The usually very well informed Swoop writes:
The next round of US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue taking place from June 17th-18th will air new concerns about China’s currency policy. At the same time attitudes in the Pentagon are hardening. At a speech in Singapore on May 31st Secretary of Defense Gates sharply criticized Chinese policy in the South China Sea. We understand he did this despite objections from the State Department. Further, the Pentagon has established what may be described as a “dirty tricks” unit charged with developing ideas for disrupting China. We do not believe that the White House has authorized any of these activities – which remain in the planning phase. But these indications point toward greater tension in US-China relations.
In the key judgement it adds:
However, the aftermath of the speech may have heightened tensions, with a senior Chinese general attacking US bilateral alliance relationships and missile defense policies as “undercutting the equilibrium of regional powers.” This has only boosted the Pentagon’s suspicions. A senior Pentagon officer told us “the Chinese have no idea how we can hurt them. We have not started yet.” Plans to encourage greater pliancy, we were told, include encouraging overseas Chinese to pull their investments out of the mainland.
Of course this is brain dead policy. There is absolutely no need for the U.S. to see China as a threat.
The real purpose of such politics is to put more taxpayer money into useless military super gadgets like the F-22 fighter. There is hardly any justification for the plane at all, but the Air Force and Lockheed want more. Therefore they invent a China threat.
The danger is that such stuff might eventually be used just because it is there. UN ambassador Madeleine Albright once asked then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, "What’s the point of having this superb military you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?"
But an even bigger danger here is the role of the Pentagon as displayed above.
- Gates talking against China despite objections from the State Departments. The Pentagon should be a tool of foreign policy, not the foreign policy maker.
- The military planning "dirty tricks". That is definitely not the task of the military but the job of the CIA and other civil clandestine services.
- A senior Pentagon officer talking about economic warfare issues like coerced divestment. Such measures are the job of the treasury.
- All the above measures should be planed and coordinated by the National Security Council, not by the Pentagon.
Having multiple bureaucracies and power centers within a government is a feature, not a bug. It helps to avoid one sided, single minded decisions.
The trend over the years has been to put ever more tasks into the Pentagon or rather, the Pentagon robbing these roles from other agencies without any resistance from above. It is now playing NSC, State, Treasury and CIA on top of its original job.
Everybody should fear the future state this will lead to.