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Vietnam bases long-range rocket launchers in South China Sea - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/08/11/scse-a11.html

Vietnam bases long-range rocket launchers in South China Sea
By Peter Symonds
11 August 2016

Reuters revealed yesterday that Vietnam has in recent months secretly fortified several of its islands in the Spratly group in the South China Sea with mobile long-range rocket launchers. While the launchers are reportedly yet to be armed, it would take only days to make them operational with rockets capable of striking Chinese-held islets.

Hanoi’s move is certain to further accelerate the arms race that is already underway and to heighten the risk that an incident or provocation could lead to military conflict. That danger has escalated in the wake of the ruling last month by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in favour of a US-backed case brought by the Philippines to challenge China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

#vietnam #mer_de_chine_méridionale #chine

RAND Corporation lays out scenarios for US war with China - World Socialist Web Site
►http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/08/05/pers-a05.html

RAND Corporation lays out scenarios for US war with China
5 August 2016

A new study by the RAND Corporation titled “War with China: Thinking Through the Unthinkable” is just the latest think tank paper devoted to assessing a US war against China. The study, commissioned by the US Army, provides further evidence that a war with China is being planned and prepared in the upper echelons of the American military-intelligence apparatus.

That the paper emerges from the RAND Corporation has a particular and sinister significance. Throughout the Cold War, RAND was the premier think tank for “thinking the unthinkable”—a phrase made notorious by RAND’s chief strategist in the 1950s, Herman Kahn. Kahn devoted his macabre book On Thermonuclear War to elaborating a strategy for a “winnable” nuclear war against the Soviet Union.

#chin #états-unis #guerre

US sells battle tanks to Saudi Arabia as it renews assault on Yemen - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/08/11/usse-a11.html

US sells battle tanks to Saudi Arabia as it renews assault on Yemen
By Thomas Gaist
11 August 2016

In a clear signal of American imperialism’s unrelenting commitment to the Saudi monarchy and its ongoing war against Yemen, the United States’ State Department approved the sale of one hundred and fifty Abrams main battle tanks to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

The tanks, designed for large-scale ground warfare, are part of a larger package of American weaponry, valued at $1.15 billion, that includes a bevy of additional military hardware.

#états-unis #arabie_saoudite #yémen #armement

US-South Korean war games inflame Asian tensions - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/08/23/uskr-a23.html

US-South Korean war games inflame Asian tensions
By Peter Symonds
23 August 2016

The annual joint US-South Korean military exercises known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) began yesterday amid rising tensions in Asia fuelled by the American military build-up throughout the region. While nominally aimed against North Korea, the war games consolidate Washington’s military alliance with Seoul as it makes preparations for conflict with China.

The military drills involve around 25,000 US military personnel, of which 2,500 will come from outside South Korea, operating alongside 75,000 South Korean troops. The US has 28,500 troops stationed permanently in South Korea and is currently restructuring its bases in the country as part of its broader reorganisation of American military forces in the Asia Pacific.

#corée_du_sud #états-unis #chine #nucléaire

RAND Corporation lays out scenarios for US war with China - World Socialist Web Site

►http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/08/05/pers-a05.html

Maintenant, c’est la Rand corp. ça vaut ce que ça vaut, mais l’approche est pas inintéressante. A prendre toutefois avec des pincettes.

A new study by the RAND Corporation titled “War with China: Thinking Through the Unthinkable” is just the latest think tank paper devoted to assessing a US war against China. The study, commissioned by the US Army, provides further evidence that a war with China is being planned and prepared in the upper echelons of the American military-intelligence apparatus.

That the paper emerges from the RAND Corporation has a particular and sinister significance. Throughout the Cold War, RAND was the premier think tank for “thinking the unthinkable”—a phrase made notorious by RAND’s chief strategist in the 1950s, Herman Kahn. Kahn devoted his macabre book On Thermonuclear War to elaborating a strategy for a “winnable” nuclear war against the Soviet Union.