Like they say: history repeats itself and there is an uncanny similarity between what happened over 70 years ago and more recent developments. In the late nineteen twenties Germany was a spent force economically, politically and militarily; defeated a decade earlier and racked by political dissent and economic depression it posed no threat to anyone, or so it appeared.
Twelve years later though a revitalised Germany was ready to take on the world.
Backed by Wall Street the German industrial base was rebuilt so that when the Nazis came to power in 1933 they were, in terms of economic and industrial capacity, a few short steps away from being able to wage total war. A combination of U.S. oil, pharmaceutical and military supply interests joined with Wall Street banking to finance the restructuring of Germany's industries. Wall Street also helped create the IG Farben conglomerate; involved in the production of synthetic gasoline and explosives, both essential in any modern war, IG Farben was engaged in a range of activities that were crucial to Germany's war effort. Indeed it's no exaggeration to say that IG Farben was Hitler's war machine and that it was largely created through loans and financial backing from U.S. banking elites: the Rockerfeller's, the Harrimans, the Du Ponts and J.P. Morgan. (1)
One key figure in all this was Prescott Bush, whose grandson, George W. Bush, now sits in the White House whilst the same process repeats itself. The same configuration of oil, pharmaceuticals, chemical, military supply and banking is again reflected in George W. Bush's staff and cabinet. George W. himself has a solid background in the oil industry whilst Vice President Dick Cheney also heads Haliburton, a leading recipient of government contracts in supplying military equipment and oil services. There is however one critical difference between what's happening now and the events in Europe in the 20's and 30's; today it's not the Nazi military industrial complex that's being rebuilt but the Russian and Chinese military behemoths that are being revitalised. And while all this is happening both the Russians and the Chinese are following an age old military doctrine first laid out by Sun Tzu in his treatise The Art of War. Around 500 BC Sun Tzu advised aspiring warlords and conquerors on the benefits of "feigning weakness": so as to disarm opponents and take them by surprise.
It's a lesson the Russians and Chinese seemed to have learned...
...PANIC ON DECK
Their appearance was as dramatic as it was unexpected. They came without warning and left in their wake a trail of confusion and shock. The Russian SU-27 and its reconnaissance escort flew in tandem, flying low and fast, exactly as if they had been on a strike mission. Their target was the prized centrepiece of the US Seventh Fleet in the Sea of Japan, the USS Kitty Hawk. Somehow, through a combination of skill and daring they evaded the radars and look-outs of an entire naval Battle-group to swoop past the aircraft carrier at its centre. If this had been for real the Kitty Hawk would have been sunk or the planes shot down; but the planes were not shot down because the Battle-fleet was taken completely by surprise, moreover this happened not just once but three times in late October and November last year. Then, as if to add insult to injury, the Russians emailed photos to the Pentagon taken by their planes as they buzzed the Kitty Hawk.
Interfax quoted Russian naval spokesman Anatoly Kornukov as saying the buzzing of the USS Kitty Hawk had been a "planned operation."
"Our jets' appearance was a big surprise for Americans," Kornukov said. "The photos clearly show the panic on the carrier's deck."
In response embarrassed Pentagon spokesmen tried to minimize the incidents significance and the fact that the Seventh Fleet was caught completely off guard. Thirty years ago it would have been enough to push the world to brink of all out war. So maybe it's a measure of how far the Cold War tensions have eased but today the whole episode didn't even make front-page news. In fact those papers that did report it gave it only a passing mention on the inside pages, if that.
Yet this was more than the daredevil antics of a few Russian pilots, much more. Quietly and deliberately the Russian and Chinese military machines are being rebuilt and readied, or in the words of Russia's naval commander Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov: "It is time for our ships to move away from the pier." This in spite of reports, from various official Russian spokesmen and dutifully carried by the Western media, that the Russian navy is so beleaguered and decrepit that it cannot even combat poachers.
In the month following the feigned attack on The Kitty Hawk the Russian navy delivered the first of two 7,300-ton Sovremenny destroyers to China. Armed with powerful cruise missiles capable of packing a nuclear sized punch the Sovremenny (Russian for "contemporary") is considered a serious threat by Western analysts and comes as part of a billion dollar Sino Russian military deal. The deal which includes helicopters, SU-27 aircraft, Kilo class submarines and SS-N-22 Sunburn cruise missiles, is only part of the growing military cooperation between the two countries. In October last year the two nations embarked on their first ever joint naval exercises in an alliance that is expected to be formally ratified when Putin visits Beijing later this year.
"War is not far from us now. A new arms race has started to develop." Liu Jing, Peoples Liberation Army strategist writing in China Military Science recently.
CHINAGATE
It's not only the Russians who are supplying China with state of the art technology the Americans are too. In fact in terms of technological know how the U.S. has become a virtual bargain basement for the Chinese with secrets and classified information being given away at rock bottom prices. In a recent example a top weapons research centre, Los Alamos National Laboratory, chose Taiwanese born Wen Ho Lee to lead a sensitive nuclear weapons program. According to several senior government officials quoted by Reuters his appointment was finalised whilst he was being investigated by the F.B.I. as a suspected spy for China. This along with other incidents in the so-called Chinagate scandal prompted the U.S. Government to launch an investigative committee that published its findings in the Cox Report. Significantly only an edited version of the Report was made public but according to one senior Congressional aide who had seen the unedited version:
"There was a pattern of clear and consistent White House involvement in the transfer of sensitive technology to China. The pattern shows, at best, a White House that was incompetent and, at worst, complicit in the loss of U.S. secrets." (2)
It's not just the White House that is involved in the transfer of sensitive strategic technologies to China. With its eyes ever focused on increased profits big business has also been involved too; Hughes Electronics Corp. and Loral Space and Electronics Ltd. have both helped China improve its military rockets and ballistic systems while Lockheed Martin recently paid a $13 million settlement to the U.S. Government for passing secret satellite technology onto China. In the light of Lockheed Martin's profits, which amount to billions, a $13 million fine is a mere slap on the wrist and well worth paying in view of the huge profit potential latent in China.
The Russians have also been the recipients of sensitive Western military technology. In 1995, McDonnell Douglas successfully lobbied to buy a Russian "Krypton" missile with the intention of using it as a supersonic target for U.S. Navy warships. However the "Krypton" supplied to the Americans lacked crucial radar and guidance systems; in the words of one Russian defense source it was little more than a "hollow target shell." (3)
So what did the Americans do?
Well U.S. Navy and defense contractors kindly assisted Russian missile engineers in testing and improving the missile. One "improvement" resulted in the Krypton's range being increased from an ineffective 15 miles to more than 40 miles. (4)
Or to put it another way: with enemies like this…who needs friends?
Seriously though we have to ask: what exactly does this all portend?
The answer to that and other questions may be proffered in Part 2.
Notes
1) 1United States Congress. Senate. Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Military Affairs. Elimination of German Resources for War. July 2 1945
2) Capitol Hill Blue 26,5,99
3) How US helped Russia Improve Deadly Missiles. The Times, Jan 23, 2000.
4) Ibid.
