Is The U.S. Ready For An Asia Conflict?

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The Angry Pacific: Why The United States Is Not Ready For Conflict In Asia. -- Michael J. Mazarr, Foreign Policy

When I was in Seoul a few weeks ago, the English-language news program Korea Today broadcast a strangely fascinating story about an "I Love Dokdo" contest at Taegu University. The idea was to see who could come up with the most inspiring tribute to the patch of microislands that has been the focus of a recurring and bitter dispute with Japan. It was strange to see young Koreans sitting on a spare, modernist television set, smiling, laughing and calmly celebrating a nationalist routine. Even odder was the fact that a Mexican exchange student named Emilio, along with a multinational team, won the contest. The goal of their performance, he said on Korea Today, was to "to express our love for Dokdo," in part by showing "the people who have protected Dokdo throughout history" and demonstrating "how beautiful" the islands are.

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My Comment: I have been traveling to Asia since the mid 1980s .... and I have always found them to be nationalistic, as well as being steeped in cultural traditions like "not losing face" to remembering (and not forgiving) historical grievances. The difference now is that there are a few focal points for everyone's attention to be focused on (such as disputes over islands), coupled with a communications and information grid that everyone in Asia is now plugged into. Hence .... when a dispute over an island's ownership occurs .... everyone will know about it within hours.

As to the question .... is the U.S. ready for an Asia conflict? .... the answer is a definite no. Any major conflict in Asia will involve million man armies, heavy and lethal weapon systems, and casualty rates in the millions. I am not even going to discuss the economic fallout except to say that it would be devastating for the rest of the world. While I am sure that the Pentagon/CIA/and US State Department planners have drawn up worst case scenarios .... I am also equally sure that our political leaders do not even want to contemplate the "what if situation" if everything should start to unravel.