Note from AFA President -- Pearl Harbor, China, Iran

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. While the attack was a shock, it could have been much worse. Had the Japanese targeted our aircraft carriers, or had they continued with their attack in the form of an “air campaign,” it might have spelled disaster for the United States. In fact, I maintain it was this attack that caused a national awakening of the speed, range, and capability of Airpower. Ms Merri Shaffer of the AFA staff has put this idea into an op-ed. To interest you, one paragraph from the piece:

“The remembrance of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor should continue to fuel a determination to maintain key Airpower competencies -- air superiority, long range attack, space superiority, and airlift. We should not take for granted military assets. The Pearl Harbor anniversary will always remain a stark lesson in the need for preparedness and the use of Airpower in an air campaign at the strategic level.”

You can find the piece on our website at: http://www.afa.org/EdOp/2011/Pearl_Harbor.asp

Secondly, I ran across a piece on China that could be considered prescient. It was written by Dr. Gordon G. Chang. In the piece, he argues that the Chinese economy has begun to falter; this will put pressure on the Chinese Communist Party; more power will flow to the military; and the result is the regime will be more dangerous than ever. You can find the piece at: http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/12/03/120311-opinions-column-china-bust-chang-1-3/

Finally, in a note two weeks ago on Iran [see: http://www.afa.org/PresidentsCorner/Notes/Notes_11-16-11.pdf] I left off the link to the piece by Stephen Rademaker and Blaise Misztal. It appeared in the Washington Post. It is a semi-technical look at Iran’s nuclear program that comes to the conclusion “ … there is no basis for concluding that the threat posed by Iran’s program has been diminished. To the contrary, it continues to grow at an alarming rate.” You can find the piece at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-growing-threat-of-irans-nuclear-program/2011/11/04/gIQAiguIxM_story.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter


For your consideration.

Mike

Michael M. Dunn
President/CEO
Air Force Association