Understanding Washington

USA feels threatened

After a long break, Chinese and Russian have started defending their territorial areas and their warplanes have been aggressively intercepting U.S. military aircraft which are flying near their border areas.

A Chinese fighter jet carried out an “unsafe” intercept of a U.S. spy plane on routine patrol on Tuesday in international airspace over the East China Sea, U.S. Pacific Command said. (Reuters)

The intercept involved two Chinese J-10 fighter planes and a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane, said in a statement.

“One of the intercepting Chinese jets had an unsafe excessive rate of closure on the RC-135 aircraft. Initial assessment is that this seems to be a case of improper airmanship, as no other provocative or unsafe manoeuvres occurred,” Pacific Command said. Its statement did not say how close the Chinese fighter came to the U.S. plane.

“The Department of Defence is addressing the issue with China in appropriate diplomatic and military channels,” the statement said.

China’s foreign and defence ministries did not immediately respond.

In May, the Pentagon said two Chinese fighter jets flew within 50 feet (15 meters) of a U.S. EP-3 aircraft over the South China Sea. The Pentagon determined that the May incident violated an agreement the two governments signed last year.

Earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would consider any Chinese establishment of an air defence zone over the South China Sea to be a “provocative and destabilising act.”

U.S. officials have expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could prompt Beijing to declare an air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, as it did over the East China Sea in 2013.

China has claimed most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.

Washington, without considering their own role in the whole of the world, has accused Beijing of militarizing the South China Sea after creating artificial islands. Beijing, in turn, has criticised increased U.S. naval patrols and exercises in Asia, and has strictly stated, not to impede in this region.

During a conference in Singapore, Defense Secretary Ash Carter shamelessly said the U.S. approach to the Asia-Pacific remained “one of commitment, strength and inclusion,” but he warned China against provocative behaviour in the South China Sea.

South China Sea, belongs to China, US is far from that place, its Washington’s policy of expanding its influence all around the world which keeps him moving in this area, which, now seems difficult as China, once again, after a long time, is back to its footings and want to control its own territory without interference from any other country.

On the other side: Russia is also ready to safeguard his terrain without any interference from any other country. Washington, who is ruling all the areas since last two decades is now distress with the new development and trying to form new alliances especially with a country like India whom they feel are not trustworthy.

June 8, 2016: ABOARD THE USS HARRY S. TRUMAN: This 20-story-tall aircraft carrier with a crew of 5,000 made an unplanned diversion from the Gulf to the eastern Mediterranean last week, a quick pivot intended to send a clear message to Russia. Andrea Shalal/Reuters

The massive ship serves as a launching point for a near-constant barrage of airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. Since November, it has accounted for a little more than half of the total sorties flown over those two countries by the U.S. military.

May be, moving the “capital ship” of the U.S. Navy from the Gulf through the Suez Canal is a flexing of muscle meant to reassure North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies of the American commitment to maintaining the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean.

The repositioning of the USS Harry S. Truman provides a window into American military strategy at a time when Russia has asserted itself aggressively in the region, using its navy and air force to turn the tide of the five-year Syria conflict in favour of President Bashar al-Assad.

The U.S. has shown a willingness to use powerful Navy vessels to make provocative political statements, as it did in 2015 when it sailed a destroyer through the South China Sea at the height of tensions with Beijing over China’s territorial claims there.

The ship is operating in the U.S. European Command’s area of responsibility while conducting airstrikes inside Iraq and Syria, which fall under another combatant command, U.S. Central Command. This demonstrates the U.S. Navy can be agile and adaptive, the official said.

Russia has maintained a contingent of about 10 to 15 ships in the Mediterranean for three years because of the conflict in Syria. In March, state media said the country’s sole aircraft carrier would be sent to join those ships by summer.

The vessel has been a workhorse in operations against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq since it joined the effort in November, launching seven-hour close-air-support missions several times a day. The 75-plane fleet assigned to the ship responds to calls from allies on the ground for airstrikes.

Capt. David Little, commander of the air squadrons, said his fleet has been active recently over Fallujah, where Iraq’s military and allied militia forces have been engaged in an intense battle to uproot Islamic State from one of the first cities it occupied.

Capt. Little declined to identify specific targets, but said the Truman’s airborne fleet has focused its firepower on Islamic State’s ability to wage war and he rattled off a list of the types of facilities the jet fighters have struck based on intelligence provided by partners on the ground. He said they have the information “Where they store money, the oil refineries they steal the money from, the banks where they store and hide money, the factories where they produce vehicle-borne” [improvised explosive devices].  (Reuters reported)

And, Obama states, his policy is for a peaceful world.

Air Force Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, who leads Air Combat Command, said in an interview with USA TODAY that meeting the challenge from the Russian and Chinese to flights in international airspace is essential but dangerous.” Our concern is a resurgent Russia and a very, very aggressive China,” Carlisle said.

Both countries are intent on expanding their spheres of influence — Russia in Eastern Europe and the Pacific with China focusing much of its effort over the South China Sea. Their objective is to stop US interference in that area.

According to Carlisle “They are trying to increase their influence in those international spaces to have a strong hold.” But, he said that US cannot allow that to happen. “We have to continue to operate legally in international airspace and international waterways. We have to continue to call them out when they are being aggressive and unsafe” (as per New York Times).

The stakes are high. Aggressive intercepts of U.S. patrol planes run the risk of mid-air collisions that would escalate tensions among nuclear powers.

Any accident that occurs while the U.S. military is playing cat and mouse with Russian or Chinese forces could escalate into a real fight. If it does, American victory is not assured, because U.S. forces are operating thousands of miles from home and the other side is near its main bases. Small confrontations can turn into big wars, and Russian military doctrine embraces the use of nuclear weapons to win conflicts.

According to a report submitted by Carlisle to Washington states that a number of interceptions have occurred in recent months with fighters from Russia and China buzzing dangerously close to American military aircraft.

The Pentagon has denounced the hazardous intercepts for more than a year, although condemnation hasn’t halted the practice. On May 17, two Chinese fighter jets flew dangerously close to a U.S. Navy patrol plane over the South China Sea. China has been on a campaign to assert its sovereignty over the busy waterways, building artificial islands on reefs in the sea and establishing military bases. In late April, a Russian fighter pilot performed a “barrel roll” over the top of an Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane above the Black Sea.

There has also been an up tick in long-range bomber activity from the Russians in Eastern Europe and extending to flights off the U.S. West Coast, as per reported by Carlisle to the pentagon. According to his report an increase has been seen all the way down to the California coast. The number and frequency has increased.

For China, the goal appears to be establishing control of the international airspace over the South China Sea. There are conflicting territorial claims among countries backed by US in the region with China upping the ante by establishing a military bases on artificial islands around the Paracel and Spratley Islands chains.

Washington expects that the Chinese will institute an Air Defense Identification Zone over a large portion of the South China Sea. Zones like these extend beyond a country’s borders in its national security interests. Aircraft entering such a zone are required them to identify and locate themselves. China has already set up an identification zone in the East China Sea in 2013. Washington expects a similar action soon in the South China Sea.

On the other side US air force has started training pilots to deal with intercepts. “As they become more aggressive, you run the risk of miscalculation, you don’t know where that’s going to lead, or end.” Air Force Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle said.

Since long US is holding full control over all the regions of sea, East or West, now Chinese and Russian interception is disturbing them. Washington thinks they have a right to go anywhere and do anything, to be in command of any country’s region, but if some other country wants to hold and control their own territorial areas, Washington considers it a threat to the international peace.

Isn’t it deceitful?