China the “Peer Competitor”

China will emerge as what Pentagon planners call a “peer competitor” to the United States in East Asia – the economic pivot of the 21st century. Rather than fighting the rise of China, America should recognize the significant benefits that can result. There is no reason the Sino-America relationship is not correctly calibrated to avoid war.

America and China must find equilibrium for the Pacific Century to be a peaceful one. America cannot be allowed to launch a second Cold War merely to preserve its position as the sole military power.

The bombing of Cambodia and the national anguish over Vietnam spurred Congress to override President Nixon’s veto and enact a law that it hoped would prevent future presidents from waging an undeclared war. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 was a masterpiece of deadlines and trip wires, all carefully constructed to keep a president in check.

Debate over how the president and Congress should share power in matters of war is as old as the republic. Presidents have sent forces abroad more than 100 times; Congress has declared war only five times: the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings in 1966 on the Vietnam War that resulted in America’s eventual withdrawal. Why isn’t it holding hearings today on the Iraq War? The constitutional checks and balances are out of balance with bouncing expensive checks being covered by We the Apathetic taxpayers.

Article II of the Constitution makes the president commander in chief. But Article I puts responsibility for declaring war solely in congressional hands, and Congress, most notably in 1973, has spasmodically tried to keep it there. But in practice, it has long been content to cede most of the authority to the White House. We saw that most graphically with the White House declaration of war on terrorism in the wake of September 11.

Why do We the Apathetic People accept this? Shouldn’t this power to declare war be in the firm grip of We the People in the New World Cyber Order? Isn’t it time We the Maids take this power back into our hands where it belongs?

So why is it that Congress, the branch with the constitutional right to declare war, has allowed the White House to again usurp that power and again create an insecure America in the 21st century?

The Iraq War has caused the U.S. to become the world’s most reckless and careless borrower. It is consuming over 75 percent of the world’s surplus savings – most of it coming from Asia. The cost of America being the primary underwriter of the Iraq War and reconstruction has stretched U.S. military and financial capacity to the limit. The record U.S. current account and budget deficit being financed by the treasuries China, Hong Kong and other Asian countries are buying is allowing America to live dangerously beyond its means.

A sudden plunge in the dollar – the world’s reserve currency – could devastate the world financial markets and U.S. economy, all because of a senseless war waged without a sensible coalition. The U.S. budget deficit is a greater short-term risk to America than terrorism.