[extropy-chat] CHINA: Threat proponents not chicken littles...

Samantha Atkins sjatkins at mac.com
Thu Jun 9 18:12:11 UTC 2005


IIRC we helped them build more than a little of that military  
capacity so I seriously doubt these claims of surprise.  IMHO, the  
only "surprise" is that they may be a bit harder to keep under our  
thumb than anticipated.

- s

On Jun 9, 2005, at 9:07 AM, Mike Lorrey wrote:

> http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050609-120336-4092r.htm
>
> Analysts missed Chinese buildup
>
>
> By Bill Gertz
> THE WASHINGTON TIMES
>
>
> A highly classified intelligence report produced for the new director
> of national intelligence concludes that U.S. spy agencies failed to
> recognize several key military developments in China in the past
> decade, The Washington Times has learned.
>     The report was created by several current and former intelligence
> officials and concludes that U.S. agencies missed more than a dozen
> Chinese military developments, according to officials familiar with  
> the
> report.
>     The report blames excessive secrecy on China's part for the
> failures, but critics say intelligence specialists are to blame for
> playing down or dismissing evidence of growing Chinese military
> capabilities.
>     The report comes as the Bush administration appears to have become
> more critical of China's military buildup.
>     Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in Singapore over the
> weekend that China has hidden its defense spending and is expanding  
> its
> missile forces despite facing no threats. Secretary of State
> Condoleezza Rice also expressed worries this week about China's
> expanding military capabilities.
>     Among the failures highlighted in the study are:
>     •China's development of a new long-range cruise missile.
>     •The deployment of a new warship equipped with a stolen Chinese
> version of the U.S. Aegis battle management technology.
>     •Deployment of a new attack submarine known as the Yuan class that
> was missed by U.S. intelligence until photos of the submarine appeared
> on the Internet.
>     •Development of precision-guided munitions, including new
> air-to-ground missiles and new, more accurate warheads.
>     •China's development of surface-to-surface missiles for targeting
> U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups.
>     •The importation of advanced weaponry, including Russian
> submarines, warships and fighter-bombers.
>     According to officials familiar with the intelligence report, the
> word "surprise" is used more than a dozen times to describe U.S.
> failures to anticipate or discover Chinese arms development.
>     Many of the missed military developments will be contained in the
> Pentagon's annual report to Congress on the Chinese military, which  
> was
> due out March 1 but delayed by interagency disputes over its contents.
>     Critics of the study say the report unfairly blames intelligence
> collectors for not gathering solid information on the Chinese military
> and for failing to plant agents in the communist government.
>     Instead, these officials said, the report looks like a bid to
> exonerate analysts within the close-knit fraternity of government  
> China
> specialists, who for the past 10 years dismissed or played down
> intelligence showing that Beijing was engaged in a major military
> buildup.
>     "This report conceals the efforts of dissenting analysts [in the
> intelligence community] who argued that China was a threat," one
> official said, adding that covering up the failure of intelligence
> analysts on China would prevent a major reorganization of the system.
>     A former U.S. official said the report should help expose a
> "self-selected group" of specialists who fooled the U.S. government on
> China for 10 years.
>     "This group's desire to have good relations with China has
> prevented them from highlighting how little they know and suppressing
> occasional evidence that China views the United States as its main
> enemy."
>     The report has been sent to Thomas Fingar, a longtime intelligence
> analyst on China who was recently appointed by John D. Negroponte, the
> new director of national intelligence, as his office's top  
> intelligence
> analyst.
>     Mr. Negroponte has ordered a series of top-to-bottom reviews of
> U.S. intelligence capabilities in the aftermath of the critical report
> by the presidential commission headed by Judge Laurence Silberman and
> former Sen. Charles Robb, Virginia Democrat.
>     According to the officials, the study was produced by a team of
> analysts for the intelligence contractor Centra Technologies.
>     Spokesmen for the CIA and Mr. Negroponte declined to comment.
>     Its main author is Robert Suettinger, a National Security Council
> staff member for China during the Clinton administration and the U.S.
> intelligence community's top China analyst until 1998. Mr. Suettinger
> is traveling outside the country and could not be reached for comment,
> a spokesman said.
>     John Culver, a longtime CIA analyst on Asia, was the co-author.
>     Among those who took part in the study were former Defense
> Intelligence Agency analyst Lonnie Henley, who critics say was among
> those who in the past had dismissed concerns about China's military in
> the past 10 years.
>     Also participating in the study was John F. Corbett, a former Army
> intelligence analyst and attache who was a China policy-maker at the
> Pentagon during the Clinton administration.
>
>
> Mike Lorrey
> Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
> "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
> It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
>                                       -William Pitt (1759-1806)
> Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Discover Yahoo!
> Find restaurants, movies, travel and more fun for the weekend.  
> Check it out!
> http://discover.yahoo.com/weekend.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo/extropy-chat
>




More information about the extropy-chat mailing list