http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2011/06_22/ba.as p?
Gates alludes to emerging U.S. strategy to diminish superpower status Recent comments by Robert M. Gates, the outgoing defense secretary, indicate that the Obama administration is planning to radically restructure U.S. military forces and alliances in ways that will diminish the role of the United States in the world. First, Gates gave several speeches warning that the Obama administration is targeting the U.S. military forces for major cuts as part of politically-motivated efforts to diminish the role of U.S. forces in the world. http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/images/2011/gatesbrusse ls.jpg U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivers a speech to the Security and Defence Agenda think tank in Brussels. <http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo/110610/photos_pl_afp/607c1cfb f6e4c815ce5d0645acd0cc18/> AFP/John Thys _____ Gates, who leaves office June 30, said he was determined to avoid the mistakes of the 1970s and 1990s when defense spending cuts resulted in a hollowing out of U.S. forces, that is, a decline in investments in military equipment and forces that resulted in a sharp decline in military warfighting readiness. Gates then revealed that by cutting defense and military forces, the Obama administration is planning to limit the use of military forces around the world. He warned that a "smaller military, no matter how superb, will be able to go fewer places and be able to do fewer things." And he noted that the United States has a "special position and set of responsibilities." The second element of the new U.S. strategy is that the United States is ending its decades-long commitment to the defense of Europe and is likely to pull back further from supporting European security. Then in a speech in Brussels June 10, Gates told the European allies that NATO demonstrated significant shortcomings in Afghanistan related to "military capabilities and political will" that are now mirrored in the failing military action against Libya. He then attacked the alliance for failing to commit forces and other resources, noting that while every alliance member voted for the Libya mission, "less than half have participated at all, and fewer than a third have been willing to participate in the strike mission." "Frankly, many of those allies sitting on the sidelines do so not because they do not want to participate, but simply because they can't. The military capabilities simply aren't there," he said. With the criticism, Gates is further straining ties with NATO at a time when Russia is become more of a threat, especially to Eastern European states. The decline of the U.S. military comes at a time when China's military forces are becoming a greater threat to U.S. allies in Asia and growing hegemony by Beijing in the South China Sea, where oil and gas resources are up for grabs. Observers say the Obama administration global strategy is emerging as key right of center figures have been forced out, including Gates and National Security Adviser James L. Jones. The new national security team is led by left liberal ideologues, many veterans of the leftist movements of the 1960s and 1970s, who favor fundamentally shifting the U.S. global posture based on the idea that despite strategic problems around the world, the United States is a main source of those problems. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-os...@yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor biso...@intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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