MAYBE China is a bad country ruled by evil men who really do want to, eventually, take over the world, starting with the nations of Southeast Asia. OK, we got that. How could we not since we have been hearing a variation of that theme from a long time even from the Philippines’s own president?
Maybe even as a headline in the United States newspaper—the Washington Times—suggests, “An American Wall of Missiles to deter China” might be prudent or even necessary at some point in the future.
But to read that “This should start with the deployment of hundreds of Army tactical missiles to the Philippines to allow for instant retaliation if China uses its new island military bases” is a whole lot more than a cause for concern. In fact, our initial response was, “Are you crazy?”
The article printed online on April 25 was cowritten by James Aloysius “Ace” Lyons Jr., a retired US Navy admiral who held the position of commander in chief of the US Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT). Ace has some pretty heavy military credentials but has also stirred much controversy with regard to the US response to Islamic terrorism and his very strong stance against China.
For many years, he has been warning about China’s increasing naval capabilities and aggressiveness, and it turns out he has been accurate.
The coauthor is Richard D. Fisher Jr., an academic who specializes in Asian Military Affairs and is an authority on the Chinese military. He even was an election observer in the Philippines. Fisher may be very cautious and worried about the Chinese but he is not going to be rushing into battle waving a sword over his head like Lyons might.
The article goes on to say, “Washington needs to deploy a ‘wall of missiles’ that can utterly destroy China’s new air-naval and missile bases if it uses them against US friends and allies.”
Along with the missiles, “US Air Force bombers, like the B-52 or B-1, need to carry scores of small but smart and long-range missiles, making them ‘arsenal aircraft.’ The US Navy also requires ‘arsenal ships’ and ‘arsenal submarines’ to complete a ‘wall of missiles.’ When used in concert, the arsenal aircraft, arsenal ship and arsenal submarine could be used to overwhelm China’s new small island bases in the South China Sea, quickly mobilize multiple thousands of missiles to deter a Chinese invasion or to deter a Chinese attack.”
It is sort of exciting to know that maybe the US is thinking about genuinely protecting the Philippines from further Chinese aggression.
But we seriously doubt that all the “the arsenal aircraft, arsenal ship and arsenal submarine” that the US might need against the Chinese are going to be based in Hawaii or at the military bases it has in Japan. As COMPACFLT, Ace probably made many trips to the Philippines and might be thinking Subic and Clark would be ideal locations.
This is, of course, not a position of the US government. But when these ideas are presented in a national venue, others are listening.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano