In a vivid display of the weakness of the US, the Solomon Islands have illustrated China’s strengthening influence in the Western Pacific by refusing to allow US ships to visit their ports to reprovision.
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12 Comments
Steve · August 28, 2022 at 3:13 pm
We liberate countries only to have them sh*t on us.
There was another story out of the Solomons.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/25/solomon-islands-to-ban-foreign-journalists-who-are-not-respectful-report
Divemedic · August 28, 2022 at 3:21 pm
Of course. International politics is about two things: Power and advantage. If your country can’t provide some kind of advantage or exert influence through power, then you have no influence.
21stCenturyCassandra · August 28, 2022 at 5:05 pm
In Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan novels, Domingo “Ding” Chavez observed that “International relations basically consists of one country phucking another one.”
Danny's not here · August 28, 2022 at 5:30 pm
So why couldn’t the reprovision come out of Guam?
Anonymous · August 28, 2022 at 8:33 pm
Guam sits roughly 3000 km from the Solomon Islands. That’s as far apart as San Francisco and Chicago.
Which USN ships do you want to replenish, how many of each type, where in the vicinity of the Solomons do you want to replenish them, what supplies are you bringing them, how often, in what weather, and under which threat conditions?
Underway replenishment is a known quantity, but it’s far less efficient/safe/easy than tying up alongside a nice sturdy concrete pier in a sheltered harbor. Navies lust after strategic harbors, and now you can see why.
Divemedic · August 28, 2022 at 8:53 pm
I agree with anonymous at 8:33. The issue here that is more important is that the Solomon Islands are falling into the sphere of the Chinese. It will get worse.
21stCenturyCassandra · August 28, 2022 at 10:12 pm
Because it might tip over.
g · August 29, 2022 at 8:01 am
Disturbing not just for the trend in declining US influence, but also disturbing for the implications for a hypothetical future conflict w CCP.
The chicoms want to control that area for at least some of the reasons the Japs did in WWII- control the Solomons and you make it really hard or worse to keep the sea lanes open between the US and Australia.
Papa Sierra · August 29, 2022 at 8:35 am
Should the US Coast Guard be operating that far outside US waters? Don’t we have enough problems at home to worry about? And aren’t we already deeply in debt?
We can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman.
TechieDude · August 30, 2022 at 10:47 am
Makes sense.
Nobody likes a punk.
They’ve turned us into little punk beeches.
Aesop · August 30, 2022 at 8:29 pm
It’s a data point, and certainly emblematic of how doddering the current admin has become, but Bikini Atoll isn’t the only island in the South Pacific that can host a nuclear detonation, in a pinch.
Volunteering for that kind of targeting status is generally a poor choice, but the natives there have never been very bright.
Divemedic · August 31, 2022 at 5:59 am
It shows that they are more afraid of the Chinese than the US.
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