U.S. Pentagon Chief Wants to Reallocate Forces to Indo-Pacific

[left-of-center2012]

The Pentagon chief wants to prioritize the deployment of U.S. forces to the Asia-Pacific region from other areas, including Afghanistan, to confront a growing military competition with China.

“What I want to do is reallocate forces” to the Indo-Pacific Command, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum when asked about cutting troops in Afghanistan.

“That’s my priority theater,” Esper said. “I’m not just looking at Afghanistan” but “all these places where I can free up troops” to bring them home or “compete with the Chinese, to reassure our allies and to conduct exercises and training.”

The Defense Department’s strategy has shifted to confronting China and Russia, as the primary challenges, supplanting the war on terrorism. China, with the world’s second-largest economy, is making major investments in military capabilities to challenge U.S. postwar dominance, and is perceived as a growing threat among U.S. military planners.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-07/u-s-pentagon-chief-wants-to-reallocate-forces-to-indo-pacific?srnd=politics-vp

[at140]

1. Makes sense to me!

Because we no longer need oil from the unstable and war torn middle-east.
For the first time in many decades, we are a net exporter of energy products.
China economy being 10 times larger than Russia's, it is a much bigger potential threat.

[Mike 03]

2. According to Michael Klare's new book "All Hell Breaking Loose" about the

Pentagon confronting climate, this particular sector or theater is also of enormous concern to the Armed Forces because of Global Warming, but they aren't really allowed to talk about climate as such, so I just wonder if there are additional concerns behind this decision.