US fears grow over China military

The US has expressed concern over China's growing military might.

A Pentagon report given to Congress says Beijing is spending far more on its military budget than admitted and calls for greater transparency.

The report highlights China's greater ability to mount pre-emptive strikes, citing new submarines, unmanned combat aircraft and sophisticated missiles.

China said in March it was increasing its military spending by 17.8% in 2007 but it still lags far behind the US.

The BBC's James Coomarasamy in Washington says the Pentagon paints a picture of a country whose growing economic and political power is being mirrored in "a comprehensive military transformation".

The annual report says Beijing is moving towards a more pre-emptive defence strategy with the focus on its border areas.

It would be nice to hear first-hand from the Chinese... we wish there were greater transparency, that they would talk more about what their intentions are
Robert Gates
US Defence Secretary

It suggests that the possibility of US intervention in any crisis in the Taiwan Strait is an important factor in China's military planning.

The report also describes a successful anti-satellite weapon test conducted by the Chinese in January as posing a threat to "all space-faring nations".

As in previous reports, there was strong complaint about a lack of transparency in both China's military spending and its military aims.

"It would be nice to hear first-hand from the Chinese... we wish there were greater transparency, that they would talk more about what their intentions are," US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday, prior to the report's release.

Its publication comes at the end of a week when a high level Chinese delegation has been in Washington discussing areas of economic tension - and is a further sign that the levels of trust between Washington and Beijing are currently not very high, our correspondent says.

'Nuclear forces'

The Pentagon report highlights concerns about China's preparations to deploy a mobile, land-based ballistic missile, with a range that reportedly covers the entire United States.

The development of a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, equipped with ballistic missiles with a range of more than 8,000km (5,000 miles), is also cited.

Experts say the Jin-class vessels are capable of carrying 12 missiles, with each one armed with three nuclear warheads.

One of these Chinese-built submarines is currently undergoing tests, and five more are planned, says Andrew Yang of the Chinese Council for Advanced Policy Studies in Taiwan.

Previously China had just one nuclear-powered submarine, which was so unreliable it rarely travelled far from its base, Mr Yang said.

He added: "The Americans are concerned about whether a gradual build-up of nuclear forces implies China will change its nuclear policy of no first use."

Natural consequence

Over the last 15 years, China has been engaged in a massive military build-up and modernisation programme.

It plans to allocate 350.9bn yuan ($45.9bn) to its military this year, although some analysts say Beijing spends double or treble this amount.

However, the BBC's defence correspondent Rob Watson says US opinion is divided over the strategic challenge posed by China.

Some see it as an emerging threat that must be countered at every turn - others take a more benign view, seeing China's increased military expenditure as a natural consequence of its growing economic power, our correspondent says.
Story from BBC NEWS:

What US policy initative changed in 12 years?

Submitted by Eldred V. Harris, JD.


In April 1991, after the Gulf War, Dick Cheney, then G.H.W. Bush's secretary of defense, explained why his administration did not continue into Iraq to remove Hussein:

"Once you've got Baghdad, it's not clear what you do with it. It's not clear what kind of government you would put in place of the one that's currently there....How much credibility is that government going to have if it's set up by the U.S. military when it's there?...I think to have American military engaged in a civil war inside Iraq would fit the definition of a quagmire, and we have absolutely no desire to get bogged down in that fashion."

Quoted by Atonia Juhasz in The Bush Agenda,, p. 174.


So What US policy imitative could've changed so much in in 13 years?
Was it:

• That we could no longer keep GM, Ford etc., on artificially, large SUV, life support by maintaining $1.50 gas for an additional 15 years?

• That we trust the Saudis so little, that we needed to be within spitting range to spy on their new conversations with China?

• That we really would just like to rename Iraq - Exxon, and Iran - Mobil, and create the worlds first two "corporate states" and be done with it?

• That we were running out of fake reasons and strong-arm tactics to continue to force others around the globe to accept our Midwestern farmer's corn, so we created a fake need for expansion of corn based fuel products right here in the US?

Kanye West's Mom on using the N-word

Jenice Armstrong | More on the 'n' word
"That's that crack music, n----

that real black music, n----"

- KANYE WEST

WHEN I LISTEN to lyrics in certain hip-hop songs, they not only give me pause but they get me thinking about the backgrounds of the entertainers themselves.

Who raised - or didn't bother raising - the mike-toting superstars who spout the n-word and other profanities? Considering just how prevalent this is, maybe I should be numb to it by now. Maybe I need to stop quibbling and dance already.

But despite attempts by well-meaning friends to school me on the matter, I haven't gotten used to how such a derogatory slur - one that has been used for centuries to subjugate African-Americans - has become such a choice term for multimillionaire, wannabe-hard types. Want to be "real"? Say the n-word over and over, preferrably with an infectious beat behind it.

I understand how for many it has become an insider term of affection, particularly when it ends with an "a." It's a way to show defiance and also take the sting away. But talk about being overused. Can't we move on?

Recently, I caught up with the mother of one of hip-hop's biggest stars, Kanye West. While chairing the English department at the University of Chicago, she testified about the damaging impact the word has on a person's psyche. So I asked her straight up how she feels about her son's use of the n-word.

Donda West said she has come almost full circle on the subject. Instead of feeling that it should be banned as hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons has proposed in the aftermath of the Don Imus affair, she has made her peace with it."I'm not thrilled with it," said Donda.

But speaking by phone from an ocean-view home in California that Kanye purchased for her, Donda admitted, "It doesn't bother me in the way it used, too . . . I've had a shift in paradigm that I never thought I would have.

"I just have a different attitude about it. It's not one that I'll advocate. It's my own personal view," she continued. "I don't want to give that word more power than it already has. It's not what you call me. It's what I answer to."

In her new book, "Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar" (Pocket Books, 2007), West likened it to someone's calling her mother a bitch.

"I wouldn't like it. But I know that my mother's not a bitch, so it wouldn't bother me. They can say it all day and it still will not make it true," Donda writes.

She's among those who believes in a double standard in regard to the use of the word.

"I don't apologize for it," Donda told me. "It is not OK for white people to ever use it because of how it came to be and what it meant historically.

"Until we can come to a place in this country and in the world that not only is racism gone . . . then that's the day that white people can say it," she added. "There's definitely a double standard. I say in the book, 'It's an earned double standard.' "

Donda knows there are plenty - present company included - who don't share her newfound acceptance. In fact, she initially withdrew for publication her chapter called "nigga vs. nigger," but Kanye persuaded her to reinstate it. " 'Mom, I'm almost ashamed of you. If this is how you feel . . . why would you not take this opportunity?' " Donda said he told her.

"Admittedly, this is not a word that comes off my tongue loosely. I've rarely used the n-word," she said. "I'm no longer offended by somebody saying the word in a certain context.

"This time last year, I probably wouldn't have been able to say it. [But] I looked at what it is instead of how I want it to be. This word is just a word.

"If we don't cut out what is behind the word, then what have we gained?" Donda said.

She's right about it being just a word. But, frankly, it's one that is overused and not cool, no matter who says it or how good the beat behind it is. *