Interesting article. You make some valid points but completely undermine your credibility with the gratuitous (and false) assertion that President Obama
failed "to act to prevent China from militarizing the South China Sea." First, China's actions in the South China Sea pre-dated the Obama administration and second, the United States could not have prevented China's build up in the South China Sea without risking direct military conflict.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your comment. I urge you to read up on the history and background of the Chinese dredging and militarization of the South China Sea. It occurred entirely on Obama's watch, The Chinese did not start dredging all at once. They sent dredgers to particular reef locations and just held them there for months at a time, This was all visible to U.S. satellites. The U,S. asked no questions, Made no comments. The Chinese then started some tentative dredging. Still no U.S. reaction. Indeed, no U.S. reaction until Xi visited the U.S. and met with Obama in 2015. The White House reported that Xi had pledged not to militarize the artificial islands. But, of course, he did and he did so with no very strong reaction from Obama. As you know, the Philippines is a treaty ally of the U.S. The U.S. could have been much more active in defense of Philippine interests, The recommendation for Manila to take the issue to The Hague turned out to be fatuous. You make the point that the U.S. could not have acted without risking direct military conflict. That may be true, but what is the point of having a global armed forces and treaty allies if you are afraid of risking conflict? In any case, at the time, U.S. forces were far superior to those of China, As you know, we have long been but now are really in a serioius conflict with China over Taiwan. I doubt that you think we should tell Beijing it is theirs for the taking because we cannot risk a direct military conflict with China. Best wishes, Clyde
Interesting article. You make some valid points but completely undermine your credibility with the gratuitous (and false) assertion that President Obama
failed "to act to prevent China from militarizing the South China Sea." First, China's actions in the South China Sea pre-dated the Obama administration and second, the United States could not have prevented China's build up in the South China Sea without risking direct military conflict.
Hello Mr. Capener,
Thanks for reading and thanks for your comment. I urge you to read up on the history and background of the Chinese dredging and militarization of the South China Sea. It occurred entirely on Obama's watch, The Chinese did not start dredging all at once. They sent dredgers to particular reef locations and just held them there for months at a time, This was all visible to U.S. satellites. The U,S. asked no questions, Made no comments. The Chinese then started some tentative dredging. Still no U.S. reaction. Indeed, no U.S. reaction until Xi visited the U.S. and met with Obama in 2015. The White House reported that Xi had pledged not to militarize the artificial islands. But, of course, he did and he did so with no very strong reaction from Obama. As you know, the Philippines is a treaty ally of the U.S. The U.S. could have been much more active in defense of Philippine interests, The recommendation for Manila to take the issue to The Hague turned out to be fatuous. You make the point that the U.S. could not have acted without risking direct military conflict. That may be true, but what is the point of having a global armed forces and treaty allies if you are afraid of risking conflict? In any case, at the time, U.S. forces were far superior to those of China, As you know, we have long been but now are really in a serioius conflict with China over Taiwan. I doubt that you think we should tell Beijing it is theirs for the taking because we cannot risk a direct military conflict with China. Best wishes, Clyde