Think the US exit from Afghanistan was bad? Look what’s brewing in the Pacific

You think America’s tail-between-its-legs departure from Afghanistan was bad? Something even worse is coming in the Pacific, albeit more quietly.

U.S. defenses in the Asia-Pacific center on a defense line running from Japan to Philippines to Taiwan and on to Borneo. The so-called First Island Chain.

Try defending against China along the first island chain without a secure “rear area” in the Central Pacific. And suppose it’s the Chinese in the rear.

American control of the Central Pacific depends on three treaties – known as Compacts of Free Association (COFA) – with three nations: Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and Republic of Marshall Islands. These nations and their huge maritime territory comprise most of an “east-west corridor” from Hawaii to the western edge of the Pacific that is essential for U.S. control and military operations in the region.

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