War with China- a prospect welcomed by USA’s military industrial complex

America’s War Games, How the Obama administration is redefining the US military’s strategic priorities with far-reaching consequences, Aljazeera, 27 April 13 ”……….. Concerns about China were reflected in the Obama administration’s announcement last year that it is re-positioning US military resources to the Asia-Pacific region after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is estimated that China spends about one-fifth to one-quarter as much on its military as the US. Spinney and others see warnings about China and the administration’s so-called Asia-Pacific “pivot” as a way to bolster defence spending in the face of pressure for cuts.”We need a threat,” Spinney Chuck Spinney, who worked as an analyst in the US secretary of defence’s office for 26 yearssays, “Al-Qaeda has sort of run out of strength and we have to have a new threat to justify continued spending.” Spinney believes that there is little chance of a peace dividend after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “We are going to pivot to Asia and increase the defence budget,” he says.

There are signs he could be right.

This month, President Obama released a 2014 federal budget proposal that called for $526.6bn in funding for the department of defense. It was widely expected that the defence total would be at least $50bn less.

The White House and the Pentagon chose to ignore the statutory requirement for a $50bn reduction mandated by sequestration. They apparently hope that sequestration can be overturned, and defence budget cuts already agreed to, reversed. Instead of laying the groundwork for a peace dividend by putting the Pentagon on a glide path to smaller budgets, the administration’s proposal projects increases in America’s base defence budget over the next five years. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/04/2013424113558268754.html

April 29, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war