Bob Barr

Chinese Sub Sinks Illusion of U.S. Security

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

November 22, 2006

Lost amid the avalanche of post-election analysis has been an incident that raises serious concerns about how well the United States is meeting security threats posed by our foes and potential adversaries.

In late October, a Chinese submarine was able to shadow a U.S. Navy battle group patrolling in the Pacific Ocean near Okinawa, without being detected until it surfaced within hailing range of the nuclear carrier Kitty Hawk.

In addition to the highly sophisticated Kitty Hawk, the U.S. battle group included a nuclear attack submarine and anti-submarine helicopters, none of which detected the diesel-powered Chinese submarine following them until it chose to surface. Adding to the U.S. Navy's embarrassment is the fact the incident occurred just as the commander of American forces in the Pacific, Adm. William Fallon, was engaged in discussing an extensive military exchange program with Beijing as part of an effort to improve relations between the armed forces of both countries.

The United States spends more than $440 billion annually on defense, apart from the expenses associated with prosecuting the war in Iraq. Another $35 billion is spent directly on homeland defense through the Department of Homeland Security. Questions are now being raised about just how effectively those billions are being spent if something as large as a submarine can slip through our sophisticated defenses. After all, a multiton submarine is far larger than the small but deadly improvised explosive devices that have bedeviled our military units operating in Iraq since April 2003.

The Bush administration, for its part, is feverishly trying to shift focus from the massive breach of security the Chinese submarine incident represents. Blaming the Chinese for endangering "maritime security," for example, Pentagon officials reportedly plan to raise the incident early next month in "defense-coordination" talks with Chinese military officials. The United States also has chastised Beijing for its continued refusal to notify the United States about movement of its naval assets. Despite the absurdity of expecting a potential adversary to tell us when and where its naval vessels will be operating, the Pentagon is persisting in using this to deflect attention from the obvious security gap the submarine incident represents.

Adding to the concerns is the fact that U.S. intelligence analysts apparently were "stunned" to learn a Chinese submarine would even be operating at all in the open seas far from the mainland. Intelligence analysts, stung in recent years by a series of intelligence failures, most notably the erroneous assessment of Iraq's possession of so-called "weapons of mass destruction" prior to the 2003 invasion, apparently have been assuming that since China's submarines "normally" do not operate in deep waters far from ports, they would therefore not be found in the vicinity of U.S. vessels operating in "blue water." This erroneous presumption may have contributed to the decision by the Kitty Hawk not to engage in anti-submarine detection operations. In fact, Navy officials tried to explain away the failure to detect the Chinese submarine by stating that at the time it surfaced, U.S. forces were not conducting anti-submarine maneuvers because the United States was "not at war" with China.

Such explanations merely beg the question of how and why we protect our multibillion-dollar carriers. Are they worthy of protection against submarines of other nations only if we are already "at war" with those powers? If we monitor submarines belonging only to those nations with which we are "at war," how then do we even know what submarines might be tracking us to decide whether to monitor them?

This incident ought to be especially troubling for our allies in Taiwan, who rely heavily on the U.S. Navy's presence in the Pacific to deter hostile action against that small island nation by the much larger mainland Chinese military. The event should also raise red flags regarding our ability to detect submarines that might be flying the flags of other nations potentially hostile to our interests, including Iran, which maintains a small number of submarines of its own.

With the advent of the Democrat majority in the Congress on Jan. 3, the questions posed to Pentagon and Navy officials will likely become much harsher and pointed than those with which it has had to contend thus far. Hopefully, the new Congress will insist those defense officials responsible for this serious lapse in security provide more serious and substantive answers than those offered to date. The security of our nation demands more and better answers.

Bob Barr occupies the 21st Century Liberties Chair for Freedom and Privacy at the American Conservative Union Foundation.