Losing the Solomons

You know the names; Guadalcanal, Savo Island, Cape Esperance, Santa Cruz, Tassafaronga.

There were other less known fights during the Solomon Islands Campaign, but those are the major ones ... some even had USN warships named after them.

During the campaign, the United States suffered over 10,600 killed, 40+ ships sunk, and over 800 aircraft lost.

Imperial Japan suffered over 86,000 dead, 50+ ships sunk, and 1,500 aircraft lost.

These islands are critical to control/protect the sea lines of communication from the Indian Ocean in to the Pacific Ocean - from the United States to Australia.

After WWII, this was generally an Australian sphere of influence, but as always, the USA had purchased in blood an ongoing interest in the status of these islands. Any review of a globe shows you their importance in any war in the Pacific.

The Chinese know this as well.

I am not sure what is going on at our State Department desk responsible for the Solomons, but if we could just get proper civil service reform in place so we could do the only honorable thing - fire them all.

A leaked document has revealed that China and the Solomon Islands are close to signing a security agreement that could open the door to Chinese troops and naval warships flowing into a Pacific Island nation that played a pivotal role in World War II.

The agreement, kept secret until now, was shared online Thursday night by opponents of the deal and verified as legitimate by the Australian government. Though it is marked as a draft and cites a need for “social order” as a justification for sending Chinese forces, it has set off alarms throughout the Pacific, where concerns about China’s intentions have been growing for years.

Via Anna Powles, here are the pages in question. Read them yourself;

 

The Chinese are focused, serious, and understand what they want to be in the world. Their people responsible for this area of the world, as we discussed concerning other islands last year, are simply doing an outstanding job in pursuit of their nation's strategic interest.

What, exactly, are our State Department employees focused on for their nation's strategic interest?

Let me help everyone out. As always, meet me in the map room.

Here is the great circle route from our southern California ports, through Hawaii, to Australia.

Find the Solomon Islands.

It isn't really that hard to figure out - but I guess for The Smartest People in the Room™ it is.