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KIMTANQUE
KIMTANQUE
negatively to the "Pivot." What gains the US has made, have been made through coercion,
political subversion, and even terrorism, and this is done in front of an increasingly geopolitically
aware Asian population. The pivot has been a disadvantage. Concurrently, details of a new
operational concept called Air Sea Battle were released on January 2012 as the same time as
the pivot began, that despite protestations to the contrary, is more or less about how to defeat
China in a conflict. This coincidence of events has regional allies believing that the U.S. has
carefully developed some new "secret sauce" to keep the peace in Asia. Obama’s
administration made a critical strategic choice that affected the posture of Asia. They slashed
the defense budget of Asia last 2009 to the tune of about 400 billion. The defense cuts badly
affect the forces we need in Asia. The stealthy F-35 program has taken a big hit. The navy has
said it needs anywhere from 500 to 313 ships in its fleet. It will end up with around 285 total
ships by the end of the next five year defense program. From my point of view, the sole purpose
of the pivot is stoke conflicts in Asia. The Americans will not fight China directly but they will wait
and encourage other to follow suit. After the firefights started, Americans will get out with it. The
pivot to Asia recognises that the next great threat to Asian peace is China. They are growing
and, flexing their muscles. Like Germany before WW1, they want a big slice of the pie.