Saturday, October 7, 2017
Monday, October 2, 2017
Peace Activist Examines Costs and Value of Aircraft Carriers
When I was living in Qingdao, back at the time of the Beijing Olympics, I went down to the beach to watch the sailing regatta, which was being held in the Yellow Sea at Qingdao (and that's a story in itself). So there I was, looking out at the harbor, and seeing a number of naval ships. Someone (I can't remember exactly who it was, but I think it was an Australian fellow teacher who I had struck up a friendship with at the time), told me that the aircraft carrier that I was looking at was China's only aircraft carrier, the Liaonang, and it was posted there to protect the harbor from attack from the U.S.
(Remember tensions were high; the U.S. was boycotting the Beijing Olympics and had been involving in stirring up a war in Georgia). This person was rather savvy, and also told me that aircraft carriers were considered obsolete today, which is why other countries were not building them: carriers were considered too expensive and too vulnerable; their military dollars were better spent in other ways.
WHAT ARE THE COSTS?
So I've been wondering ever since at how much money the U.S. spends to maintain our fleet of aircraft carriers, which I now consider in the class of white elephants. Personally, as a peace visionary and activist, I consider all military spending as a waste of precious resources, of both money and what people put their attention to, which endangers everyone by keeping the focus of the world engaged on military conflict, or the potential thereof, instead of our evolutionary capacity for caring better for each other and our planet.
So, exactly how much is the U.S. spending on our military? Here is an overview of what our military spending costs this country, from the Federal Budget Tipsheet posted on the website of the National Priorities Project, whose stated mission is, "Fighting for a U.S. federal budget that prioritizes peace, economic security and shared prosperity." They state that from 2001 through the end of fiscal year 2015 on September 30, 2015, the U.S. government will have spent more than $1.64 trillion in war funds, including $715 billion in Afghanistan, $819 billion in Iraq, and $6 billion on the fight against ISIS." Their website is well worth exploring if you are at all interested in where our taxpayer money goes.
IS THE 7TH FLEET VULNERABLE?
I keep seeing news that reflects how vulnerable our extremely expensive naval craft really are, either because they are susceptible to collisions (possibly caused by hostile attacks or simply, gross negligence or incompetence.) However, repairs for each incident will easily run into the millions of dollars, let alone the cost of legal settlements.
In 2017 so far, 1) on January 31, the USS Antietam, a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser, ran aground in Tokyo Bay. Captain Joseph Carrigan was ultimately held responsible and relieved of his post. https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/navy-probe-blames-captain-s-judgment-in-uss-antietam-grounding-1.480879#.WdLE0WhSzIU
2) On May 2, the USS Champlain was rammed by a South Korean fishing boat. Was it just a mishap? There is speculation that North Koreans were responsible, and the Champlain was guarding the USS Carl Vinson from attack.
3) On June 17, the USS Fitzgerald, while operating near Okusaka in Japan, collided with the ACX Crystal, a container ship from the Phillipines, which rammed into it on the star-board bridge. The commanding officer, executive officer, and command master chief were all fired, it being established that "the bridge team lost situational awareness."
4) On August 21, another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS John McCain, was rammed by a Liberian oil tanker off the coast of Singapore in Malaysian waters. In 2009, The USS John McCain was involved in tracking a North Korean ship, the Kang Nam 1, with a reputation for shipping arms, enforcing a U.N. resolution of an arms export embargo against North Korea.
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/north-korean-ship-might-be-holding-missile-technology/
Might it not be entirely in the realm of the possible that the USS John McCain was again tracking a North Korean ship that might be carrying arms? It could have been damaged in an attack by North Korea, a country infamous for running its ships under other country's flags, especially very poor countries who get some income from this practice.
The U.N. passed Security Council Resolution 2371 August 5, 2017 in response to North Korea’s two ICBM tests in July, reaffirming the Council's support for the Six Party Talks, and sanctioning the export of several materials. What got dropped from the recent U.N. resolution on North Korea that the U.S. wanted, but knew China would veto: "a mandate for warships from any member state to inspect ships suspected of carrying contraband to or from North Korea, and to enforce inspect using “all necessary measures”.
Almost certainly some of the ships of the U.S. Seventh Fleet have been carrying out operations to find ships carrying North Korean contraband. So I am interested in getting the following questions answered:
Was the collision of the USS John McCain with a Liberian oil tanker on August 21, 2017 just another mishap, or was it a deliberate attack by the DPRK against an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer?
Was the incident when the USS Champlain collided with a South Korean fishing boat on May 9, 2017 also another mishap, or was it protecting the USS Carl Vinson from an attack?
Was the USS Antietam, a Ticonderoga class ship that ran aground in Tokyo Bay end of January 2017 the result of Captain Joseph Carrigan's foul mood and errors in judgment, or, perhaps, the result of a cyber-attack which gave erroneous readings?
When the USS Fitzgerald, operating near Okusaka in Japan, collided with a Phillipine carrier ship on June 17, did the bridge team lose "situational awareness" out of negligence, incompetence, or did something more sinister occur?
No matter the answer to these questions, it would appear that our naval fleet is vulnerable, from within and without, and may be risking the security of Americans rather than protecting it. Just imagine what might happen if we were actually at war, due to these kinds of errors and incidents. Maybe we should ramp down such an aggressive stance towards North Korea and other countries. Maybe we should look at how we could create a more peaceful world in other ways than the use of military force.
And just maybe, as aircraft carriers were first built to protect battleships, which then became obsolete, and may have become obsolete themselves today, maybe the entire concept of protecting the peace through military preparedness has also become obsolete.
References:
https://thediplomat.com/2014/04/does-the-us-navy-have-10-or-19-aircraft-carriers/
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424870/it-time-navy-reassess-importance-aircraft-carrier-george-will
http://www.fi-aeroweb.com/Defense/LHA-America-Class-Assault-Ship.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_R._Ford-class_aircraft_carrier#construction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp-class_amphibious_assault_ship
https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/lhd-1.htm
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/guides/tipsheet-pentagon-spending/
https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/08/22/the-us-navy-is-investigating-possibility-of-cyber-attack-in-latest-collision/#.tnw_ueKG3C8J
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/UN-Security-Council-Resolutions-on-North-Korea
(Remember tensions were high; the U.S. was boycotting the Beijing Olympics and had been involving in stirring up a war in Georgia). This person was rather savvy, and also told me that aircraft carriers were considered obsolete today, which is why other countries were not building them: carriers were considered too expensive and too vulnerable; their military dollars were better spent in other ways.
WHAT ARE THE COSTS?
So I've been wondering ever since at how much money the U.S. spends to maintain our fleet of aircraft carriers, which I now consider in the class of white elephants. Personally, as a peace visionary and activist, I consider all military spending as a waste of precious resources, of both money and what people put their attention to, which endangers everyone by keeping the focus of the world engaged on military conflict, or the potential thereof, instead of our evolutionary capacity for caring better for each other and our planet.
So how much do we spend on our carriers? Either we have 11 or 19, based on how they are categorized, but the newest carrier, the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, cost $12.8 billion. Once you add the costs of the air wing, the support of five surface-combat ships and one attack submarine, and 6,700 sailors, the bill for operating a carrier group: $2.5 million a day.
You can do the math yourself, but I'll take a stab at it. Operating costs of $2.5 million, multiplied by 365 for one year comes to $912,500,000, or nearly a billion dollars. That's just for one carrier, and we have either 11 or 19. Multiply that by 11, and you get nearly 11 billion dollars. Multiply that by 19, and you get nearly 19 billion dollars, give or take a few million. That's for one year alone, to operate carriers that may be obsolete in today's world.
You can do the math yourself, but I'll take a stab at it. Operating costs of $2.5 million, multiplied by 365 for one year comes to $912,500,000, or nearly a billion dollars. That's just for one carrier, and we have either 11 or 19. Multiply that by 11, and you get nearly 11 billion dollars. Multiply that by 19, and you get nearly 19 billion dollars, give or take a few million. That's for one year alone, to operate carriers that may be obsolete in today's world.
In another related National Review article, "Is it Time for the Navy to Reassess the Importance of the Aircraft Carrier?" dated September 30, 2015, George Will makes a case for carriers being too expensive and vulnerable. "Henry J. Hendrix of the Center for a New American Security argues that, like the battleships which carriers were originally designed to support, carriers may now be too expensive and vulnerable. China has developed land-based anti-ship missiles to force carriers to operate so far from targets that manned aircraft might become less useful than unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) operating from smaller, less expensive carriers. Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424870/it-time-navy-reassess-importance-aircraft-carrier-george-will
So, exactly how much is the U.S. spending on our military? Here is an overview of what our military spending costs this country, from the Federal Budget Tipsheet posted on the website of the National Priorities Project, whose stated mission is, "Fighting for a U.S. federal budget that prioritizes peace, economic security and shared prosperity." They state that from 2001 through the end of fiscal year 2015 on September 30, 2015, the U.S. government will have spent more than $1.64 trillion in war funds, including $715 billion in Afghanistan, $819 billion in Iraq, and $6 billion on the fight against ISIS." Their website is well worth exploring if you are at all interested in where our taxpayer money goes.
IS THE 7TH FLEET VULNERABLE?
I keep seeing news that reflects how vulnerable our extremely expensive naval craft really are, either because they are susceptible to collisions (possibly caused by hostile attacks or simply, gross negligence or incompetence.) However, repairs for each incident will easily run into the millions of dollars, let alone the cost of legal settlements.
In 2017 so far, 1) on January 31, the USS Antietam, a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser, ran aground in Tokyo Bay. Captain Joseph Carrigan was ultimately held responsible and relieved of his post. https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/navy-probe-blames-captain-s-judgment-in-uss-antietam-grounding-1.480879#.WdLE0WhSzIU
2) On May 2, the USS Champlain was rammed by a South Korean fishing boat. Was it just a mishap? There is speculation that North Koreans were responsible, and the Champlain was guarding the USS Carl Vinson from attack.
3) On June 17, the USS Fitzgerald, while operating near Okusaka in Japan, collided with the ACX Crystal, a container ship from the Phillipines, which rammed into it on the star-board bridge. The commanding officer, executive officer, and command master chief were all fired, it being established that "the bridge team lost situational awareness."
4) On August 21, another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS John McCain, was rammed by a Liberian oil tanker off the coast of Singapore in Malaysian waters. In 2009, The USS John McCain was involved in tracking a North Korean ship, the Kang Nam 1, with a reputation for shipping arms, enforcing a U.N. resolution of an arms export embargo against North Korea.
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/north-korean-ship-might-be-holding-missile-technology/
Might it not be entirely in the realm of the possible that the USS John McCain was again tracking a North Korean ship that might be carrying arms? It could have been damaged in an attack by North Korea, a country infamous for running its ships under other country's flags, especially very poor countries who get some income from this practice.
The U.N. passed Security Council Resolution 2371 August 5, 2017 in response to North Korea’s two ICBM tests in July, reaffirming the Council's support for the Six Party Talks, and sanctioning the export of several materials. What got dropped from the recent U.N. resolution on North Korea that the U.S. wanted, but knew China would veto: "a mandate for warships from any member state to inspect ships suspected of carrying contraband to or from North Korea, and to enforce inspect using “all necessary measures”.
Almost certainly some of the ships of the U.S. Seventh Fleet have been carrying out operations to find ships carrying North Korean contraband. So I am interested in getting the following questions answered:
Was the collision of the USS John McCain with a Liberian oil tanker on August 21, 2017 just another mishap, or was it a deliberate attack by the DPRK against an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer?
Was the incident when the USS Champlain collided with a South Korean fishing boat on May 9, 2017 also another mishap, or was it protecting the USS Carl Vinson from an attack?
Was the USS Antietam, a Ticonderoga class ship that ran aground in Tokyo Bay end of January 2017 the result of Captain Joseph Carrigan's foul mood and errors in judgment, or, perhaps, the result of a cyber-attack which gave erroneous readings?
When the USS Fitzgerald, operating near Okusaka in Japan, collided with a Phillipine carrier ship on June 17, did the bridge team lose "situational awareness" out of negligence, incompetence, or did something more sinister occur?
No matter the answer to these questions, it would appear that our naval fleet is vulnerable, from within and without, and may be risking the security of Americans rather than protecting it. Just imagine what might happen if we were actually at war, due to these kinds of errors and incidents. Maybe we should ramp down such an aggressive stance towards North Korea and other countries. Maybe we should look at how we could create a more peaceful world in other ways than the use of military force.
And just maybe, as aircraft carriers were first built to protect battleships, which then became obsolete, and may have become obsolete themselves today, maybe the entire concept of protecting the peace through military preparedness has also become obsolete.
References:
https://thediplomat.com/2014/04/does-the-us-navy-have-10-or-19-aircraft-carriers/
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424870/it-time-navy-reassess-importance-aircraft-carrier-george-will
http://www.fi-aeroweb.com/Defense/LHA-America-Class-Assault-Ship.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_R._Ford-class_aircraft_carrier#construction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp-class_amphibious_assault_ship
https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/lhd-1.htm
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/guides/tipsheet-pentagon-spending/
https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/08/22/the-us-navy-is-investigating-possibility-of-cyber-attack-in-latest-collision/#.tnw_ueKG3C8J
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/UN-Security-Council-Resolutions-on-North-Korea
In Memory of Clooney
On my cancer journey, I had a dear companion who helped me through it all, Clooney. Little did I know that Clooney was on his own cancer journey as well.
I thought that maybe I was ready to write about him, but I find that the subject is still too tender. To be completed another time when I am stronger.
I thought that maybe I was ready to write about him, but I find that the subject is still too tender. To be completed another time when I am stronger.
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