Guam think tank head tells senators: Ask US military the hard questions

By Jayvee Vallejera

The head of a Guam research institute on Wednesday advised local legislators to challenge the information provided by the U.S. military regarding the proposed missile defense system and not to accept it at face value.

Saying the proposed enhanced integrated air missile defense system for Guam is still not even guaranteed to work to protect Guam, Robert Underwood, chair of the Pacific Center for Island Security, emphasized to the senators that under the American system the U.S. military is subject to civilian review.

Robert Underwood

“I encouraged them not to just automatically accept briefings from people in uniform, but to always ask hard questions [and] hold them accountable," Undcerwoods said. "I reminded them that…you are the civilians and you are the reviewers, and you should ask questions on behalf of the people of Guam.”

Underwood told the senators that PCIS can help them craft questions if they want “and we’re always going to offer alternative perspectives to that which are just given by local commanders here in Guam.”

He said some senators did ask questions about the broader strategic environment of the region, how President Trump sees security in this part of the world, and that the senators agreed with him that the American face cannot just be a face in uniform.

“It cannot just be all people in uniform, [who are] always telling us that our only role in these islands is to basically be responsive to a military threat to U.S. armed forces. That is not a satisfying way to live your life,” he said.

He pointed out the irony of the United States always telling countries and islands in the Pacific not to accept Chinese investments, yet it offers no investments on its own. “There is really no American investment! Where is the American investment?” he asked.

That is the value of soft power, Underwood said. Without American investments, the gate is left open for Chinese investments to come in.

Closing down soft-power initiatives like the U.S. Agency for International Development, which works with emergency planning, disaster recovery and healthcare resources, will open a lane for China to come in.

Underwood emphasized that several things are in flux, largely because the Trump administration's uncertain approach to geostrategic competition between China and the United States.

“It is clear that they [U.S] are more interested in nation-to-nation relationships, like between the United States and Japan, the United States and the Philippines, rather than regional security arrangements or alliance-type arrangement,” he said.

In that context, Underwood said, the United States’ plan to build up its military might in the region through the proposed missile defense system still needs to be questioned.

He pointed out to the senators that, even at this point, “it is not widely accepted even within the Pentagon that this system will actually work.”

He said so much money has already been spent to ask the people of Guam to accommodate the missile defense system, yet “we don’t know what the real threat is with China, and we don’t know how President Trump is going to deal with that competition.”

Included in the briefing was a brief introduction of what the PCIS is, its many projects, and its intended role to be of service not just to Guam but to the entire Western Pacific region in terms of bringing new and fresh perspectives on the military buildup and U.S.-China geostrategic competition.

He also told senators about the PCIS team’s recent visit to Washington, D.C. where they met with other defense think tanks and gained some information and insights into how the Trump administration envisions its policy in the Indo-Pacific region.

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