China's Military Downgrades Their Army

China's main army is being downgraded as naval, air, cyber, and space power are emphasized. This is both a problem for America and an opportunity.

China's army is having trouble justifying its role:

Unlike China’s relatively cogent thinking on future warfare in the air, maritime, cyber and space domains, its thinking on land combat has been increasingly incoherent. Indeed, the strategic priorities the Chinese Communist Party has been setting for the military since the 1980s have required a shift in emphasis from land power to air and sea power. With the Soviet Union gone and China’s land borders largely settled (disputes with India notwithstanding), the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) has struggled to find a meaningful purpose in China’s future force structure beyond sustaining the capability needed to win a limited war on the Sino-Indian border.

Some of the incoherence is best laid out by military commentators within China itself. In an article in the People’s Liberation Army Daily, Wang Ronghui seeks to explore the role armoured forces will have in future warfare. Writing with much jargon and little detail, Wang argues that the recent history of armed conflict has confirmed the armoured forces’ role as the ‘king of land warfare’.

Strategically, I'd rather push China's focus back to ground forces and an inland focus to help protect America's allies from China's naval-air power. Fifteen years ago I noted that America has been strengthening alliances in Asia and arming Taiwan, but this shouldn't be the end of the mission:

While all this looks good for building an alliance to fight and defeat China, this is not playing the Great Game. This is making the best of a worst case scenario--war with China. Sure, if we must fight I'd rather win, but just going to war is going to cost us in lives and money.

One can say that we hope that by becoming strong enough we deter the Chinese but this is still only second best. A deterred China will always be on the verge of attacking, just waiting for the moment when we cannot stop them for one reason or another and so cannot deter them for even a short window of opportunity.

No, defeating China makes the best of the worst case and deterring China makes the best of the second worst case. We need to shovel the Snow back north. We need to play the Great Game in Asia to achieve our best case--a China pointed away from the south--Taiwan and the United States and our other allies--and pointed toward the north and the interior of Asia.

It seems like there are forces pushing China inland for economic reasons and away from the sea. Apparently that trend is not yet pushing China to upgrade their ground force priority.

As long as Chinese land power is downgraded, that actually gives America an edge in land power that America could potentially exploit in large scale operations around China's periphery with allies or in limited operations directly against China, as I wrote about in Military Review:

In many ways, given the hard-earned experience gained in Iraq since 1991 and Afghanistan since 2001, American ground forces have a greater relative advantage over China’s ground forces than American naval and air power have over their opposite numbers. Just maintaining a ground war option against China will cause China to divert resources from air and naval capabilities, giving American air and naval assets a greater chance of defeating Chinese A2/AD to enter and remain in the western Pacific.

America needs to encourage China to look inland, both to reduce pressure on American forces and allies in the western Pacific and to add friction to the brittle Russian-Chinese alignment.

But if China does not shift its focus inland, as long as the Navy/Marines and Air Force--with space and cyber support, of course--can maintain access and lines of supply to the Asian mainland, I think that opens an opportunity for America's battle-tested Army to provide its core competency to a campaign--large-scale combat operations:

The full potential of the Army to contribute significant numbers of brigade combat teams for land campaigns appears largely ignored in the vast expanse of PACOM. Without disembarking the Army on the shore, what is the point of being able to penetrate A2/AD weapons and remain off the coast of China as their area denial strategy seeks to prevent America from doing? Is it really important merely to sail at will off the coast of where those people and those armies live and deploy? 

The tyranny of the shores is absolute. Asia is an Army problem, too.

Just the threat of such an option will stress China and stretch their forces by making them worry about where the Army might descend on China.

The Test of Time For the Shores of Tripoli 3.0

You may recall that the 2011 Libya War was basically a test of the theory that if only America had taken down Saddam in Iraq and then left, the locals would have sorted out their differences without the horrible destabilizing effect of America's presence. Kite-flying paradise soon to follow.

About that theory:

In Morocco the GNA Government of National Accord) and HoR (House of Representatives) are holding another round of UN-sponsored negotiations. ... At the Morocco meeting it was agreed that the new parliament would be based in Benghazi, rather that Tripoli, the traditional capital. The problem with Tripoli is that it is still dominated, and often threatened by the many independent militias that often do what they want, not what any government wants them to do. 

The Morocco conference still has several unresolved issues to deal with, including the continued presence of Turkish troops. The UN-backed GNA (in Tripoli), is unwilling or unable to get the Turkish force to leave.

The locals have not gotten together after Khadaffi was killed by NATO-supported rebels.

And while America stayed out, jihadis rushed in. (Which is odd because Democrats wrongly said that jihadis only went to Iraq because America was there.) To be followed by Egyptians, Turks, and Russians.

Nearly nine years after America overthrew Saddam, the President Obama boasted (see the update) of  leaving a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people" when American forces left.

How soon will Libya be a sovereign, stable and self-reliant state with democracy? Of course, by leaving Iraq too soon, Iraq reverted to the Libya model of foreigners coming into the vacuum to ruin the place--in Iraq's case jihadis and Iran.

Libya was also a test of "leading from behind" but we'll not go back over that ground again.

And don't get me started on Responsibility to Protect. Will both these policies be reset too in the Biden era? I'm sure the Democratic planning fetish improved a lot over the last decade, eh?

But no worries. No matter what war Biden fights, the media will defend and praise it. Heck, Biden can fall down "while playing with a dog" and break his foot, and the media swoons in praise.

Subliminal Reinforcements

Russia has reinforced their Far East with air defenses in the Kuril Islands. Is this really aimed at Japan?

Russian Far East defenses are fairly weak. So this helps Moscow:

The Russian military on Tuesday announced the deployment of state-of-the-art air defense missiles to the Pacific islands claimed by Japan.

Russia’s Eastern Military District said in a statement that the S-300V4 air defense missile systems have entered combat duty on the Kuril Islands, adding punch to the shorter range Tor M2 missile systems deployed there earlier.

 This is portrayed as anti-Japanese and given its location that is easy to assume. But is it?

I think that Russia's military reinforcements purportedly aimed at Japan are really a stealthy move to block China.

Russia can't afford to anger China yet because Russia is still too weak in conventional military power in the east.

As I've long said, you often can't conceal what you are doing from prying enemy eyes, so the key to achieving surprise is concocting a believable and benign reason for what you are doing.

China surely doesn't believe the cover story. But the Russian people are probably the target audience. Moscow can't have their people realize Russia has been secretly appeasing China.

Restoring Media Standard Operating Procedure

The media took a temporary leave of absence for the last four years from their "look at the mess the new president inherited" genre. 

But now it is full-speed ahead! I didn't practice it the last four years. I have little patience for the genre. 

Not that I support Trump troop draw downs in Afghanistan or Iraq. I think it is too risky. Although Afghan forces may be much more capable now than they were four years ago and able to stand with less direct support on the ground. 

But if air power isn't enough, Biden can change that quickly just as Trump rapidly changed approaches in Iraq and Afghanistan to escalate involvement after he became president. 

I suspect much of the media would rather whine about Trump than argue the merits for stronger engagement because at heart they want to retreat everywhere. It's quite the media dilemma for the Biden era: Support retreat and let enemies (who, they think, deserve to win over evil--or at least morally compromised--America) win? Or condemn and blame Trump for drawing down.

I suspect they will embrace the healing power of "and" to blame Trump for not winning and saying his failure means it is "too late" to win now so we'd best get out now, just as they did when Obama became president and decided to escalate the Afghanistan war dramatically.

UPDATE: Of course, the reverse is true, too. Nothing inherited can be good. The hollowness of Biden's claim that he plans to deploy 100 million Xi Jinping Flu vaccine doses in his first 100 days is exposed by the fact that Trump is basically handing those 100 million doses to Biden. Ah, science! Bravo.  

UPDATE: A Wuhan Fever! Alleged Chinese Spy Got So Close To Democrat Eric Swalwell That ‘Alarmed’ FBI Had To Intervene: Report. Tip to Instapundit. 

I'd have thought the Attractive Girls Union would have been the intervening alarmed party rather than the FBI.

In the new era's SOP, this is not scandalous and alarming news. Move along.

Getting Your Local Allies to Die for the Objective

How do you get indigenous counter-insurgent (COIN) forces to have a greater stake in the outcome than insurgents?

While this author's discussion of French counter-insurgency theory and practice is interesting, the French in Mali sound like they simply want to conduct counter-terrorism without caring if the Malian government conducts counter-insurgency, which requires a lot of non-military efforts.

There is a difference between counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency. What was most interesting in the article was the distinction between colonial counter-insurgency, where you want to retain control; and foreign nation support, where you help an allied government. 

I often noted that our efforts in Iraq--where we really did liberate the clear majority of the population from the small Sunni Arab minority in charge--would be very different if we were trying to pacify an enemy people. How do you win hearts and minds in that case? 

One aspect is that the external COIN force can't easily provide the case for winning hearts, even if minds can be swayed by winning or fear of losing. Says the author:

The host nation should be the author of the political vision that guides the political action. Since Gallieni, this political vision has been identified as the more important portion of the global approach that is at the core of COIN doctrine. Now the intervening force is in the passenger seat.

It follows, of course, that only a legitimate government will succeed. “Only an autochthonous power that is legitimate in the eyes of the host-nation,” the text explains, “can carry out this alternative political project.”

Earlier the author noted that the very intervention by the external COIN force lifts the burden on the host government for carrying out reforms to provide a reason for government forces to fight and die.

That "passenger" role by the external actor can be done if the commitment and sacrifice is at a low enough level. And even as a passenger the external actor can slowly push the government to reform. I've certainly advocated staying in Iraq and Afghanistan exactly because the costs are low and the chance to slowly change the governments are there.

But if the host government will not reform and resists all actions that might allow for a total withdrawal of troops while having a good chance of victory, what can the external actor do? Let them lose when you presumably had a reason to save that government?

The traditional method is to give power to a local minority to prop up as friendly rulers, which gives them a lot of incentive to kill to remain in power, outnumbered and hated. That also gives you a Saddam or an Assad with lots of reasons to die--and kill without mercy--for the objective.

Perhaps the only way out of that dilemma is to abandon the Westphalian assumptions and support regional forces that will find a reason to support the external actor in opposition to the formal central government of the entire territory. Could adapting my Lexington Rule intended to justify counter-terrorist operations to regional counter-insurgency be a better path? 

That certainly fits with my view of solving the dilemma in Afghanistan. Although I did not favor that for Iraq when fighting was taking place given that I feared a separate Sunni Arab state would gravitate toward jihadism. They'd become the new Palestinians. Indeed, with fragmentation in Iraq and Syria, as early as 2012 I worried about eastern Syria and western Iraq uniting under Sunni Arab control. Maybe Mali should not be a single country. The south and north are very different. Maybe the French would be better off building a northern Tuareg government in Mali that will enthusiastically battle jihadis to be an independent or autonomous state.

And the author is quite right that committing greater resources can lead to wanting a greater victory to justify the resources. It would be nice to separate the objectives from the resources committed so ambitions don't get too great. Perhaps that is one reason I have been more willing to declare Iraq a victory than so many.

Anyway, I'm kind of bouncing around and lost a coherent thread. But the article is interesting and raises issues about COIN that I've obviously raised in this blog over the years.

Hammer and Anvil

Northwest Syria seems like a place where jihadis are expected to die.

Turkey will probably hold a strip of land in the northwest of Syria as a buffer zone, but Turkey's supposed role in supporting jihadis in Idlib province seems more like holding the jihadis up to make it easier for the Russian-Assad alliance to kill them for the sake of Assad and Turkey:

The Idlib rebels don’t have many good options. The Syrian army keeps attacking from the south and east and for over a year have been slowly making progress. In the north the Turks are not attacking but are making it very difficult to get into Turkey, the last possible escape route for the Idlib civilians and rebels. The Syrian and Russian attacks are technically violations of a ceasefire. Five to ten ceasefire violations are reported each day and most have to do with one side or the other retaliating for a previous attack. Negotiations have generally been ineffective as everyone sees the war as a deathmatch.

Have no doubt that when Idlib is occupied--save for the buffer zone strip that Turkey will defend--Assad will kill every jihadi and every jihadi supporter he can get his hands on.

The Turks won't let the jihadis escape to Turkey nor will Turkey really shield the jihadis from the Syrian and Russian attacks. 

At best, Turkey will let some of them volunteer for service in Turkey's Arab Foreign Legion to die in Libya (or fighting Armenia, for a short time) or to battle the Kurds as settlers and militias in the buffer zone to the east.

I'm not going to complain about killing jihadis. They are the only good ones, after all. But it is a pity that Erdogan, Assad, and Putin will gain in the process.

Or will the latter's real losses take place after the defeat of the jihadi kill box sanctuary when they don't have a common enemy to kill in Idlib province?

Close Enough to Evil for Government Work

Europe put on a big official sad face for the killing of an Iranian nuclear weapons scientist.

To be fair, "Europe" needs someone to finish the job they started in World War II:

Ever wonder why so many Americans share President Trump’s skepticism of Europe? Look no further than its reaction to the assassination of the mastermind of Iran’s atomic-bomb project. Moshen Fakhrizadeh was a leader of Iran’s effort to obtain an atomic bomb to use on the country in which the survivors of the Holocaust found redemption. Yet the Europeans rushed out a statement calling the attack a “criminal act.”

Plus, too, the EU, in a statement from its High Representative, Josep Borrell, extended condolences to the bomb maker’s family. We don’t dismiss the cruelty of war. Yet the European Union expresses not a syllable of appreciation for the possibility that the attack might yet buy time and safety for Israel (and Europe). Nor did it acknowledge the early warnings from Jerusalem about what Fakhrizadeh was up to.

Europe sides with the people who want to nuke lots of Jews over the people who would be nuked.

Don't confuse political Europe--which is awful--with geographic Europe--which still has friends of the West.

Political Europe--the European Union--is no friend of America, the West, or democracy and personal freedom.

Battle for the Atlantic 3.0

America already activated 2n Fleet in the Atlantic. Now the shore headquarters is renamed Atlantic Fleet. This is because of the rise of Russian threats:

U.S. Atlantic Fleet dates back to 1906, but the name was changed to Fleet Forces Command in the mid-2000s, after the military turned its focus to missions in the Middle East. Fleet Forces Command oversees Navy missions to protect the homeland, as well as those in the Atlantic.

The move to bring back the Atlantic Fleet follows the Navy's 2018 decision to reestablish the U.S. 2nd Fleet to counter Russian presence in the Atlantic. U.S. 2nd Fleet currently falls under Fleet Forces Command.

Which is not to say that Russian capabilities are rising. The Russian blue water fleet is dying. But Russian hostility has risen a lot so we can't ignore that. It is best not to have to organize a fleet under whatever fire the Russians could direct that way. 

Remember, Russia's fleet might be weak but our merchant marine is pretty sparse to reinforce Europe in a crisis.

I welcome this view from 2nd Fleet:

"Our ships can no longer expect to operate in a safe haven on the East Coast, or merely cross the Atlantic unhindered to operate in another location," [Vice Adm. Andrew "Woody" Lewis, 2nd Fleet's commander] said.

Yes, no safe havens. Will Atlantic Fleet address our east coast ports in that light?

Weekend Data Dump

China is exploiting the bizarre woke Western refusal to identify the pandemic as the Wuhan Flu or China Flu by (tips to Instapundit) pushing propaganda that the virus originated outside of China. I guess they'll toss out accusations until something sticks--or until their own guilt is obscured. I don't rule out that the Chinese Communist Party knew East Asians might be less likely to die from the virus. Communists are evil, effing, bastards. Maybe we need to really hold China accountable.

A detailed examination of cause of death as it applies to the Xi Jinping Flu. Deaths aren't massively over-counted as some data interpreted wrongly suggests. The pandemic is real. But I think there is significant over-counting. Basically because while cause of death is always complicated, deaths involving covid are simplified by implying that covid is the primary cause to blame.

Egypt is reaching out to South Sudan in part because of the Ethiopian GERD project that potentially threatens Nile River water flows. I've never really thought of South Sudan's role because I thought the affected area bypassed South Sudan. Sudan is the key state to engage to pressure Ethiopia. But every little bit helps, I suppose.

We're getting close to needing convincing proof of enough fraud in key cities before the process continues to confirm Biden as the winner. A lot of things still seem very wrong. Or is what seems like something really nothing? That's quite possible if you are looking at the process in detail for the first time. Or enough of it could be nothing, at least. I just don't know enough to judge that question. So far I'm not seeing anything clear enough to me to say Trump really won. I mostly feel in the "work the problem" camp that concedes that Biden won or at least his side cheated cleverly enough to mimic a win. But Trump has been under-estimated before. Could he yet prove he won the election? The clock is ticking to provide that kind of proof. Honestly, I trust Attorney General Barr to weigh in on this when we've reached the end of time for the election process. And if we are on the cusp of the working the problem stage, maybe Republicans should be going along with the line that Biden is totally mentally competent and focusing criticism on Harris lest she rise to the top too soon.

I care so little about the Utah monolith. But whoever has it will make a lot of money selling a hunk of plywood and metal because it has been in the news a lot. I miss Shark! Summer already. Still, some of the memes are pretty funny:

Replacing the M-113. Well, the American AMPV replaces everything except the troop-carrying capacity.

AOC shows little evidence of being an economics major. Personally, I think she demonstrates little evidence of benefiting from any sort of higher education.

If there is no end to the Belarus post-election crisis, think it isn't a crisis for Lukashenko.  The arrest, bribery, and blackmail of key opposition figures will deprive the opposition of direction. Unless Lukashenko does something dramatic that sparks new outrage, I suspect he rides out the opposition as it gets tired of being in crisis mode.

Biden announced an all-female communications team. That makes sense. Given the need to protect Biden at all costs from any media questions it seems wise to follow Khadaffi's practice of all-female body guards. 

I find it revolting that the media reaction here to Israel's assassination of Iran's top nuclear weapons scientist has been met with extreme worries about what America might do if Iran "retaliates" against America. Nobody is horrified that Iran might attack Americans. Nobody is horrified at Iran's nuclear program--let alone Iran's non-nuclear mayhem in the region and indeed around the world. It's a repeat of Democratic horror that we killed terror-master Soleimani and their worry about what America might do to Iran rather than how to stop Iran. To Hell with these people. This is the country and leadership that American Democrats shed tears for: "Iran's agreement last week to swap an Australian-British academic held in Tehran for over two years, in exchange for three Iranians who were jailed for planning an attack on Israel's embassy in Bangkok, is part of an ongoing Iranian campaign to collect and trade hostages with Western countries, according to US and European officials contacted by Insider."

But we're told they care. $MeToo. Via Instapundit. 

Wow! Biden is sending out racist dog whistles already!

Maybe that's why Biden's dog broke his foot. Trip a Nazi!

It always seemed to me that liberals have evolved to become the real racists with their inability to see Black people as actual humans with agency and responsibility. Instead, liberals see each one is a representative of their race, which is deemed a perpetual victim class unable to help themselves. And of course, proclaiming how much the particular liberal cares about helping is just signaling their own virtue to their peers. And now that so many liberals have moved on to looking down on anybody who doesn't embrace so-called "anti-racism"--but which should be called the "woke man's burden"--the way they do, the path is cleared for a multi-racial conservative coalition that rejects perpetual victimhood status for a select few in favor of promoting the American Dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for everyone willing to try. It should not be shocking that there is a vast appeal to people who live in America to be part of America and its opportunities rather than being treated as a victim class and perpetual source of votes. Via Instapundit.

Hah!

I haha'd a lot listening to this comedian. And yes, I know my childhood home phone number. It had a word in the number which represented two digits.

Sometimes I have difficulty imagining Biden as our president. It isn't the consolation you think it would be to know that even after he is sworn in he won't be. Somebody will be. Perhaps it will be a group--call it a political bureau, or politburo, if you like--that will be the executive. Somebody else is thinking the way I am. Will we be judging influence and power by analyzing who stands where on a stage with Biden? Tip to Instapundit.

Will we find that the national blue wave so many anticipated this last election was really just a blue wave on social media? And so only representative of people obsessed with social media participation?

No more blood for wood.

Thanks military! We'll not discuss the freeze-dried pork patty out of respect for the many accomplishments we enjoy today.

How does NATO cope with the American troop reduction in Afghanistan? NATO will draw down to pace America's draw down in Afghanistan. Unless they draw down even more or get out. In which case America will leave, too. Which will roll out the welcome mat for the Taliban and other jihadis.

I have not yet begun to fight Game over man! The damage from a simple fire was quite the mission kill. As I noted about the Bonhomme Richard fire when it happened, this is why I reject defense of expensive aircraft carriers against alternatives for sea control even if they can't be sunk--which I also reject.

Greece wants to buy up to 24 F-35. Which given America's refusal to complete the plane sale to Erdogan's Turkey seems almost as much rubbing Turkey's nose in Greece's new favored alliance status as it is for military capabilities. Greece also intends to buy 18 Rafale fighters from France, which helps cement a more diverse set of friends just in case the eastern Mediterranean Sea goes hot. Which under the circumstances suits America and France just fine.

Training for space wars with the Space Training and Readiness (STAR) Delta (what Space Force calls their units). With the STAR acronym taken, the choice is clear for what to call space special forces combat troops--SMOD.

CNN shows how China screwed up their response to the Xi Jinping Flu covid-19 virus long enough after the election to avoid trampling on their "Trump screwed up" false narrative. It's almost funny that CNN thinks the information that conservatives have known all along is an "exclusive" news report. Welcome to the party, pal. At this rate, by the time Biden is sworn in the network will be calling it the China Virus. Tip to Instapundit.

Is it just me or is everybody experiencing high sock attrition during the pandemic? I keep wearing holes in socks this year. One more thing to hate Communist China for, I suppose.

Well of course Israel is trying to shape the diplomatic scene to prevent Biden from carrying out Reset 2.0 with Iran. I hope the Israelis succeed.

Why Millions Don’t Believe Trump Lost. I won't say I believe Trump won. I predicted he'd narrowly lose. But I do believe Democrats commit fraud. Do you really think they'd fail to exploit near-monolithic control of big cities and a sympathetic media co-conspirator to defeat who they say they believe is Orange Hitler? So I am open to the possibility that Trump actually won if the fraud was big enough in a handful of cities. But I want proof, of course. And I'm more inclined to think that might be the case given the Democrats claiming this was the bestest most protected election evah! with no signs of any fraud or error, when before the election Democrats claimed Trump was going to do anything--including stealing mailboxes, for God's sake!--to rig the election.

If they don't use slave labor for their products, why would they oppose legislation banning the use of slave labor? This is the one virtue that Coke, Nike, and others won't signal? Who knew "Just do it" was a direct order to the Uighurs? Tip to Instapundit.

I don't shop at Whole Foods. But I'm with their CEO on this. I find it a glorious celebration of the free market that the store has convinced people with more dollars than sense that it is virtuous to pay more for food that is no more healthy or safe than conventional food products. Per Mencken's purported observation, I'm just jealous I didn't get on board that gravy train by identifying that particular portion of the population.

The police collateral damage from those "mostly peaceful protests."

If Biden is finally certified as the winner will Pelosi finally stop holding the Americans suffering under pandemic lockdowns hostage by green-lighting short-term aid to actual people and opening up the economy for long-term relief by restoring jobs?

"Biden's transition team has announced they will be appointing an all-female communications team. According to sources, the team will not tell the nation what's wrong, since the nation should already know." OMG, that's genius!

Why do people who aren't absolute leftists remain on Facebook?

The pro-school shutdown teacher unions were assured there'd be no math involved. Any other disproportionate impact on minorities would be assumed to be racist and bad, with demands for immediate ending of that policy.

China may not like having a nuclear pet psycho regime on their border. But if they have to have one they don't mind propping it up if it is perpetually on the brink of usable nuclear weapons aimed at South Korea, Japan, and America. I'm sure Biden will get right on whipping China into line to oppose Rocket Man.

With events like this, why wouldn't the mullah nutballs think Allah is on their side?

The ability of liberals and progressives to successfully pose as pro-poor when their policy proposals benefit the wealthy is amazing. The latest? Student loan forgiveness. Is it really pro-poor to want to keep people poor and dependent on you? Tip to Instapundit.

The charge about votes in Wisconsin is indeed explosive. Can the proof detonate it?

Did Harris break Biden's foot as a warning of worse to come if he doesn't cooperate? At least Biden just has to wear a boot and not the cone of shame. I'm kidding, of course. Somehow Hillary is involved, I'm sure.

This is interesting but how is it possibly dangerous to us?

Remembering Climategate. Via Instapundit.

The safety versus risk divide between Blue and Red America. I mentioned recently that Democrats really do seem to be really worried or even terrified about the Xi Jinping Flu. 

Good! Democrats demonstrated the last four years that this is expected for Resistance. Other than approving qualified national defense appointees, Republicans in the Senate should resist Biden's appointments. As long as this behavior is a one-way street, Democrats will never stop doing it. Let Democrats learn what it is like. In related news, the Durham's probe into Democratic crimes in the Russiagate malarkey will continue into the next presidency as a special prosecutor.

Will Trump send the Paris Climate Accord to the Senate this month to be voted down and killed? I speculated about doing that to the Iran nuclear deal recently. 

Just a week ago Democrats were expressing their worry that Trump would attack Iran before Biden can attempt a Glorious Reset 2.0 with Iran. Now they are expressing worry that Trump really isn't interested in intervening in our Iran policy for the remainder of his term (he "checked out" on Iran policy) and has told Pompeo not to start World War III over Iran. 

If you really think Democrats wouldn't even think of rigging an election, explain to me again that what the Democratic Party did in 2016 and 2020 to deny Bernie Sanders the Democratic presidential nomination he appeared to be winning was perfectly kosher. So, yeah:

Really, if believing in fraud and engineered election errors is so ridiculous, you'd think Democrats and their media allies would welcome a thorough investigation to humiliate Trump backers by exposing the nonsense charge. Mind you, time is running out to prove enough fraud and error. There might not have been enough.

"The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency criticized the UAE (United Arab Emirates) for providing air and logistics support for Russian military contractors in Libya. The UAE and Russia have been supporting the LNA for years and have long cooperated in that effort. It is unclear why the U.S. government would now make an issue of that support." I assume it is raised now because the UAE wants F-35s and selling them might be good leverage to stopping the UAE from helping Russia.

Ah, the Soviet hammer and sickle isn't a symbol of evil--it needs "context." Thanks for the "fact check" USA Today! Is any part of that context the murder of tens of millions of people to get Russia's Great Reset?

With rumors that Biden will refocus NASA on climate change rather than space exploration, China is on the moon and aiming for Mars. We'll be lucky if Biden doesn't focus Space Force on detecting fossil fuel use and bombarding those climate sinners when found. Thank God America is developing a robust commercial space flight industry. Even a NASA fully focused on space flight might not be able to accomplish what private companies can, to be honest.

I insist on plastic bags. And always have. Apparently I'm Green as Ef, you planet-destroying deniers!

And I maintain that electric vehicles will prove to be worse than gasoline engine vehicles when you consider the full life cycle of making and disposing of batteries, and the use of fossil fuels--including coal--to make the electricity. And I suspect that wind turbines will be the same on life cycles. Of course, preening about how much you care by advocating any of these is priceless. So there you go.

More on the impact of that American destroyer shooting down a test ICBM while it was still in space but before it started its high-speed plunge to its target. Hawaii is better protected from North Korea with this path to missile defense. Those anti-missile missiles are in the Balkans at land installations, too, to protect against Iranian threats.

This makes sense. I suppose the reaction will be to accuse anyone accurately quoting Biden of being a hater and probable Nazi who just wants to make Biden look inept or addled.

What part of "from each according to their ability and to each according to their need" is unclear to the local BLM chapters worried about what the national BLM is doing with all the money it collects? The national BLM's need to grab money is perfectly aligned with its ability to grab money. Those local groups should shut up and get back to being good cannon fodder--and they look suspiciously Nazi-like and racist for complaining, don't they?

I'm not even a wine drinker, but I think I'll buy some Australian wine anyway. And really, who does Xi think he is, anyway? "The dossier of 14 disputes was handed over by the Chinese embassy in Canberra to Nine News, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in a diplomatic play that appears aimed at pressuring the Morrison government to reverse Australia's position on key policies." Fourteen demands? Even God only had ten commandments to follow. Remember, China isn't becoming an enemy because Australia called China as an enemy. Australia recognized China as an enemy because China already is an enemy. It's a subtle difference, I know.

Democrats fleeing California's Democratic policies didn't connect their need to flee to the policies that caused them to flee to Arizona, and flipped that state Blue. Maybe Republicans should support policies that restore cities to pre-pandemic appeal in order to get those Blue refugees to return to their mother ships and vote there instead of in Red states.

Let's recall a reason for keeping China's 5G companies out of Western countries.

Anarchist terrorism. Throw the book at them.

Will the Biden administration cripple America's nuclear deterrent?

It is certainly possible that despite clear indications of pro-Biden fraud and the clear opportunity for massive fraud with mass mail-in ballots that the real reason Biden won was the assembly line urban vote harvesting that Democrats established for this election. Mail-in ballots made that much easier. Republicans need to match that Democratic voting machine. And for the sake of preventing fraud in the future, get rid of mail-in voting as it was practiced this year. Voting day in person should be the norm. And if that can't be achieved, vote-by-mail verification has to be strengthened considerably to allow for recounts that can actually detect fraud. Even if there wasn't decisive fraud this election--and time is quickly running out to prove it--the opportunity is so great that it will happen eventually.

Air Force retention is way up during the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic.  I figured retention would improve during the pandemic.

The election process puts a deadline of mere weeks on Trump to prove significant fraud and/or error (whether honest or deliberately engineered) in the 2020 election. One can only dream that Democrats would have had a similar deadline on baseless claims of collusion with Russia to affect the 2016 election. Trump should push for honest state elections by pushing investigation and legislation. Rather than run for president again in 2024 he should buy a media platform next year, and run for a U.S. Senate seat in 2022. This path provides the time needed to prove the fraud he claims led to his loss. The Senate is made for making speeches and oversight, and wouldn't he enjoy putting holds on Democratic nominees? Remember, Hillary! established the precedent of moving to where you want to run for that office. Heck, CNN, MSNBC, and the NYT would probably secretly bankroll his Senate campaign to keep their profit margins going. 

Good grief, she really does look like the super villain from the next Marvel Comics movie:

So Ellen Page was lesbian and married to a woman. Fine. Disappointing but fine. And now she identifies as a man--Elliot. That's fine, too, if puzzling. Isn't this just a really brilliantly woke ploy to cheat on his wife and get everyone to "celebrate" that? 2020, eh? Not that any of this affects me given my age. Like I had a shot at Ellen anyway regardless of her declaration. But how can I be made to care about any of this when I have trouble keeping up with the terminology and interpretations of science? People have my tolerance and that will have to do. I wish Page the best, of course. She's both the prettiest man around and a new recruit for the White Male Supremacist League of Privilege! Get Elliot that WMSLP card, stat! One more thing before I go. Why do people who change their self identification change their name, too? I mean, if you are willing to say you are a gender without having the "plumbing" of that sex, why can't you identify your existing name as one appropriate for your new gender? Once you've made the first big leap the second seems minor by comparison.

Pakistan accepts its new Han overlords. Pakistanis should know it is a one-way street and expect little actual help from Peking. Pakistan's choice alienates America even more by siding with Chinese territorial claims against India, a country America is increasingly getting closer to in order to contain China. This is on top of alienating France because of Islamist terror inside France. One would think Pakistan's opponents could exploit Pakistan's willingness to back China's severe oppression of Moslem Uighurs as China's price to voice support for Pakistan.

Organizing a circular firing squad should not be the first reaction of Republicans to potential fraud or engineered error in the presidential election: When I first read that Republicans in Georgia were SERIOUSLY FREAKING THINKING of not voting in the Senate runoff elections I thought I might need a field sobriety test, a concussion examination, or both. There was no way that otherwise sensible people could be participating in a “cut off the nose to spite the face” mass delusion, was there? Keeping a republic is difficult, as Ben Franklin warned at our founding. Let's not be stupid.

Okay, one more. But only because Die Hard is a Christmas movie:

It's amazing. Kindergarten was once just socializing children with minor education objectives to prepare all children for first grade. Now it is just another grade of education, perhaps pushing little kids too fast. Meanwhile, higher education is being turned away from education to being a four-year temper tantrum that fails to prepare those child-adults for the real world of work. In a sane world those woke and ignorant brats would be slapped down and told to go back to class or go to a different institution that will tolerate their immature tantrums. No good can come from this epidemic of woke "social justice" stupidity masquerading as actual justice. I hope enough universities remain untainted. It seems like too many Americans go to four-year colleges. I hope that the educational rot is taking place only in those tantrum "colleges" so that the real colleges supply America's needs for actually educated college graduates.

"Americans want to be done with the military and economic costs of having troops in Afghanistan. The problem with that attitude is that Americans can leave Afghanistan but Afghanistan won’t leave America. The heroin production will continue and major Islamic terrorist groups will have a sanctuary from which to plan attacks on the Wests, especially the United States." We want to prevent that without our troops and aid. Eventually we may be able to do that. We aren't there yet. Do you really believe TSA and the FBI is doing more than security theater that can stop those attacks?

Iraq is cool to Iranian outreach these days. And they'll continue to be cool as long as Biden doesn't ef things up royally by--is it even possible?--reaching out to Iran by agreeing to a nuclear deal with Iran worse (tip to Instapundit) than the original.

Outsiders colluding to influence an American election.

The idea of Trump imposing martial law to nullify the election and stop Biden from being sworn in to have a re-do on the election is ridiculous. One, there is a bit of time for the process before the Electoral College votes. Two, I don't think the federal government has that power given the power of our states to run elections. Three, there is simply no provision in the Constitution for a do-over election. If the evidence isn't strong enough to justify state legislatures taking the Constitutional provisions to choose Electors for Trump, there is no Constitutional path to change the counted election results. Four, I assume the media is making more of this so-called Trump-backer hope than reality supports. This is one more Tyrant Porn episode before that genre ends. If there was fraud that can't be proven before Biden is elected by the Electoral College, the Constitutional response is to take the time to prove the fraud, resist administration efforts through legal means, and then impeach President Biden and Vice President Harris. Or better, using the Congressional and public determination to impeach to pressure Biden and Harris to resign. Ideally Democrats would support this if the proof is good enough. If not, it would be the central theme of the 2022 Congressional election that requires Republican victories to push through impeachment over Democratic opposition. That is the way to do it according to our Constitution. I wouldn't tolerate complaints about the Electoral College in the face of "but the national popular vote!" nonsense. I won't tolerate it about fantasy election do-overs that just don't exist. Work the problem, people.

Prince Harry of Wokephalia really does work hard to make regicide seem like a needed if regrettable practice, doesn't he? He once seemed like a decent chap, if memory serves me, until Yoko Ono sank her teeth into him. Sad.

Could the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic's impact on shipping give the U.S. military an opportunity to purchase hulls for modularized auxiliary cruisers for power projection (starting on page 50 of that Military Review issue) or even anti-ship missions, which was my original thought?

Will Biden really open up our borders to illegal immigrants and refugees in a pandemic era? How do open borders mesh with lockdown enthusiasm? Or will Biden prioritize immunizing those people when they enter the country?

Yes, the federal bureaucracy is a fourth branch of government now with its role in executing the laws and with a quasi-legislative role promulgating rules with the force of law. Few people realize the extent of this entity. I wrote on the administrative rules process when in the state legislature (not a legislator, I hasten to add). It is useful but needs to be constrained and watched constantly. But it isn't.

If renewable energy was better than fossil fuels as climate change activists insist, countries would not be "choosing" fossil fuels over "clean" renewable energy.

I'm annoyed at conservatives who dismiss masks to fight the Xi Jinping Flu. But I'm more annoyed at liberals who have elevated them to sacred magical relics of their religion. Properly worn masks help. Some masks are better than other masks. But some are nearly worthless. They are not silver bullet solutions to the pandemic. Further, it just isn't the case that liberals are the mask and social distancing champions in this divide. The number of Democratic leaders caught violating the requirements shows it at the top. The young people and minorities in cities violating the requirements shows it on a large-scale. Unless you want to argue that young people and minorities are MAGA territory the way downtown Chicago apparently is on sub-zero nights.

What is Oregon's major malfunction? 

Virtue signaling at the national level--a small, insulated nation, of course. I eagerly await seeing them live in mud huts with two hours of electricity per day to do their part to save the planet from the "emergency." The Xi Jinping Flu gave them a head start on mass poverty, so why waste a crisis, eh? But that won't happen, of course. Their achievement--if they reach their goal--will be tainted when you look at how they define "carbon neutral." I'm sure you'll find that all they'll have done is export their carbon emissions to foreign countries. It's really a Ponzi scheme that only the early countries can get away with.

Turkey sends the first armed naval drones to sea. Well, to the coasts and harbors for local defense anyway. Perhaps the Mediterranean Sea is the ideal location for these new robots when they get a bit bigger. Much as triremes excelled in these relatively sheltered waters but foundered in the great oceans. America will need much larger AUSVs to operate with the fleet on the high seas. Although perhaps our first smaller ones will find their first job in the Persian Gulf which sends chills up my spine.

Life in Chinese prison camps for Moslems. China goes to a lot of efforts to let the Han pretend they don't also live in an even more massive national prison. But the Chinese Communist Party doesn't bother pretending any more for the remnant minorities on the imperial fringes. Tip to Instapundit.

It almost brings a tear to my eye to see Congressional Democrats trying to keep American troops overseas. It wasn't that long ago that Congress came close to ordering a pull out of American troops from Iraq when they were on the cusp of defeating al Qaeda in Iraq. And it wasn't that long ago when Afghanistan lost its "good war" status to become too late to win. The reversal in Democratic thinking is amazing. The Russia flip is the most famous but not the only one. Is there nothing Trump can't achieve? To be fair, Republicans have also regrettably flipped on Iraq and Afghanistan, too, but that has been a less sudden transition that pre-dates Trump.

Twenty-first century beads and blankets?  Better hope those weren't super spreader events. It is illegal to directly buy votes, of course.

Australia is heavily dependent on Chinese trade. Can Australia withstand China's onslaught to enforce conformity to Chinese Communist Party demands on the proper behavior of smaller nations? Australia surely can't replace the volume of trade. But can Australia focus their trade diversification on things that the Chinese can't get easily from alternative sources as a priority to minimize their trade dependence at least somewhat? And could Australia get a near monopoly on anything China really, really needs?

Will there be a Brexit deal Monday?

Good. I doubt the Dominion voting machines are the problem. But absent the ability to examine them, you guarantee that one day they will be a problem. Opportunity and motive, eh? My goal is just to gain some confidence in that part of the voting system. That's valuable. And who knows? Maybe the horse will sing. But like a lot of things that look odd, it could easily be nothing. When you aren't familiar with the process, looking at something closely can provide glimpses of perfectly reasonable things that only look odd because you are looking for odd things. I imagine most of the odd things we think we see aren't actually odd. Maybe enough are truly indicative of fraud on a scale to change an election. But probably not. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump wins a victory or two to reduce the scale of his Electoral College defeat. But I doubt it will be enough to win. But it may be a moral victory that helps us move on. And it may be a practical victory to press for election process reforms that reduce the scope for fraud and error.

When hate serves as virtue signaling and self-esteem maintenance. It is a well established survival practice. Suck up to the generals and kick the privates.

I don't believe state legislatures should override Electoral College delegates absent clear evidence that fraud caused Biden to win a state's delegates. While this is a path our Constitution provides I think that overriding votes is an extraordinary thing that requires extraordinary evidence. Having said that, it is difficult for me to hear complaints from Democrats over this hypothetical change to Electoral College votes given their enthusiasm for the popular vote inter-state compact Democrats are promoting which would cast a member state's Electoral College vote to the winner of the national popular vote even if the other candidate won their state's Electoral College votes in the state election. This is a provision for reversing a vote's effect that is nowhere in the actual Constitution.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!! Tip to Insanity Wrap.

China is working awfully hard to look like our enemy. Was the Xi Jinping Flu unleashed on the world insufficiently harmful? I hope the CIA can spare some time to cause China problems.

I'm torn between being happy that the Chinese are helping to push humanity into space and being deeply worried about what the Chinese Communist Party will do with space assets. Perhaps the Chinese people will get rid of the CCP and China will become a more normal rival than a budding enemy. That change offers hope for cooperation and friendship--and mutual prosperity. But hey, a Japanese craft returned with asteroid dust samples that it parachuted to the ground as it moved on to a new mission. And an American craft is on its way home. And more on satellites and launchers, including China's development.

Oh Holy Hell, we're all going to starve, aren't we? Via Instapundit.

Lock him up. If that sort of thing isn't punished and he instead goes free to lucrative book deals and rewards from sympathetic colleges that provide him teaching posts, we're begging for Banana Republic status. I don't think 3 months in prison is enough. That isn't even enough time for Biden to pardon him. Tip to Instapundit.

I guess Pelosi figures she broke enough eggs and the omelet is just great. Cannon fodder is meant to die in large numbers, after all.

Nigeria goes to a simpler and more effective air force for their counter-jihadi needs.

ARTICLE CORRECTION: Five warheads ... as a start. There would be more if Iran gets its way. They'd want to reload after firing, no? Tip to Instapundit.

Moqtada al-Sadr--"Mookie"--wants to lead Iraq in 2021. Violence may be part of his election strategy. I hope Iraqis do not put their trust in that three-time insurrectionist who has Iran's fingerprints all over him. I've heard claims he turned against Iran but Sadr cannot be trusted. He is dangerous whether he is beholden to foreign masters or just to his own limitless ambitions.

No smoking tobacco in your home but smoking marijuana there is fine. What is wrong with these people?

Yet somehow Democrats think there should be no payback.

I blame the Bad Orange Man.

USA Today has unleashed Red Guards on other authors. It's so cute that USA Today thinks it won't be devoured by the young woke monster it has unleashed on others. Via Instapundit.

Liberals have abused "fact checks" so much and for so long that when I see a headline that says "Trump spreads debunked conspiracy theories" I read it as "Trump makes charge that partisans deny" and don't bother reading it.

The Iranians seem to have backed away from risking clashes with the Navy.

While American forces are being pulled out of Somalia, they will remain in the region. I assume in Kenya and Djibouti. Maybe a good chunk should be offshore on The AFRICOM Queen, as I discussed in Military Review.

Wily Putin, Super Genius

Oh yeah, Putin is quite the strategic genius, as you consider some blowback from his Ukraine adventrures:

Russia estimates that the loss of access to Western technology and Ukrainian components cost their military over $25 billion, so far. That was the cost of replacing or doing without new components that used Western tech. The locally made replacements were usually not as effective as what the Ukrainians were providing until 2014. These problems are a generally unmentioned side effects of the ongoing Ukraine crises. The damage done to Russian weapons production because of their dependence on Ukraine was far greater than the Russians realized. 

Invading your major weapons component supplier and alienating Western alternate sources of technology is working out just swell for Russia. "These are not happy times in Russia." Do read it all.

And Crimea isn't quite the bastion of happy liberated people it was made out to be. Really, drawing NATO's attention to the Black Sea region may not have been the best idea.

It all adds to the reputation of the geopolitical chess master that is Putin.

And so-called hybrid warfare and "frozen conflicts" aren't all that hyper-ventilating Westerners claim them to be, either, as long as I'm venting.

China Has It's Own Rural Deplorables

This article is about China's desire to fully mechanize and wire up their army by 2027. But I find this really interesting:

For example [in regard to "societal stability" concerns], there is continued emphasis on urbanization, while reducing the divide between urban and rural development. This suggests the Chinese leadership sees the growing disparities between the countryside and the cities as a major source of concern.

The Chinese Communist Party rose to power based on rural support. I'm sure the CCP is particularly sensitive to preempting threats from that portion of the country by reducing the size of that environment. 

I was pretty prescient with the idea of wiring up the cities for surveillance, as I noted further down in this post, eh? 

UPDATE: And to be clear, it really didn't take a lot of prescience to predict China's obsessive need to control every damn thing about the lives of anyone they think might be a threat to CCP control--which is everyone everywhere on the planet the way things look now.

Can Nuance Forge an Empire?

France wants to yoke German power to another French effort at gaining a European empire.

I've noted the difference between geographic Europe and political Europe. The former is a collection of independent countries. The latter is a EU super state on its way to being an imperial state that crushes national identity and power. 

Macron wants the latter: 

I believe the second way forward is a strong and political Europe. Why ? Because I do not believe that Europe waters down France’s voice: France has its outlook, its history, its view of international affairs, but it builds much more useful and stronger action when it does so through Europe.

Allow me to translate: Macron wants to remain France while it uses Germany as the muscle to control all of Europe, confident that France can direct the Germans who claim to fear their Nazi past too much to build military power of their own or to wield political power on their own. 

Mind you, this isn't some conspiracy. Uniting Europe is the point of the EU project. France and Germany are the two states pushing the EU unification the hardest. Germany is thus far unwilling to use its economic and financial power to build military-based hard power. The EU wants to replace NATO as the basis of European defense, which has the effect of crippling American influence in Europe, which is historically not the most democratic of places. And the EU institutionally dislikes democracy or national identities. 

This adds up to an eventual EU imperial state. Which France assumes it can lead.

Nice work if you can get it.

We should not want a Europe that looks like that.

Reporting for Failure

Based on his Iran nuclear deal and Syrian chemical weapons deal performance, flames should be shooting out of the planet's volcanoes and the oceans will be boiling in no time at all:

He was clearly the worst secretary of state in living memory--and that isn't just my judgment, if my opinion isn't enough for you. 

I assume he will be the worst climate czar ever, even on the terms of climate panickers. 

If there was justice, his picture would be on the Wikipedia page for "white privilege," eh?

Unnatural Allies

One day Russia will stop sucking up to China out of fear. That day is not here yet.

Yes:

Since the 1990s Russia has become economically dependent on China, especially during the last decade because of low oil prices and post-2014 Ukraine related economic sanctions. Russia and China often cooperate when dealing with their mutual enemies, which currently includes just about every other country on the planet. Yet Russia and China are unnatural allies because Russia has taken much from China in the past and China never abandoned it claims on those lost territories. This is not just about territorial disputes in the Russian Far East but also past Russian wrongs done to China. One of the most prominent of these was how the 1950-53 Korean War included China because Russia (Josef Stalin) insisted. In 1950 Russia was an essential military, economic and political ally of China. Despite many misgivings, China complied, sending over two million troops to North Korea over the next three years. About a third of these soldiers were casualties. 

Those territorial claims are huge and a big deal to China even if they are quiet for now.

I thought Russia was starting to end their appeasement of China. But if so, it is early. 

And it might go the other way if China's traditional view of its role wins out. Perhaps after a short and glorious Chinese victory over Russia that signals the power disparity for all to see. Or will Russia concede checkmate more quietly? Does it depend on whether China wants to rub Russia's nose in defeat or not?

Until something changes, Russia will continue to ignore the Chinese threat and pretend they are bravely resisting a non-existent NATO threat. Bravo. Really, brilliantly played. 

UPDATE: Why does Putin keep talking about a military alliance with China? 

As this post suggests, it is because Putin is trying to hide the fact that Russia is getting close to being a vassal state of China and nothing close to being a partner.

The European Union Cannot Be Trusted

The European Union is not America's friend. And we know they lie because their lips are moving.

An independent EU military force separate from NATO would provide security and economic benefits, the EU thinks:

In an interview with POLITICO, Graziano stepped into the fraught political debate over whether Europe can aspire to “strategic autonomy” in the military sphere — the extent to which the bloc along with regional allies such as the U.K. can deter aggressors and intervene with military power beyond its borders. Yes, the EU’s military capabilities are limited, but growing them would bring security and economic benefits, so the thinking goes.

What security benefits would be superior to that provided by NATO? 

And the economic benefits could be realized with common European weapons purchases regardless of the status of an EU military. 

As has been obvious over the last four years, Europe is unwilling to spend money for defense within NATO. If Europeans build an EU military, it will be at the expense of financing NATO capabilities. As the EU's top military official said, "it’s not a matter of spending more but spending better." "Better" according to the EU means funding the EU military and not NATO. 

Oh, and I find it amusing that a stronger EU would supposedly have Britain as a military partner. The EU has spent the last 4-1/2 years punishing Britain for Brexit, yet now British military capabilities are to be relied upon for intervention abroad? 

The only purpose of an EU military is to destroy NATO and therefore eject American influence from Europe. If you doubt that, look at one of the benefits the EU could achieve with its new military status:

One of those, [the EU top military official] suggested, was to play a role between the U.S. and China as the latter continues its economic and military rise.

Ah, Europe wants a role "between" free and democratic America which has spent a century helping to defend Europe on the one hand, and autocratic, Communist-run China which threatens freedom on the other hand. It is no shock that the proto-imperial state would extend professional courtesy to the imperial state, eh?

Ah, nuance. An armed EU is a dangerous EU far more likely to side against America and lose its freedoms. It is in America's interests that the EU die, with festering boils.

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You

The Chinese have a tale of surveillance woe.

Wait. What? The Chinese don't like America doing to China what China does to its own people?

China is upset with the extent that American ELINT (Electric Intelligence) aircraft, especially the RC-135W and E-8C, and a growing number of UAVs, are operating over the South China Sea and near Chinese naval bases and coastal airbases to monitor Chinese military electronics on land and aboard warships and naval aircraft. The American ELINT aircraft operate outside Chinese territorial waters (22 kilometers from the coast) but within the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) which extends 360 kilometers from the coast. 

As a superpower we've been learning -- You'll forgive us if we boast -- And we've now become an expert. On the subject we prepare for most.

I say we follow the Chinese example and give the Chinese Communist Party a poor social credit score that punishes them in the international community for bad behavior.

The Pacific Air Power Kill Web

The Air Force wants more runways in the Pacific to disperse aircraft to in wartime.

Definitely do this:

The prospect of a war with China, which has a rapidly modernizing military that can reach farther and farther across the Pacific, has the US military looking to spread out. '''

For the US Air Force, that means scouring the region for new places to operate, but rather [than] building new bases, it's working with what's there, according to Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander of Pacific Air Forces.

"What we're doing is taking advantage of airfields that already exist," Wilsbach told reporters last week. "If you're going to put [in] an F-22 or an F-15 or a C-130, the airfield has to have certain criteria, and so we've actually studied every single piece of concrete in the Pacific and Indo-Pacific ... for whether they would meet our criteria."

I've long been in favor of this approach. Way back.

Because land-based air power is a powerful force that can help control the seas. And the Navy could operate planes from land bases, too, you know.

UPDATE: This will make the kill web more deadly:

Australia and the United States are partnering to develop and test an air-launched hypersonic cruise missile under the bilateral Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment program, or SCIFiRE, the two countries announced Monday.

The missile will be able to be carried on naval patrol aircraft and fighter aircraft, including the F-35.

Pacific Kill Web

If the Chinese navy sorties and tries to break out into the Pacific, it could get ugly for the PLAN.

This author describes America's approach in the Pacific to step in first to deny China base options on Pacific islands:

While pundits and policymakers in Washington lock horns over a new strategic direction to counter China, the Department of Defense (DoD) is quietly working to blunt the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) advance into the Pacific Ocean. The plan is simple: work with allies and partners throughout the Pacific region to maintain America’s military presence and limit the PLA’s operational capacity therein.

The Pentagon’s strategy isn’t a grand plan to collapse the regime in Beijing. Rather, it’s a practical recognition of the PLA’s growing capabilities and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) appetite for global domination, as well as the actual barriers that stand in China’s way. Geography plays a key role here, for the Pacific Ocean is most unfavorable to China, hemming it in with successive land barriers, or island chains, as defense planners call them. Holding these island chains won’t save America from great power competition, but it would certainly constrain China’s advance.

I'm fully on board that approach:

If China starts a war, it will surge with its initial advantages of force and surprise. Let's make sure we don't have to fall back to Hawaii before pushing back in earnest. Let's get those bases while we can do it cheaply in blood.

I will say that if American forces have access to a lot of islands that my concerns about unarmed light amphibious warships declines a lot. 

Although it would make sense to airlift anti-ship coastal defense units in those friendly areas, wouldn't it?  So my concerns about LAW design remain.