WND Forwarded Post:
How odd? We let ourselves get kicked out of Subic Bay and now consider
sinking billions to bring this sand spit of an island up to speed. On the
way to So Korea we landed there and just about all on board had the feeling
the jet would overshoot the landing strip and end up in the Pacific. All it
would take to blow us off this tiny island would be one or two nukes; small
ones at that. Japan did a good job shooting up the island during WW II.
Chinese missils, if they can reach LA would make short work of this place.
Lead Story
U.S. Military Sets Sights on Guam
Summary
The United States military is extending its reach into Asia by developing
new Air Force and Naval capabilities on the U.S. island territory of Guam.
The U.S. Air Force has recently stationed 62 conventional air-launched
cruise missiles, CALCMs, at Guam's Andersen Air Force Base. Meanwhile, the
Navy has begun a feasibility study into the possibility of stationing attack
submarines in Guam. The moves are the start of a long-planned U.S. military
buildup that will expand Guam's role as a forward operating location for the
Pacific Rim.
Analysis
In early August, B-52 crews transported approximately 62 CALCMs from
Fairchild AFB, Washington to Guam. The Air Force has used Guam before -- as
a B-52 bomber base for the Vietnam War -- but this marks the first time the
United States has CALCMs outside the continental United States, reported the
Washington Times.
The U.S. Navy has also been eyeing Guam and its deep-water port for the
potential forward deployment of nuclear-powered attack submarines. A
feasibility study is being conducted now that could lead to the deployment
of three to five nuclear-powered attack submarines in three to four years.
There are so far neither bombers nor submarines stationed in Guam, but that
seems to be the next step in Washington's plan. Ideally positioned to cover
the strategic sea-lanes important to the economies of Japan, Taiwan, South
Korea and the Philippines, Guam's importance in Asia has long been
recognized by military planners. Guam offers not only the advantages of an
unsinkable aircraft carrier, but also of a deep-water port.
As early as 1988, the U.S. Navy began to investigate the feasibility of
using Guam's port of Apra Harbor as a backup for fleet operations out of the
U.S. Naval base at Subic Bay in the Philippines. In 1992 negotiations over
the re-leasing of Subic Bay failed, throwing the base back under Philippine
control and sending the U.S. Navy looking for a new port.
For the Air Force, Clark AFB in the Philippines became worthless in June
1991 when it disappeared under up to 10 feet of volcanic ash and mud from
nearby Mt. Pinatubo. The air units that were forced to flee Clark eventually
settled in South Korea and Japan.
In the early '90s, China began extending its influence to the Spratly
Islands. Located due west of the Philippines, these coral atolls hold
immense strategic and economic potential. Straddling the strategic sea-lanes
through which the bulk of oil, raw materials and exports from Taiwan, Korea
and Japan pass, the islands also rest on top of potentially rich reserves of
oil and natural gas. Though currently lacking the necessary infrastructure
to extract these resources economically, the Spratly Islands hold great
promise to whoever can stake their claim.
Thus, the islands are now the subject of rival claims by Brunei, China,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Of these claimants, China,
the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam have permanent structures there.
In 1988, the Chinese began building fortifications on the island of Mischief
Reef. The Chinese claim these structures are shelters for their fishermen in
the stormy South China Sea. Of course, these fishermen have also been
treated to a 7,500-foot runway capable of staging tactical and strategic
aircraft, fortified military compounds capable of supporting anti-aircraft
installations and port facilities.
The U.S. military currently discounts any possibility of conflict over the
Spratly Islands, but the balance of power there will likely shift in the
next five years. A classified U.S. Naval report leaked to Kyodo News Service
in 1999 projected the possibility that China could exercise a significant
long-range offensive fighter operation from the Spratly Islands as early as
2005, thus guaranteeing Chinese air superiority in the South China Sea. The
only possible offset to such operations would be an enhanced U.S. military
presence in the region -- hence the buildup in Guam.
Staging from bases in the United States, B-52s on alert can reach Guam in
approximately 12 to14 hours. By forward staging the CALCMs, the B-52s can
load huge fuel reserves to reduce air-refueling time en route. Upon reaching
the island, crews could be swapped out while CALCMs are loaded aboard for
continuing missions anywhere on the Pacific Rim, increasing both timeliness
and efficiency.
Recent reports also indicate the U.S. Navy has been considering forward
staging several of its nuclear-powered attack submarines out of Apra Harbor
for much the same reasons as the CALCM deployment to Andersen AFB.
Nevertheless, feasibility and costs are still in question.
The security of shipping through the South China Sea is of increasing
concern to the United States. A growing Chinese naval presence in the South
China Sea with the projected completion of its first aircraft carriers in
2020 will only increase tensions. The increasing U.S. military presence in
Guam will continue evolving in proportion to the level of these strategic
concerns.
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