Above: Vladimir Putin, mad dictator of the Evil Empire, will spend $141 billion on 70 new nuclear missiles.Story here.
While the useful-idiot Left in the Free World demands their leaders reduce or even disarm their armed forces, and after America elected a President who's on record as declaring his intent to shrink and weaken the U.S. military, Russia has embarked on a program of building its arsenal of nuclear missiles, boosting it by 70 new, state-of-the-art ones, at an estimated cost of $141 billion.
And this in a global economic downturn that hasn't left Russia untouched, especially now that the price of oil, a key Russian income source, has plummeted. Rather than helping Russians cope with job loss and so on, the Putinist regime chooses nuclear weapons proliferation.
So what is Russia's agenda, really?
Meanwhile, in Communist China...
One of the top priorities for the Obama administration must be to establish policy regarding China's military buildup. According to an October report by the secretary of state's International Security Advisory Board (ISAB), China's Communist Party leadership has been accumulating weapons at a startling rate - one far exceeding what American intelligence analysts deem necessary for China's security. The report calls for the United States to modernize its weapons and keep pace with the growing challenge in the region. This is the first deficiency the Obama administration must address.
President-elect Barack Obama will have to "make hard decisions about where to put resources," John J. Tkacik, senior fellow in Asian studies at the Heritage Foundation, told The Washington Times. "The Obama administration has to decide whether the United States wants to remain the pre-eminent power in Asia or whether we will acquiesce in China's preeminence," he said.
Chinese officials claim that the buildup is "defensive" and insist that Beijing's intentions are "peaceful." But China's neighbors are not convinced. Taiwan, an independent, democratic state that China claims as part of its sovereign territory, has concluded a $6.5 billion arms deal with the United States and still wants more arms, including F-16 fighter jets. Japan, too, is alarmed at China's insistent claims on its territory in the South China Sea. India is also on alert. In the past year alone, there have been about 180 separate Chinese military incursions into India´s border areas, according to Mr. Tkacik.
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It is imperative that U.S. government agencies resolve their longstanding differences over China policy, and forge a coherent, unified approach. "The National Security staff and the State Department regard China as an essential partner in co-managing the region. But the Defense Department is more wary about partnerships and wants the focus to be on making contingency plans to deal with the rising threat," Mr. Tkacik said.
