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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SecularBull who wrote (118243)	12/20/2000 3:06:02 PM
From: peter a. pedroli	Respond to of 769670

another legacy ch.that billy will be leaving behind for bush to clean up. you DEMS here wont be embracing your boys bill and al if this goes down in the next 10 yrs. so laugh it up while you can, but you better hope Bush and his National Security team can contain it if it goes down. Pentagon outlines possible war scenarios in China Monday, 18 December 2000 18:02 (ET) Pentagon outlines possible war scenarios in China WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) - The U.S. could be drawn into a war with China under certain conditions, according to a new report the Pentagon sent to Congress this week. The Pentagon identifies three scenarios that could lead to military action in the Taiwan strait: China launches an amphibious invasion of Taiwan; China blockades Taiwan; or China launches air or missile strikes against the independence-minded island. The report was drawn up in response to congressional direction and offers no surprises. It reaffirms the U.S. commitment to Taiwan and concedes there are gaps in U.S. understanding of both sides' operational planning and capabilities. "The United States takes its obligation to assist Taiwan in maintaining a self-defense capability very seriously. This is not only because it is mandated by U.S. law in the (Taiwan Relations Act) but also because it is in our own national interest," states the unclassified summary of the report, sent to Congress this week from the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, the long-range planning office. The United States never officially pledged to protect Taiwan from Chinese aggression. But the U.S. has attempted to arm Taiwan sufficiently to blunt a Chinese attack on its own, and leaves open the possibility that the U.S. military might could be brought to bear. The United States has sold Taiwan top defensive systems in recent years, including F-16 fighter jets, Knox-class frigates, M-60A tanks and a derivative of the Patriot missile air defense system. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Henry Shelton said in a speech last week at the National Press Club that stability in Asia largely hinges on keeping a lid on a possible China-Taiwan conflict, and warned that China must not be allowed to be turned into an enemy. "I'm firmly convinced that we need to focus all elements of U.S. power and diplomacy on ensuring that China does not become the 21st century version of the Soviet bear. It's clearly in America's interests to remain engaged with China across the full spectrum of activities and to convince them that a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue is the only way ahead," Shelton said. But much of China's and Taiwan's military and political workings remain mysterious, the report says. "(W)e need to know more about how the authorities in the (People's Republic of China) and Taiwan view their military and political situation," the report states. "We are less knowledgeable about things that are less visible or tangible -- training, logistics, doctrine, command and control, special operations, mine warfare -- than we are about airplanes and surface ships...(and) although we can identify emerging methods of warfare that appear likely to be increasingly important in the future-particularly missiles and information warfare-we cannot confidently assess how each side's capabilities will develop or the interaction of measures and countermeasures that these emerging military competitions will generate." -- Copyright 2000 by United Press International. All rights reserve