people of China would not agree with any military actions involving the killing of people outside of China. Painful to see CNN reduce itself to a tabloid.
All our base are soon belong to you
China would be more worried about protecting their mainland and protecting billon plus population. They cannot just think of waging war with any superpower like US who they depend on for their food and business.
China does have intention to keep US at distance so that I can gobble up as much as land and resources of its neighbors and may try to do some small scale war that doesn't involve nuclear weapons and scares US military personnel.
US's main focus should be to analyze its defence spending and reduce wastage. That should put back lots of money for improving US infrastructure at home.
It's coming!
Simple Outline:
-The Jews print money at will (giving them all the power to do with as they please).
-With that money, they purchased (stole) the entire American manufacturing industry (we create, they corrupt & destroy).
-Then, they moved it all to China (this all happened right under our noses in a relatively short span of time, yet very few are able to recognize the obvious, even to this day).
-All the while, they tax us into slavery, and sell us back OUR goods, that are now laced with lead and other toxic substances (think that was a coincidence/accident or the fault of the Chinese slaves on the other end?). Yes, this is just another way the Jews have poisoned us (and our children).
-In the meantime, they stole OUR technologies (all they do in China is reproduce everything we invent, discover, and create), our military secrets, and fund the very RED army they will eventually use to strike the final blow in our coffin justified by our false "debt" to them. Do you "think" they are arming them for "nothing", and convincing the Chinese that we "owe" them for "no reason"? Will you still "believe" that as the RED Chinese army is marching down your street?
And on the back end of all of this, they have most of the American sheeple convinced that we somehow "owe" the Chinese, as they have engaged in a relentless propaganda campaign in China as well to convince them of the same ridiculous lie.
Wow.. What a scam these Jews have pulled off. Robbing us blind, destroying our economy, stripping our entire manufacturing industry down to the bones, and convincing the Chinese that we are in "debt" to them (of course the Jews have complete control over China, so all that "debt" they created on this end, goes right to them on the other...screwing us both coming and going)
Unless of course you "think" this was all a "coincidence" and "believe" that the Chinese somehow out smarted us, swooped in and stole everything on their own, and beat us at our own game...To point out the obvious: these are OUR inventions and OUR technologies, nothing originally "Chinese" about ANY of "their" products or weaponry.. (what would they threaten us with if not armed with OUR military "secrets".. bows and arrows?).
Again, they are using OUR technologies against us... to include, in the not too distant future, the military technologies that were stolen from us. "Ironic" isn't it? Or so it would seem, to a person who is unaware of the Jewish agenda and their usual modus operandi.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me9v45s1pd1r4wbhxo1_500.gif
As long as people keep straying away from our Lord Jesus Christ, we will continue to lose our security and be vulnerable to just what this piece is talking about. I truly believe this piece is spot on and all those who don't believe it and believe it is man kind alone that has made America great, we will continue to be vulnerable and really become more and more so. You can expect more terrorist actions to come to us unless we all believe God is in control, not man kind.
Go sell it in Africa where Christians have been hacked to death in masse by machetes and killed in droves by famine for decades. And if staying close to God would protect the nation, how do you explain the brutal Civil War? And how is China so powerful – not being a "Godly" nation? And why does Israel need US military support if God is protecting it?
Absolute twaddle. What kind of editor allows this kind of CRAP to be posted??? FIRE THEM!!!
There are so many important issues we need to address. Why is CNN wasting our time with this nonsense???
Looks like someone's trying to scare up some more defense spending with the old Cold War bogeyman approach. This article is beyond idiotic In this day and age, any fixed target is vulnerable to attack. The deterrent is the attacker is just as vulnerable to massive retaliation not to mention the economic and political consequences with nothing to gain.
Let's just start planting seeds that China is our military enemy.
Why wait?
BD
Stupid as hell isn't it? China would never want to spontaneously attack it's greatest trade partner... Let's dump millions (Billions?) of dollars into funding protection against a scare plot that doesn't make any sense. Sound familiar? (*cough cough* WMDs*cough*)
Sorry – you can write about terror scenarios all you want but at the end of the day we'll all look back and point at you and say you were wrong. Hell I'll say it now. You are wrong. You are wrong to even think this might happen.
If there is no enemy , we need to create one, because we cannot live without one. If China has enemies , we also need to create some for them. That is why we have the privilege of selling arms to Taiwan while recognizing only one China . That is also why we need to 'contain' China with unwilling Asian partners.
US certainly has the sad and childish thinking people !
People write stories like these to add to the hype of the perceived "Fiscal Cliff" and the DOD budget cuts that will ensue. If China wanted the US for themselves, all they would have to do is just come over here and finish buying it. Between them, Venezuela and the dozens of other countries that are sucking up the US debt it's better for them just to let us borrow ourselves into servitude rather than risk their peoples lives in an armed conflict. I say let the tax cuts end for everyone, then negotiate new cuts for the 98%. Open all US areas for oil and gas exploration, return to the gold standard, and phase out the IRS with a federal sales tax managed by the Treasury Department or GAO. Everybody pays the same rate based on what you buy, not what you can dodge.
Al Qaeda simply won't fill the bill. How can one justify the ridiculous military budget of the US? China is pushing it however. China attacking the US is like MacDonald's saying they hate fat people. Why bite the hand that feeds you? Obviously China would never attack the US however a boogie man that warrants spending an obscene amount of money needs to be found. The monster is hungry and it needs to be fed. Cutting the military budget in 1/2 would be very dangerous...not that any country would dream of attacking the US...the nightmare in waiting is the beast being fed.
What's being forgotten about this ridiculous scaremongering article is that apart from all these bases, the major thing that would keep the Chinese (amongst many others) from even thinking of doing this is a thing called ballistic submarines–we have them; they don't, and we also have a large number of attack subs that are next to impossible to trace; so any adventurism from anyone that demanded a large response would come from submarines not that far away–we'd never even have to wait for ballistic bombers or a fleet from Hawaii.
Sorry warmongers. The Treasury is now closed.
.
This sort of speculative press is destructive and borders upon yellow journalism. China has a $500-billion-plus trade surplus with the United States. They also carry about $1.2-trillion in US Bonds. So tell me, why on earth would China bomb our military assets with their flimsy $45-billion dollar a year military when we could respond with a trade boycott and then refuse to pay them back for their $1.2-trillion in US Bonds. Also don't forget that we have a $500-billion military, theirs is $45-billion military.
It's a sad for CNN when some "yahoo" in the comments section (like me) can offer a better analysis than a military "professional."
lol...what a BS article. I understand the Chinese coming up with all these technologies, ideas innovation, and invention but all of these are implemented/delievered with a CHEAP/FAKE materials on the earth. So What does that mean? Meaning, all those are worthless, all these technologies/innovation will fall/break apart before it even get to targented destination. What Chinese have done is basically copied U.S ideas/innovation.
We have Way better Defense Systems and way better Survilence syatems in place now than there was back 71 years ago in 1941 or 1945, Better advanced Technology better Radar, better Advanced Weapons and Better Reconnaissance , than we ever did back then !!!
Correct,if there were satellites back then,there would have been no world war two.
With all the high tech,long range weaponry,it seems that foreign bases are unnecessary anymore and with this new world order,does a military presence in a foreign land show that we trust the people we do business with ? I think not.
Sorry but I disagree. The ability to project U.S. naval, air, and ground forces anywhere in the world is the key to world stability, such as it is. That requires forward basing. We may not like being the world's policemen, but the fact is someone has to do it, and better us than them.
As a result of Pearl Harbor, the US does not dock FLEETS of ships in a single port. Ships stay out at sea – confidential of location – and strategy of situation. Even on home surf at US ports on both coasts, the most warships you'll see at port at one time, is 1. Wishful writings, this article is. Fantasy created from ignorance.
Does anybody believe that a war which escalates to the point of China attacking major U.S. bases on allied soil would remain conventional? I don't. China must know that an attack of that magnitude on U.S. military forces stationed anywhere would precipitate a nuclear response on their own soil. In other words, the principle of deterrence still holds, even in the post-Cold War era.
The question must be asked: Why do we still have a military presence in the Western Pacific–not to mention Europe and a lot of other places. WWII ended two-thirds of a century ago, and it's not clear to me that US interests are being served by our continued presence in a lot of places around the world. Our WWII allies are more than capable of taking responsibility for their own defence and our former adversaries are now variously allies or no long pose a significant threat.
Seriously? If we truly are at risk as the author claims, then as a taxpayer I want my money back. Seems to me we have spent enough $'s to feel about as secure as is humanly possible. Maybe we didn't spend the $'s wisely. Maybe we should look at the risk/reward equation and spend about half of what we are currently. Maybe the federal government isn't good at handling the $'s associated with our national defense. Maybe nut jobs like the author need to realize that you can't spend enough $'s to make all of us 100% safe.
So, will another 500 BILLION make us all feel safer? After all, we only outspend China 6 to 1. 12 to one should do the trick.
Ooops good thing there are several submarines with guided missiles sitting outside of China we pop up every once in a while to remind them we can wipe them out as fast as they could sneak attack us. Such a pointless waste of an article. I like CNN but stuff like this really brings down the credibility.
What they are not reporting is that China's weapons are nearly as inaccurate as Hamas' rockets. So even with a billion chinese missiles they can only saturate an area to sink a couple of ships (source: http://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment/69198ee2-edc2-4b82-8f85-568f80466483/Chinese-Missile-Strategy-and-the-U-S–Naval-Presen ) Their missiles are still inaccurate, but they now have so many of them that eventually they will hit something with a giant salvo of missiles in a general area.
In order to be vulnerable, you need someone to pose a threat. Sorry but China is not stupid enough to want to threaten military action agains the US. It's pointless and they know it, not to mention they don't exactly have a huge beef with us or anything. This dude is just scare mongering, it's pathetic.
Load of rubbish. Why would you want to attack your best customer?
Articles like this can only happen only in a complete vacuum of historical context. The author doesn't even remotely come close to controlling all the variables of the changed geopolitical and global-warfare climates...
Really? is this op ed piece really needed on a day like today? Do you think that because it's an anniversary day of pearl harbor, that we should be more worried about the pacific bases? I think we have this quite under control, unlike how they did in the 40's. Please leave this day as a day of remembrance not a day of mongering.
Say they did attack, and we didn't retaliate militarily. Say they take Taiwan. What's next? All those people working in factories making stuff to sell to us do what? Go home and starve? Start farming more land they don't have? Invade North Korea and take the food they don't have? Invade Vietnam – even though that didn't work out so well the last time?
There's not much to gain, and a lot to lose. The concept of an enemy to keep the attention off the corrupt ruling class is useful. Starting a war, and the domestic turmoil it would create, even if we did nothing, is not.
The deterrent value of nuclear weapons would keep any nation with sane leaders from attacking significant US interests. This is what keep the world from being destroyed in the cold war, the term at the time, using nukes would create MAD (mutual assured destruction). China surely knows the backlash from a significant unprovoked attack on US interests.
US and Chinese militaries have been having joint exercises in recent years to build trust, the most recent one in Nov 30. Too bad the papers and the public rarely hear of them.
Is this perceived security worth the nearly $500B to $1TRILLION per year spent on defense and the massive taxes and borrowing it requires?!?
Last time I checked, even Thomas Jefferson warned us of the economic and social trappings of a "standing army".
Is the author serious? Russia and India are way more likely to be China's near future war opponents, not the US. China craves natural resources and Russia has a lot more than the US does.
And there is no large ocean between Russia and China, making the transport of said resources much more practiical if they are coming from Russia.
Pretty silly to even have this article. I respect CNN most times, but this is a War College scenario excerpt that has no rational basis for an attack, which is a WAR that China will loose. Discussing vulnerabilities such as this is a tactical exercise without the context of a strategic context, beginning or end. A disservice to the integrity in reporting that I have come to respect from CNN.
Lets hope that It don't ever come down to that! Because we don't need another war and this would be a really dangerous war!
Would you expect anything less from our token swirl Muslim President who seeks to have the USAA and the world turned into a Muslim caliphate!
You could have simply typed "Derp!" and saved some time.
Why don't we just wipe China off the face of the earth and get it over with, it is going to have to happen eventually!?!??!?!
War monger! China's been on the earth for over 5000 years, the US less than 500. What is "eventually" going to happen is that the US's military will become the thing cripples it, serves it right if they keep on producing sorry excuses for human beings like you!
An Chinese attack against the U.S. will simply not happen. 30 years ago? Maybe. Today? Absolutely not. China wants to be (and has become) a major player in international trade. They are not going to destroy what they have accomplished over the past 30 years.
Fear mongering.... stop it please!
This is just a far right wet dream to increase (or forstall a reduction) in defense spending. We spent more on defense in 2011 than did the countries with the next 13 highest defense budgets combined. In so doing, we let our deficit and our national debt explode. It is time to pull back on defense spending and focus on the country's key infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.).
Why exactly are the Chinese going to attack us? Let's see . . . Chinese attack us, we stop buying products made in China, Chinese economy collapses. Sounds like a real good plan.
This article does have some merit but you have to think about what motives would there be. China has bought so much US debt they would be stupid to declare war. China has no significant way in moving soldiers across the ocean. Their navy is not nearly as strong as ours and being able to move 5000 people with one ship is a feat they have issues with. Logistically and technology wise we have a definite advantage personnel wise they have an distinct advantage since they one of the most populated countries. I understand the ideas of this individual but I do not think it is the route a country of today will do unless they are being forced into that situation.
The probability is small, at this time, but even though extremely small, that probabability multiplied by the total damage is still extremely large.
Many of us learned the Boy Scout motto: 'Be Prepared'.
Also, 'Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.' a concept of which we are reminded by George Santayana and others.
Let's err on the safe side.
Wow. I think you guys are missing the point of this article. It is his job to come up with these wild and mega attack scenarios. It is a slow news day here at CNN so they published this.
But for the sake of argument no battle plan lasts past the first shot thats fired. We "fight" for morals and what we think is right wether you agree with it or not is a mute point. China "fights" for traditions and history. Respect and honor mean more to them than money.
This is nonsense. Neither China, nor the U.S. wants a conflict in Asia. It is good to be prepared though. The patriot missile system and future MEADS systems equipped with the PAC-3 missile upgrades can handle ballistic missiles. We will simply blast China with lasers and rail guns mounted on satellites that nobody has told you about. LOL.
EVERYTHING is vulnerable if you're paranoid enough.
The idiot that wrote the article is part of the military industrial complex, and is only trying to justify his existense. If we don't have a "Mortal Enemy" he is essentially out of work. We don't need people like this even being acknowledged, much less published! Walmart and their massive container ship opearting between our west coast and China has much more influence on china than our war machine!
so – I can't work out whether this guy is expecting the most armed nation and the most populace nation to go to war any time soon.
but from what I see China has no need to attack the USA – just to continue collecting all of it's money in the nature of exports and another 20 years or so it will own the country and be as militarily advanced in 50.
Author seems to be confusing "motives" with "strategy".
I can't think of any actual MOTIVE for china to initiate an attack. That said, if they chose to do so, then yes. A good strategy would probably be to take out/reduce U.S. air presence, and the best tactics to do that with the tools available is probably to hit the bases hard with a missile barrage.
Well, duh.
That being said, in this era of satellite coverage, it's unclear if it would be possible for anybody to launch a sneak attack against the U.S. forces of sufficient strength to be effective.
Never going to happen why? Submarines....the moment a missile launched from China towards us would lead to the amount of retaliation to China via Subs would be one for the history books.....
Headline: U.S. Pacific bases vulnerable
Well almost EVERYTHING in the world is vulnerable in some respect. Must we live in fear 24 hours a day? Not too long ago a human's life expectancy was less than 35 years. I'd say you have more to celebrate than to fear.
where is my post?
This is total nonsense. The author is still stuck on WWII mentality that navies are the essential piece of any war. Those days are LONG gone. If you want historical evidence, just go further back to WWI and remember how the emergence of air craft carriers killed the battlerships. We are still stuck in this silly mentality that the air craft carrier is still relevant. Cyberwarfare can do far more damage!
To a point you are correct, but you win the war only when you have boots on the ground and naval strenght is essential to supporting that.
Everyone here seems to be buying the propaganda that we are so superior we can't be touched. China is a nation with a long history of considering what is best for China and the heck with the rest of the world. They will do what they wish and to heck with anyone else. If you don't understand that then you are in for a great suprise fairly soon. China has been stealing US and European technological secrets for a long time and has built the world largest standing army. They are now modernizing their navy and their airforce and missle forces are first rate. Hopefully war won't happen, but if it does our victory is not a forgone conclusion.
This is the scenario that was played and replayed during the Cold War and is now revisited. Excluding the North Koreans who march to a different drummer, why would the Chinese want to start WW III? Beijing's interests are to turn China into a Superpower and their technocrats are succeeding. Why would they suddenly decide to start a war that would turn their country into smoldering radioactive desolation? That appears to be counter productive. Whether you like the Chinese or not, it is obvious that are not foolish and not stupid.
The real threat of a nuclear attack is with zealots – ethnic, religious and political – who want to remake the world into their image of what it should be. The Western Countries are dealing with this problem poorly, on a piecemeal basis, that is expensive and ineffective.
CNN blocked my post, but allows post like " Nuke China now". Make me believe this article represent CNN's position.
Well, if we would stop sticking out noses in everyone's business then we would not have this problem. and it would be cheaper for the American taxpayer as well.
Embarrassingly ridiculous scenario. We're talking nukes vs. nukes and cooler heads would prevail before ever contmplating such folly.
Hired by the military complex to seek a bigger budget?
No worries, the Chinese love us very much. We certainly love them as we have allowed our industrial base to be shipped to them in exchange for vast helpings of poverty.
Stir the distrust between China and US.
................Here we go again...............Just as the DoD is faced with CUTS that will hit "contractors" (like Haliburton) the MOST.........SCARE TACTICS APPEAR..........................How surprising..........
Contractors will always find a way to screw the taxpayer out of his/her money. At the end of the Cold War, a lot of programs were cut in favor of ones that would supposedly save us money and prepare us for the post Cold War conflicts we'd face. Instead of saving us money, some of these programs costed more than if we just continued some of the old ones. Now we have less capability at greater cost. Great job winning contractors and friends!
Sounds like we should be seeing a new Tom Clancy book on this scenario....
The problem with this whole article is that if forgets about every other aircraft carrier we own. China would be stupid to do something like this because they would have 4-6 carriers within easy striking distance with 60-80 fighter jets per carrier. China understands the power of the aircraft carrier, which is why they bought one for themselves.
the ridiculousness of this article is quite laughable, there is no way that such a thing would happen; as most ppl would say China isnt stupid they would not attack us without cause and there is no cause the economic stance of both countries isnt strong enough to support a conflict, this scare tactic is absurd there wont be an attack bc we would destroy the whole world if the was and that fact is known. Im no fan of Fox or CNN but these biased agendas that our "News" seem to have are just getting out of hand
Motive: political. Unpredictable and can change rapidly, and be utter nonsense to others. We see it in the US! It can happen in China too.
Extremely unlikely, but for political advantage or just plain craziness, it can happen. It happened several times in the past century. It will happen again.
Eisenhower warned us to beware of the military-industrial complex. Not only will it use all methods to maintain military conflict to support itself, but it exists in China, too.
Look at it like this.
If China attacks the US. Then the loan repayments to China are off.
This may give the government a surplus of money to get the war machine going again.
and in the end China will lose Trillions of dollars in US debt that will never get paid back, possibly cripiling thier own economy.
Your war machine has never stopped or even slowed down! You spend more on your "defense" than the next 10 countries all together! And if your government sees any opportunity to spend even more: no shortage of funds, no economy downturn, no staggering debt are ever going to stop it! So do not wait for China to attack: do it first! Your attack will be fully justified: you own them lots of money!
For the life of me I can't believe that the Chinese would be so foolish...... it would really be stupidity itself that they would carryout a strike upon us as envisioned here. Such a massive strike by them would entail a massive counter.... if short of a nuclear response.
Exactly why would China want to start the next world war when it already knows it will be the next world power?
And another thing, US Bases in the Pacific are not defenseless by any means, I was there for 3 years, I was on the USS George Washington, we could take out an entire country if we wanted to.
Yeah, depending on the size of the country and how good it's military is. If China zeroes in on an aircraft carrier with total determination to "kill" it, they will – the Washington would do best to get their aircraft off and retaliate – with very heavy losses and no home base to return to – and unless they used nuclear-tipped missiles – which wouldn't be authorized, that would trigger a Chinese ICBM response on N.A. soil – China is huge, and they have a huge missile stockpile. The Washington alone cannot do much more than severely damage some ports and airfields.
US owns so much money to China: sure China is only waiting for the excuse to attack US! It makes perfect sense!
The misconceptions about iron dome are staggering here. WWII era tech Katyusha rockets were stopped by it. Not even all of them. It selectively chooses what will hit a populated area. None of these were guided cruise type missiles that not only move faster, but have accurate targeting systems. Iron Dome would be not nearly as effective if 500 cruise type missiles came at it at once. Big difference from stopping 100 grid based unguided rockets fired in 20 increments over a 24 hour period and all of them coming at it at once with a higher rate of speed and sophisticated systems.
Iron Dome is a tailored system designed to defeat these cheap WWII era throwaways and does not apply to all terrain and regions and weapon systems of the world. A dam is built to hold water, but it's useless against the wind blowing all around it. Get it?
Now, onto the likely nature of this scenario. Economics and business go out the window when a country feels like it's being encircled. It's survival over $ at that point. Russia and China are feeling increasingly threatened by America's new "Human Rights" push of like minded regimes all around it. We did away with Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan is still in the pot, Syria is in the middle of a death rattle. We are supporting the downfall of these nations to do away with their anti-american style stances. It's a battle of ideals and world dominance. Do you really think the Russia/China leadership is so stupid as to not see the writing on the wall for them if they allow every dictator/top down government to collapse with UN/NATO/US support all while loosing (LIKE MINDED) business and military partnerships in favor of plutocratic nations such as ours? They see a threat in the "Human RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, YOU'RE GOING DOWN" strategy that the current administration has adopted. They know they share a lot more in common with Iran, Syria, ect... than they ever will with the Western Democracies.
World War 3 is coming, trust that.
Wait! Hold on one second! Are you saying China has NOT invaded?!? No way! I live in San Francisco and I can tell you there is a Lee's Deli on every corner and I get elbowed by Chinese lady's every time I take Muni out to Judah! Obviously the war is already over. No need to waste more money on yet more military junk and pet projects.
It's like they pay people to start that war drum all over again. The latest war is over so let's look for the next one. Sit your war-mongering tail down & step away from the keyboard. The US is more than capable to address any acts of aggression from China or any other country.
Before the US China war begin world stock market will plummet endlessly, world economy will collapse, inflation will skyrocket and everybody's life will be in hell. The world is moving closer to the brink of extermination! God save who save himself being..
US-China conventional war can lead to all out nuclear war and leading to extermination of human.Weapons can win a war BUT never win the heart of the people as we can see in middle east and Afghanistan.We have to learn to respect and care about other people's interest,cultures and tradition then they will respect and care about ours,especially in unipolar world.
It's time to give UN the power and responsibility to do all the jobs of World Government.God bless the world!!!
Thanks, all the opinion, I read them all. It's like an as*hol* everybody has one.
1. China can swamp allied anti-missle batteries – our defenses can work wonders, and could hold off an attack of a moderate nature – but China could fling thousands of missles at our bases at once, and some will get through.
2. Why would China attack us? To increase their hegemony and most importantly to regain Taiwan, which is the big bugaboo of Chinese relations. It's risky – they'd be very badly hurt.
3. Nuclear weapons will only be used if nuclear weapons are used. They are just too dangerous to utilize – things would quickly go out of hand unless stopped immediately after a few detonations – something much easier to talk about than to do. It would also most probably drag Russia into the fight.
Really ?
And what would 20 Cruse missiles do to the 3 gorge dam ?
ya think China knows this ?
So we should borrow more money from Communist China to keep the Imperial posturing going ? Nonsense. What I am worried about are our good soldiers being left to fend for themselves in foreign countries due to U.S. bankrupcy.Ron Paul was right :"bring all of them home " , before it is too late. The era of printing presses as a cash cow is coming to an end fairly quickly. The Imperial Parrots and the lack of investigative journalism ( they were silenced ) made the bankrupcy happen and our corrupt politicians shouild be tried for treason.
uh, no – Ron Paul's a nut, and I'm glad he's going to be out of politics in January completely – isolationism would destroy this country
The Chinese are not wasteful or stupid people-they must understand that war is destructive,counterproductive,can backfire, as well as see that nations have gone broke due to war not to mention history which shows Europe destroyed twice -ww1 &2??? Why would the Chinese build their country and a great manufacturing base not to mention the great buildings and infrastructre only to throw it all away through war??? The Chinese are a sensible people- Why would they choose destruction and upheaval over prosperity and peace???Co operation ?negotiation must be the key–its the only way???
When is America gonna listen to the Middle eastern people??? The Bible does speak about all people beating their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning- hooks-– its the only way??? All leaders who pursue weapons/wars/weapons of mass destruction/killing--–should all be put to death-them and their familys!!!! The war that needs to be waged is 1 to do reforestation of the earth and finding an energy solution thats environmentally friendly as well as protect our rivers from pollution!!
Just exactly what does this Yoshi Toshihara take us for anyway? It's hard to believe that he thinks that we're all dumb enough to believe this nonsense he posted here, but then again, judging by the strenghth of the Tea Party Movement in this country, ignorance is running rampant, showing that some people here are ignorant enough to believe this mumbo-jumbo!
Is it not nice to know that Dr. Strangelove is still living with us?
cybersleauth
Not that we could do anything about it but we need to keep every base we have manned and ready. When North Korea or China decide to blow us as well as any other country off the face of the map, I would like to know a few hours in advance.
Do you people realize that you are giving into one topic.. Its funny how some one can make a simple article and recieve so much intel from it. If the US is attacked, individuals like you are the ones to blame due to the brilliant ideas you place on here. Its nice to see that the service men and women are protecting their own killers. (for lack of better words)
Why do we need to fear the chinese?
Give me one historical evidence that China has attacked any country as an offender in the last 200 years
LOL. China invaded Viet-Nam, for starters.
To whomever is censoring the comments: you are violating CNN's rules (read your own rules). If you're going to censure comments based on what you like and don't like, then go do it on some biased website.
What's going on?
Do you think China would attack USA Military Bases in that part of the World? NO! Never, I think firmly and sincerely. Why?
China knows that USA is the most Atomic Nuclear powerful country in the World and the retaliation of USA would be such that China would never do that and also other Allieds Atomic countries would unite and distroy those who would do such act of War...Total War would result and even the whole planet would be distroyed.Too many countries have the Ultimate weapon of the Atom. No, China would never attacked USA military bases... But what is very scary is that if Nuclear would fall in wrong hands and if USA or any other including China military bases would be attacked, the results would be a most destructive path for the planet and for Humanity because one would turn against each other thinking that the other did it... and that would be in the evil plan of those...wrong hands. We are living in this Atomic Age and it's a very scary world. Diplomaty is the key to solve our differences as human beings and working together against to prevent about "the wrong hands".... All we want is to survive and live our normal human life which is not very long in years... on this Earth.
Be afraid of inside jobs!
Fun reading if you're stupid.
My husband and I had to go pick up a vehicle in Glauster, Va. We live in Chesapeake and I grew up in Va.Beach. I was shocked to see five carriers sitting in Norfolk port, as we drove the bridge before entering the Hampton Tunnel. Just who is minding the shop? Apparently that is half of our carriers!