The Decline of U.S. Naval Power

Wall Street Journal Opinion ^ | March 2,2011 | MARK HELPRIN

[Hojczyk]

Last week, pirates attacked and executed four Americans in the Indian Ocean. We and the Europeans have endured literally thousands of attacks by the Somali pirates without taking the initiative against their vulnerable boats and bases even once. Such paralysis is but a symptom of a sickness that started some time ago.

The 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey," suggested that in another 30 years commercial flights to the moon, extraterrestrial mining, and interplanetary voyages would be routine. Soon the United States would send multiple missions to the lunar surface, across which astronauts would speed in vehicles. If someone born before Kitty Hawk's first flight would shortly after retirement see men riding around the moon in an automobile, it was reasonable to assume that half again as much time would bring progress at a similarly dazzling rate.

It didn't work out that way. In his 1962 speech at Rice University, perhaps the high-water mark of both the American Century and recorded presidential eloquence, President Kennedy framed the challenge not only of going to the moon but of sustaining American exceptionalism and this country's leading position in the world. He was assassinated a little more than a year later, and in subsequent decades American confidence went south.

Not only have we lost our enthusiasm for the exploration of space, we have retreated on the seas. Up to 30 ships, the largest ever constructed, each capable of carrying 18,000 containers, will soon come off the ways in South Korea. Not only will we neither build, own, nor man them, they won't even call at our ports, which are not large enough to receive them. We are no longer exactly the gem of the ocean. Next in line for gratuitous abdication is our naval position.

[Jeff Head]

Hopefully, he wil be wholly and completely rejected in 2012 and a much more conservative administration will come in with a ccongress of a mind to defend this country and build back our free market economy.

[GATOR NAVY]

The LCS isn’t capable of anything except burning a lot of fuel going fast.

[cva66snipe]

I’d say time for some gunboat “diplomacy”... if we had a President worthy of the office...

Our last pro-military POTUS left the building in January 1989. It's been a steady down sizing ride ever since then.

[Jeff Head]

Yes, I am that author.

In fact, with regards to that, two things.

1st, I have a new, updated version out for the iPad, Nook, KIndle, etc. It's in three volumes and they have been edited and updated somewhat for changing events. In the iBooks app, if you search my name or the title, "Dragon's Fury - World War against America and the West," you will find them.

Otherwise, folks can get each of them here inn whatever eformat they need for their device for 3.99 each:

Dragon's Fury - World War against America and the West - Vol I


Dragon's Fury - World War against America and the West - Vol II


Dragon's Fury - World War against America and the West - Vol III

2nd, I am writing a sequal after many hundreds of requests. it will be set over 150 years in the future after the events of Dragon's Fury. We will have expanded into space and discovered FTL travel and a lot more. It will be entitled, "The United States of Earth and the War for Known Space."

Be a lot of interesting twists and turns in the story line...and discoveries...beyond the war story as it goes along. It will be three volumes.

[Sienovan]

Reactivate the Iowa’s. Modernize. Replace 16” main guns with the Railgun system currently in development. Do some target-shooting at islands off China’s coast.

[Vroomfondel]

ping

[Colorado Buckeye]

Our last pro-military POTUS left the building in January 1989. It's been a steady down sizing ride ever since then.

Reagan was our last last American president; we are now on our fourth Globalist president.

[cva66snipe]

Reagan was our last last American president; we are now on our fourth Globalist president.

That's sad but true. If we win our freedom and nation back from the likes of them history will not judge them kindly. Our troops deserved better than what has been done to them the past 20 years. Same faces out of the Nixon/Ford era and a repeating of old mistakes only this time much more PC was involved.

9/11 was the golden opportunity for POTUS grabbing a Reagan moment by restoring our damaged military. That help never arrived nor did anyone DEM or GOP in congress nor White House seriously ever push the issue either. When W nominated Rummy as Sec of Defense I knew we'd been had. His first tenure as Sec of Defense left a lot to be desired. No actually I take that back it helped create a mess that took us directly into The Hollow Carter Military.

But even in the late 1970's carriers did not flunk INSUR, ORE, PEB, or fail Light Offs. LIke my late uncle once told me "you don't flunk those inspections the Navy won't let you". He was a LST C.O. in the late 1960's.

In 1979 we lost an entire Boiler Room and an electrical switchboard due to a DFT line rupture into the switchboard and still kept on trucking mission ready.

Nobody besides a few 0-6's have been held accountable for the negligance going on. But the problems are at the 0-8 and above level and civilian side of the Pentagon as well. An 0-6 does not make decessions as to when their ship enters the yards and how much gets done or funded etc. That is done way above their pay grade.