“We have had a good return of our Marines back to the Asia-Pacific, particularly as the activities in the Middle East wind down in Afghanistan. … But the reality is, is that to get Marines around effectively, they require all types of lift. They require the big amphibious ships, but they also require connectors (meaning landing craft and other amphibious vehicles). The lift is the enabler that makes that happen, so we wouldn’t be able to [successfully carry out a contested amphibious assault without additional resources],” Adm. Locklear said, Stars and Stripes reported.
The admiral’s comments come only weeks after Capt. James Fannell, the chief of intelligence of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said that he believes China is training for war with Japan.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/25/pacific-commander-us-lacks-resources-conduct-succe/#ixzz2x7EIcmKb
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PACOM Commander Sticks to Climate Change as Asia-Pacific’s Number One Threat - Blog
Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, Pacific Command commander, raised eyebrows and invited some criticism when he said on Capitol Hill last year that climate change was the number one long-term threat in the Asia-Pacific.
When asked March 6 if that were still the case, Locklear said, “I haven’t changed my position.”
As a military leader, it is not his role to debate political issues, he said during a question and answer session at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. “All I do is report what I see.”
“This is a pretty aggressive area of the world for natural disasters,” he said. Eighty percent of all the catastrophes in the world happen in the PACOM area of operations, which encompasses 36 nations and about half of the world’s surface.
Only 17 percent of PACOM’s region is land mass and six of every 10 people in the world live there, he added. And more of these populations are moving closer to shorelines in search of economic opportunity, he said.
“The implications for any climate change, or any change in the weather pattern or sea level change, are much more dramatic for the mass amount of population,” which are moving closer to the littorals, he said.
Samuel J. Locklear III - Bio - C-SPAN Video Library
U.S. Pacific Command Operations
Admiral Samuel Locklear testified on U.S. Pacific Command programs and operations. Much of the hearing was focused on mounting tensions between North and South Korea. Admiral Locklear said American defenses could intercept a ballistic missile launched by North Korea and forces were prepared for limited military action by North Korea. Other topics included the U.S. military posture in Asia Pacific, China’s role with North Korea, and the impact of automatic defense cuts known as sequestration.Samuel J. Locklear - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Locklear has called climate change (global warming) the biggest worry for the United States.[3][4] On 9 April 2013, Jim Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services asked Locklear to clarify his position of climate change as the principal national security threat. Locklear cited USAID government statistics on recent Indo-Asian natural disasters and the long range planning challenges of our security partners and allies in the region.[5]
Real disaster statistics for Pacific
I believe disaster relief is a collateral duty of the Navy at most.Disaster Statistics - Indonesia - Asia - Countries & Regions - PreventionWeb.net
Maybe he should worry about earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes. I don't think those have been linked to climate change yet! See also, the Brookings report:
2011: NATURAL DISASTERS REVIEWED - Brookings ...
www.brookings.edu/.../natural-disaster.../03_nd_re...
we will review international humanitarian disaster funding ... average annual figure of 384 natural disasters from 2001-2010. ... United States had 19, India had eleven, Indonesia had eleven and Mexico had ten.161.
Brookings Institution
This is kind-of on the topic. I read a study about volcanic eruptions in which they stated that a single significant eruption puts more carbon dioxide (and other pollutants) into the air than humans ever could. I wish, now that carbon footprint rules our lives, I had copied the references so I would have them, instead of hearsay. Nevertheless, I am not reducing my carbon footprint until Al Gore invents a way to stop volcanoes.
ReplyDeleteSide note, since Al Gore invented the internet, maybe Mr Obama should check with Al to see if giving it away is OK.