DOD: Rand report is among many
the Pentagon will look at
CAMP FOSTER — A recently released study that calls for focusing U.S. forces in Asia toward the Taiwan Strait is one of many scenarios the Pentagon is considering, a defense official said Tuesday.
The report, released Monday by the Rand Corporation, says that the U.S. military posture in the Pacific needs revamping. Rand is a nonpartisan think-tank based in California.
At the Pentagon’s weekly press briefing, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said there are many such studies on a variety of topics to be examined.
"They all go into the mix," he said. "Their overarching goal is to examine a question, examine an issue, come up with good, solid academic, analytical findings that all go into the mix in the development of policy and acquisition decisions and things of that sort."
Quigley said the Pentagon is studying the Rand report, along with reports from from "the Institute for Defense analysis, Center for Defense Analysis, [and] a lot of the federally funded research and development corporations."
The Rand report, funded by the U.S. Air Force, recommends the United States re-orient its forces in the Pacific to focus on potential hot spots, such as the Taiwan Strait, citing the possibility for armed conflict between Taiwan and mainland China.
"Asia faces potentially serious problems that could unravel the fabric of peace and prosperity," the report states. "India and, especially, China are rising powers that seek their place in the world and, in the process, could potentially disrupt the regional order … Beijing glares covetously at Taiwan maintaining a threatening posture toward it in both word and deed."
Among the recommendations are to develop Guam into a major military staging area, obtain the use of an airport in the southern Ryukyu Islands closer to Taiwan than Okinawa, maintain a sizable Air Force presence on Okinawa even if the U.S. Marine force on the island is reduced, and continue an aggressive deployment schedule in the Philippines so the United States is prepared for rapid deployment of military operations in a crisis.
"I don’t think [the study] represents the singular views of any individual or organization within DOD, but I don’t think that was the goal," Quigley said. "I think the goal was to stimulate thinking and examine the issues."
He said the report was initiated by the Air Force well in advance of the review of the military now being conducted by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
"I don’t know when it originated, but I believe it was some time in 2000, many, many months ago," he said.
However, the Rand report might hold more weight with the current administration since its author, Zalmay Khalilzad, formerly headed the DOD transition team as part of the Bush transition team and was later a paid consultant to the DOD. He is now working at the White House.
Rand is a nonprofit research institution founded in 1948. It is known for taking nonpartisan approaches to a wide range of studies in a variety of fields, primarily national security and public welfare.
The report calls for the United States to set a policy on China that reflects "a well-hedged mix of engagement and containment tactics, clear opposition to a unilateral Taiwanese declaration of independence, but an equally clear U.S. determination to come to Taiwan’s defense if China attacks."
"To implement these and other political initiatives, the U.S. military posture in the Pacific needs revamping, too," the report states. "Among these adjustments: Beefing up the forces, shifting their focus southwards from the current concentration in northeast Asia … and recasting security arrangements with Japan."
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