[lit-ideas] Huntington's wars, part 2
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2006 00:22:10 -0700 (PDT)
OSTENSIBLY, the growing threat of international
terrorism is responsible for the Bush administration's
proposed 2007 military budget, of $439 billion: a
7-percent increase from last year's record tally.
Higher spending, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has
indicated, would ensure U.S. success "in the long war
against terrorist extremism."
But only a small share of the increase would cover
specialized anti-terror and counter-insurgency
systems. The biggest and costliest items--such as
nuclear-powered submarines and long-range bombers--are
intended for use against an entirely different enemy:
the People's Republic of China. Although official U.S.
ties with Beijing have remained overtly friendly,
Pentagon officials apparently hold a much darker view
of the future.
The U.S. Defense Department isn't exactly forthcoming
about its perception of the China threat. Rather, it
speaks of unnamed future challengers that might
someday contest American military dominance. The
United States "must hedge against the possibility that
a major power could choose a hostile path in the
future," says the Pentagon's four-year-strategy
review. It's to deter--and, if necessary, defeat--such
challengers that the Defense Department wants to
bankroll pricey new military systems.
http://www.fpif.org/fpifoped/3206
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