First my seemly unrelated rantings:
I saw a listing in the classifieds for a balisong knife. In the Philippines they are called butterfly knives. I was stationed in the PI in the post Vietnam era 1975 - 1978. Ah fond memories of PI and the butterfly knives, every hooker on mek sai sai street in Subic Bay carried one. You could pick them up from street vendors. OK enough reminiscing.
So I tried to look up mek sai sai street Subic Bay on the net just to see what the current status of well known area was after the PI kicked the US out over two decades ago.
In my search I ran across and article in the Washington Post about how the US and PI are considering basically a return of US forces to the PI to send a message to China. Fears of China's expanding military presence has the Philippines considering welcoming US military presence back as a warning to China.
Quote from the article "Although Washington has said it is not trying to contain China’s rise as an economic and military superpower, Obama announced a new military strategy this month under which the Pentagon will “rebalance” the armed forces toward the Asia-Pacific region in the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
So will Asia return to being the new hot spot? Can we spread ourselves out enough to be effective watch dogs in both the Middle East and Asia? Yes I know we are moving out of Iraq and Afghanistan, but we will maintain a presence in the middle east. Will China even be concerned? I doubt this will have any effect on China's strategy of making claims to disputed territories like the potentially energy rich South China Sea. After the massive departure of US military out of Okinawa recently and the PI twenty some years ago, I don't see US ships floating around in the Asia-Pacific region as much of a threat to China. What say you all?
Link to article referenced: Philippines may allow greater U.S. military presence in reaction to China’s rise - The Washington Post
I saw a listing in the classifieds for a balisong knife. In the Philippines they are called butterfly knives. I was stationed in the PI in the post Vietnam era 1975 - 1978. Ah fond memories of PI and the butterfly knives, every hooker on mek sai sai street in Subic Bay carried one. You could pick them up from street vendors. OK enough reminiscing.
So I tried to look up mek sai sai street Subic Bay on the net just to see what the current status of well known area was after the PI kicked the US out over two decades ago.
In my search I ran across and article in the Washington Post about how the US and PI are considering basically a return of US forces to the PI to send a message to China. Fears of China's expanding military presence has the Philippines considering welcoming US military presence back as a warning to China.
Quote from the article "Although Washington has said it is not trying to contain China’s rise as an economic and military superpower, Obama announced a new military strategy this month under which the Pentagon will “rebalance” the armed forces toward the Asia-Pacific region in the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
So will Asia return to being the new hot spot? Can we spread ourselves out enough to be effective watch dogs in both the Middle East and Asia? Yes I know we are moving out of Iraq and Afghanistan, but we will maintain a presence in the middle east. Will China even be concerned? I doubt this will have any effect on China's strategy of making claims to disputed territories like the potentially energy rich South China Sea. After the massive departure of US military out of Okinawa recently and the PI twenty some years ago, I don't see US ships floating around in the Asia-Pacific region as much of a threat to China. What say you all?
Link to article referenced: Philippines may allow greater U.S. military presence in reaction to China’s rise - The Washington Post
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