NAVAL INTERESTS: A CONTRARIAN VIEW OF AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

....and an oblique admission that Namazu was right when calling for an English speaking naval union

CONSORTIUM OF "THINK TANKS" WANT TO CUT CARRIERS, BUY MORE SUBMARINES, AND DEPEND ON ALLIES MORE.

Photo: U.S. Navy ,Nimitz Carrier Task  Force
. Several "think tanks" want to cut the number of carrier task forces  (10) by  2 to 4, leaving us with 6 to 8 such tasks forces   

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DEFENSENEWS broke the story.

 "WASHINGTON — It’s hard to find consensus on most anything in Washington D.C., but four national security-focused think tanks managed to forge something of a rough outline for the future of defense spending.During a briefing held in the Dirksen Senate Office building on Wednesday, a group of well-known budgetary and strategic thinkers from the four think tanks coalesced around a roughly similar set of options for the Pentagon over the next decade: The venerable A-10 attack plane should be retired, along with the U2 spy plane and the F-18C/D models, while the Navy should lose two to four of its current aircraft carriers." (emphasis ours).

 AAB EDITOR'S NOTES: The article also offered the opinion that we should rely more on our allies, something that the Great Namazu has been advocating since he first broke out in print in our pages. However Namazu went a bit farther in proposing a closely co-operative and inter-operative English speaking naval union. This of course implies a closely coordinated foreign policy between and among the the English speaking democracies. 

 With the Obama administration's recent pronouncement that our "special relationship" with Great Britain is no different than "our special relationship with France" which was backing his military attack plans on Syria at the time, while the rest of the English speaking world's governments, the American public, the American Congress, the Pope and our Giant Catfish were all opposed casts a shadow on our real "special relationships" . (see "POPE AND CATFISH  AGREE" )  The present administration while being hyper critical of the prior Bush administration for going it alone too often, doesn't seem to see any advantage in long term, deep alliances with our closest cultural and linguistic democratic "cousins" and doesn't think twice about ignoring their advice.  

 Namazu believes that the English speaking democracies with their shared naval, and democratic traditions, comparable law and common language are uniquely suited to the type of permanent coalition that can not be defeated. The present administration seems to seek out any like minded government de jour for its plans dejour with no thought of our real "special relationships". Thankfully the English speaking governments spoke out as did the American people who retain their natural affection and trust in the other English speaking peoples, and the U.S. Congress; so the U.S. and France did not fire on Syria. In addition to the English speaking peoples two other powerful individual voices rang out in opposition:

Namazu and .....

  the pope ... together they represent over 5,000 years of institutional wisdom, Obama only wanted to listen to Obama.

 Below is a quote from the "Defense News" article on what the so called experts had to say about our allies: 

"CSIS also called for selling Littoral Combat Ships and other advanced platforms to allies, while relying on the United Kingdom for some SSBN on-station requirements.The think tank’s David Berteau explained that while “the QDR process historically has been silent on allies,” the current budget realities almost mandate that the United States rely more on allies where it can." read more at: American Admiralty Books Safety & Privacy Policies    DEFENSENEWS

Editors comments: The pope has never claimed any authority in naval strategy so we didn't ask for an interview. But according to Namazu he has been watching naval wars for 3,000 years. So we did talk to him.

NAMAZU ON REDUCING U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER TASK FORCES:

  "Bad news bipeds. China is a thug state hell bent on becoming the world's primer naval superpower. You are not going to be able to beat them on the cheap and you must contain them and thwart their ambition or you will be their vassals. I'm talking to you English speaking bipeds including the Indians in particular, and the Japanese, Philippine, Malaysian, and Indonesian peoples as well. You will either all hang together or you will surely hang separately, this Dragon's appetite won't be contained on the cheap. Everybody , not just the United States must step up their naval budgets and expend those budgets wisely to build a communal response force. The United States needs to keep at least ten carrier task forces through the midpoint of the century. Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa all need to contribute to a united submarine effort. You need more direct navy to navy contact and mutual planning for interoperability. At the head of state/head of government levels there has to be more willingness to set aside individual national or national administration foreign policy positions in favor of mutually agreed unified positions. 

 You have three nuclear armed dedicated thug states Russia, China, and North Korea attempting to take from the commons of mankind more than what well codified international law allows. At the moment they are hiding their mailed fists under a velvet glove but when their collective strength exceeds yours that glove will come off. The only peaceful way to avoid that is raise the bar, just as was done in the Cold War. Collectively raise naval power to a point they can't meet without causing their population to suffer such economic privation that they become willing to overthrow the thug regimes. The good news, is that no one cares to invade the thug homelands, the goodies they are trying to steal are at sea, so there is a good chance that the conflict can be limited to a naval arena. More over all three thug powers are in fact entitled to large exclusive economic zones so its not like we have to run them from the sea and make them go home empty handed. There are lots of face savings options for the thug states at any point that they decide to stay within international law.

 The English speaking world has the naval lead at the moment. It is the Dragon, the Bear , and the Lunatic who have to catch up. Remember they are highly unlikely to find any additional official nation state allies, and they really don't get along that well with each other. There is a real chance, if the English speaking peoples and their regional allies and friends in the Pacific , Indian , Arctic Ocean Basins will set their priorities straight in order to bite the naval bullet; that this dispute can be won without firing a shot. Interestingly it is the Japanese, Philippine, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Indian tax payers who are leading the way by demonstrating a willingness to sacrifice for the sake of naval strength.. Wake up English speaking bipeds, get behind your friends! Are you going to wait for the Dragon to arrive at the sea buoy at Sydney, and Pearl Harbour?  The playground bully only plays well with others when someone bigger who is likely to respond to his aggression is about.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  The "bipeds" hereabouts as Namazu likes to refer to us are all old sailors who typically believe in the conventional wisdom that the Air Craft carrier is the capital ship of the day and probably will be for another fifty years. Yet our knowledge of naval history informs us that every capital ship from the galley to the battle ship eventually was eclipsed by the march of technology. We just don't see it yet happening for the carriers and we have slowly and a bit grudgingly  come to respect "Catfish Wisdom". As an organization the AAB and its parent the AAIS back the catfish on this one. "Experts" be damned keep the carriers and improve our own anti access plans so we can move the carriers closer to their objectives despite the development of shore based counter weapons.

Johnas Presbyter, editor

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