Gates Should Learn Lessons from Cold War

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently threw out the notion of “learning from the arms race between the Soviet Union and the U.S.” It seems like idle talk, but in reality it is a threat. According to Gates’ logic, the Soviet Union went beyond its limits while competing with the United States in the arms race, which lead to its downfall. Actually, in 1957, the year the Cold War started, the Soviet Union launched a satellite into space, and this caused America to be afraid. As a result, space and many other fields became part of the arms race. The arms race between both the Soviet Union and the United States was not one-sided. The arms race harmed both sides, not just the Soviet Union. The Cold War and the arms race exhausted Washington’s primary national power; it almost caused the U.S. dollar’s empire to collapse. Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, of all the players in the world, the Pentagon should have been the one to absorb the lessons from the Cold War.

America’s debt has already passed $15 trillion, far exceeding the $14.3 trillion limit set by Congress. Expanding the debt has already become Washington’s heavy “time bomb.” At any time, this may cause panic and bring about a catastrophe. In 1957, after the Soviet Union launched its satellite, Khrushchev said, “We are making missiles like sausages.” U.S. President Eisenhower ordered, “Regardless of how much money is spent, how many people it takes, how much we borrow — these are all irrelevant; all related departments are required to be wholly inclined to catch up, in the shortest period of time, to catch up with the Soviet Union, until America launches a satellite into space.”* This is why the White House’s “fear of the Soviet Union” policy, which has lasted until today, still troubles America’s huge debt problem.

The Pentagon Has Contracted the “Cold War Illness”

Even according to the American media’s “data on Sino-U.S. military balance of power,” it can be seen that China is not capable of nor is it prepared to compete with the United States in an arms race. In 2010, China spent $78 billion on military expenditures, while America spent $729 billion. China has 1,320 fighter planes, while the United States has 2,379; China has no stealth fighters, while America has 139; aircraft carriers number zero to 11; the number of submarines is 65 to 71; the number of destroyers is 27 to 57; the number of nuclear warheads is 240 to 9,400. This extreme disparity between military strength has also caused Gates to give a “warning” to China, which shows that the Pentagon’s psychological state is not well; the Pentagon needs to reflect and review its situation. As Henry Kissinger said, “Treating China as an enemy increases the likelihood that it will become one; an appropriate definition of U.S.-Sino relations should be cooperative partners.”**

When Gates’ stated, “Advances by the Chinese military in cyber and anti-satellite warfare pose a potential challenge to” us, it showed that he is stuck in the Cold War mentality. If it is said that advances by the Chinese are a threat to the U.S. — the world is advancing every hour of every day, regardless of whether it is the Americas or Asia, East or West, society, economy, technology or military; they are all advancing. If the U.S. sees the advancement of another country as a threat, then it can only be said that the Pentagon has contracted the “Cold War illness.” Since World War II, the United States relied on military strength. The United States established military bases in 124 countries around the world, have 11 aircraft carriers cruising the world’s five oceans, and its airplanes, guided missiles and Special Forces, at all hours, threaten many other countries. Because of the United States’ look of hostility, many countries must develop their own military industry.

“Cyber-Bully”: A Thief Yelling “Thief” and Making Threats

After Obama took power, he made a high-profile announcement that he had already formed a 100,000-strong elite “cyber-army” and that it had already become a reality. Almost every day, this “cyber-army” engages in every type of cyber-attack and harassment toward other countries including White House allies, Russia and 180 other countries. Because the United States grasps the key aspects of the Internet industry, it has already become a true “cyber-bully.” All the White House has to do is give the order, and the 100,000-strong “cyber-army” will get busy tapping their keyboards. This can cause other countries to lose control over their guided missiles, have radar failure, communication breakdowns and even can allow the United States to freely mobilize other countries’ armies and then outwit them. However, Obama is like a thief yelling “thief” by saying, “It’s now clear this cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation.”

In the middle of the last century, the United States boasted powerful air superiority; every year it would enter Russia’s airspace over 10,000 times and would often hold large-scale military exercises to allow strategic bomber planes to fly around Russia’s borders. Facing America’s threats, Russia hoped to quickly create nuclear warheads that could hit America’s intercontinental ballistic missiles as a means of deterring America. On Oct. 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched a satellite into space, it caused strong reactions and panic in the United States. The New York Times, at that time, repeatedly said, “The satellite travels 18,000 miles every hour, and would pass over U.S. airspace every 15 minutes.”* If one was to investigate the cause of the U.S.-Soviet Cold War, one would discover that it was Washington’s doing.

*Editor’s Note: These quotes, accurately translated, could not be verified.
**Editor’s Note: “If you treat China as an enemy, China will become an enemy” is a statement attributed to former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Joseph Nye. The quote in the story, while accurately translated, could not be verified as attributable to Henry Kissinger.