Never forget war, never send the horses south or put the bayonets and guns away

Some sage advice and from a corner of the globe where it should have been expected. The Chinese have been steadily building their military capabilities, ever since the Clinton years. Back when Bill saw fit to give them America's most sophisticated missile telemetry technology. And it looks like they have been using it.

China preparing for armed conflict 'in every direction'

"In the coming five years, our military will push forward preparations for military conflict in every strategic direction," said Liang Guanglie in an interview published by several state-backed newspapers in China. "We may be living in peaceful times, but we can never forget war, never send the horses south or put the bayonets and guns away," Mr Liang added.

So goes the reality of those who fail to learn the lessons of history. Japanese Admiral Yamamoto famously remarked upon learning of the completion of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , "I am afraid that we have awakened a sleeping giant."

The modern day flip side of that observation, could (should) easily be uttered by any number of America's generals and admirals. The modern day flip side reality is? "I am afraid that we have awakened a sleeping dragon."

Mr Liang's remarks come at a time of increasingly difficult relations between the Chinese and US armed forces which a three-day visit by his counterpart Robert Gates is intended to address. A year ago China froze substantive military relations in protest at US arms sales to Taiwan and relations deteriorated further this summer when China objected to US plans to deploy one of its nuclear supercarriers, the USS George Washington, into the Yellow Sea off the Korean peninsula.

Having spent thirteen months in Asia a few decades ago, I determined back then that the only thing keeping the Chinese at bay, was their inability to match American military technology. It never was a matter of people or personnel. All they needed was a means to go head to head with American military might.

All that changed the day that Nixon decided to visit China and open up what has been affectionately called an "economic dialogue" with a closed society waiting to become the next world power.

Some dialogue huh. Forty years later, America literally sinks or swims on it's daily shipments of products from China. Mean while, the Chinese hold trillions of dollars in American debt (more than any other nation.) Another shining example of the Kissinger years IMO.

And what have they been doing with their profits from selling us all of our commodities and desires over the last twenty years? Investing in their military with the profits that's what. Over the past twenty years, the Chinese have built an invasion fleet of amphibious assault ships that they have stationed along their south east shore along the China sea.Along with missile defense shore batteries, that would rival the best examples of America's NORAD.

For those not up on history or the current events of the last sixty five years, the Chinese still lay claim to Taiwan and the only reason to date that they have not attempted to enforce their claim, is that America has held a promissory treaty with the Taiwanese to protect and defend the island against all adversaries. And now that promise is about to be tested.

And if that isn't enough to cause serious concern and worry here in America, then the news reports of China's latest weapon in their inventory should.

China is also working on a "carrier-killing" ballistic missile that could sink US carriers from afar, fundamentally reordering the balance of power in a region that has been dominated by the US since the end of the Second World War.

The bottom line......The giant has slept while the dragon has become fully awakened. The time is literally too late for America to prevent the coming war with China. The best that we can possibly do, is to shield Japan for the time being from the great Chinese dragon that is about to consume the rest of Asia. And when the time comes, they will come for Japan too.

There is a lot of payback in the Chinese memory as it concerns Japan. Mostly from the 1930's and what the Japanese did to the Chinese prior to and during WWII. Time to repay the favor.

And as it all unfolds, America will be revealed to be the impotent use to be that it is and no longer a threat to Chinese expansionism.

Welcome to the twenty first century and the decline of the American empire. Mean while back home on the ranch, Obama just signed a nuclear reduction treaty with the Russians. That ought to make everyone feel better.