My friends Bridge Colby and T.X. Hammes are continuing to fight out their superbly argued sides on the AirSea Battle front, Colby making points similar to the one's I've made in this space but doing so more effectively and eloquently.
It is hard for me to get around feeling that T.X. Hammes' "Offshore Control" strategy is a recipe for hastening the decline of U.S. power and influence in Asia. If that's ok with you, then you won't find Hammes' approach questionable.
Some may find it opportunistic for a guy who wrote the words "preventing wars is as important as winning wars", but too much emphasis on this debate is placed on the war-fighting capacity of ASB and too little is placed on the war-deterring aspects of the concept. We need to continue to sustain the conditions under which the PLAN East Sea Fleet Commander wakes up every day and says "today is not the day" (hat-tip to VADM Joe Sestak, whose words those are). AirSea Battle can be a critical part of an approach that leads him to that conclusion.
Bryan McGrath
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