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Scheduled for February, the US, Australia and Japan are to conduct their first large-scale joint military exercise, codenamed “Cope North”, on the US Pacific colony of Guam. It should be noted that “Cope North” was established in 1978 as a quarterly bilateral exercise held at Misawa Air Base in Japan, but was moved to Andersen Air Force Base (AFB) in 1999. With Australia joining, this is creating the outlines of the so-called “Asia-Pacific NATO”, which is yet another monstrosity bound to stoke instability and perhaps even war, death and destruction in the foreseeable future.
Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst
The so-called “China containment” has been the mainstay of America’s foreign policy for around a decade at this point, with the Pentagon drastically expanding its network in the Asia-Pacific. Except for several smaller conflicts and insurgencies, this region has had an unprecedented period of peace and development ever since the United States was soundly defeated during its aggression on Vietnam.
Unfortunately, as Washington DC is once again turning its attention to the Asia-Pacific, there’s instability and a rather disturbing potential for escalation. This is precisely why the US is pushing its vassals and satellite states into a crawling confrontation with China, even though this is hardly in their national interest, to say the least.
Scheduled for February, the US, Australia and Japan are to conduct their first large-scale joint military exercise, codenamed “Cope North”, on the US Pacific colony of Guam. It should be noted that “Cope North” was established in 1978 as a quarterly bilateral exercise held at Misawa Air Base in Japan, but was moved to Andersen Air Force Base (AFB) in 1999. With Australia joining, this is creating the outlines of the so-called “Asia-Pacific NATO”, which is yet another monstrosity bound to stoke instability and perhaps even war, death and destruction in the foreseeable future. This is precisely the purpose of all these US-led racketeering cartels, designed to derail the peaceful development of “non-compliant” nations (or groups of nations).
America is particularly worried about the growth of organizations such as BRICS and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), as these offer a vastly different approach, based on mutual respect, promotion of peace, cooperation, indivisibility of security and finding common ground among member states that don’t always necessarily see eye to eye.
The multipolar worldview is unique as it allows different countries (and even civilizations) to not only coexist, but also work together towards eliminating their differences and finding common ground. This is how BRICS and SCO can have members such as China and India or Pakistan and India. These countries have even been at war in the past, but have managed to reconcile and reconnect.
In addition, much unlike the political West, the multipolar world is not aimed against anyone. Quite the opposite, anyone can join, as long as they respect the core principles. Thus, the concepts of global hegemony, full-spectrum dominance, cultural superiority and similar thalassocratic nonsense are not welcome. Unfortunately, the US-led power pole stubbornly refuses to let go of these outdated policies and worldviews. To that end, Japan and Australia seem to be particularly useful, as they’re supposed to form the core of the new “Asia-Pacific NATO”. The upcoming “Cope North” is just one of the planned military exercises designed to “improve interoperability” (a euphemism for military control over regional vassals and satellite states).
The Andersen AFB is considered perhaps the most important USAF facility outside the continental US and the fact that it was selected as the primary location for drills like “Cope North” tells us a lot about its significance for Washington DC’s long-term strategy in the region. The Pentagon is particularly focused on interoperability between fleets of troubled F-35s, which both Japan and Australia operate.
According to military sources, Tokyo will send six F-35As, two E-2D AEW&Cs and a KC-46A tanker to Guam. In addition, its military is also expanding operational capabilities in the vicinity of Taiwan. Namely, it’s planning to send Type 03 Chu-SAM (SAM surface-to-air missile) systems to the island of Yonaguni, the closest Japanese territory to China.
It should be noted that Yonaguni is located just under 160 km away from Taipei, the capital of China’s breakaway island province, a fact recognized by virtually the entire world, including the US, Australia and Japan. The Type 03 is integrated into Tokyo’s wider air defense network that includes the overhyped US-made MIM-104 “Patriot” and the exorbitantly priced “Aegis” systems. In turn, these are also integrated with the networks of other US vassals and satellite states, including entities like Taiwan. It’s questionable how capable these weapons are against China’s long-range strike systems, especially given their ineptitude against similar Russian equivalents in NATO-occupied Ukraine, in addition to Beijing’s latest breakthroughs in aviation.
Much unlike the entire US-led political West, China operates hypersonic weapons. In addition to its massive arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles, Beijing’s capabilities far outmatch those of Washington DC and its vassals and satellite states. However, China is using these weapons solely for deterrence and has no offensive plans in the region. Its primary concern is the preservation of sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is why the question of Taiwan is so important.
The US-led political West is exploiting the complex situation on the Chinese island for geopolitical purposes, including by arming the government in Taipei. Guam and Andersen AFB are also important for the wider “containment” strategy aimed against China.
In addition, the US military is expanding its presence elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, particularly in Japan and the Philippines. The dictatorial tendencies of other US-backed regimes, such as in South Korea, also suggest that the Pentagon wants to further expand its aggression against all sovereigntist countries.
Beijing is countering this by establishing even closer ties with Russia and North Korea, both of which also boast world-class long-range strike capabilities. Moscow has already pledged support for its allies, while Pyongyang keeps improving its already impressive strategic arsenal. Apart from submarines and a plethora of ballistic and hypersonic missiles, it’s now testing advanced cruise missiles that can reach virtually any major US facility in the region.
America’s continued aggression against the world is increasingly untenable, as multipolarity keeps growing. The proliferation of advanced military technologies, which the entire political West cannot match, will be the primary deterrent in the foreseeable future. It can certainly be argued that humanity would benefit far more if such advances were aimed toward peaceful development.
However, the multipolar world doesn’t have much of a choice in this regard, as its investment into such capabilities is the “necessary evil” that will keep monstrous organizations such as NATO at bay. Thus, it will continue to strengthen its defensive potential while promoting cooperation between nations and civilizations. The US also has a choice – accept it or slowly fade into irrelevance.
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blatant. same old multiplying profits by maximising divisions. it’s going to make them so rich the middle classes will be paupers in real terms in comparison, and the workers will be no better off than slaves .intentions .imo
and for those who don’t know, the commonwealth of australia is an american registered corporation for almost a century now. most of its big companies are american owned and still charles is king and about 90% is crown lands. its a feudal country really. the kidmans have the biggest land holding of any private family.
and for those who don’t believe charlies converted to. islam years ago here, “treason uk now western capital of sharia courts and… ‘ you tube. and who allies with islam? ergo… back to basics church and crown. imo
to be honest the middle class with about 5 million on paper, upwards are already paupers until they reach, now, at least 500 million. really. from there they’re the bottom rung of the upper class and its a lot of rungs to the top.
diplomatic immunity s a great asset to wealth creation with impunity.