RE: Capt. James Fanell warns about the rise of China
December 9, 2014 at 12:47 pm
(This post was last modified: December 9, 2014 at 12:48 pm by Thumpalumpacus.)
Here's what I found at the Navy Times, which is a Gannett publication unaffiliated with the DoD:
I don't think anyone with some knowledge of international relations would dispute his assessments (except, perhaps, about the Ryukyus). But the article indicates other reasons for his relief from office (not demotion). The elapsed time between his statements about China's intentions and his relief would seem to support that.
Quote:The reasons for Fanell's firing remain cloudy, but two sources said the relief stems from alleged mishandling of classified information and fostering a negative command climate.Capt. Darryn James, top spokesman for PACFLT, declined to say whether Fanell's relief was related to his controversial views, citing privacy concerns.
Fanell, 52, declined an interview request for comment through a spokesman.
Controversial captain
Fanell leaped into the public spotlight earlier this year when the press picked up on remarks he made at the U.S. Naval Institute's WEST 2014 conference, saying naval intelligence believed that China was preparing for a possible war with Japan.
"[We believe] the [People's Liberation Army] has been given the new task to be able to conduct a short, sharp war to destroy Japanese forces in the East China Sea following with what can only be expected [as] a seizure of the Senkakus or even southern Ryukyu [islands]," Fanell was quoted as saying.
Fanell has also stated that China is at the center of virtually every maritime territorial dispute in the Asia-Pacific and that the Chinese were engaging in a blatant land-grab of islands that would enhance their exclusive economic rights to fishing and natural resources.
"I do not know how Chinese intentions could be more transparent," he said, adding that when Beijing described its activities as the "protection of maritime rights," this was really "a Chinese euphemism for the coerced seizure of coastal rights of China's neighbors," the Financial Times reported.
Fanell's views have supporters inside naval intelligence, and he has become a high-profile spokesman for a more alarmist view of the rise of China than those espoused by Navy senior leadership, an intelligence source who spoke to Navy Times said. Fanell's articles on China have been published by Hoover Digest, Naval Intelligence Professionals Quarterly and the U. S. Naval Institute's Proceedings.
But his public remarks stirred a major controversy and forced both the Pentagon's top spokesman and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to repudiate his comments.
http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/.../18789539/
I don't think anyone with some knowledge of international relations would dispute his assessments (except, perhaps, about the Ryukyus). But the article indicates other reasons for his relief from office (not demotion). The elapsed time between his statements about China's intentions and his relief would seem to support that.
