Still a force for peace
Diplomacy is not often the military's strong suit, and of late the US military's image, as a result of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, has taken some serious hits. But the fact is that the best American warriors regard the use of force as the final, almost always undesirable, option.
Historically, some of the best US diplomats have been soldiers, for they have the ultimate motive to succeed: to preserve the lives of the people with whom they work.
'Everyone in uniform was absolutely appalled by the prison scandal,' US Air Force General William Begert told me recently. This anguished veteran combat pilot understands that the misconduct, televised throughout the Arab world, has made terrorist recruiting easier, thus prolonging the war.
General Begert is one of those quiet soldier-diplomats working behind the scenes in Asia. The commander of all US air forces in the Pacific hangs his four stars at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. In the last several years he has travelled to Asia almost monthly.
Military diplomacy is generally military-to-military. General Begert says his most interesting assignment recently has been the time spent with officers of the Indian air force. The Indians and the Pakistanis are starting to talk again about serious issues. For the first time in years, they are discussing their nuclear arsenals and one of the oldest South Asian tension points, Kashmir.
The new discussion arises primarily out of each government's calculation that reducing the risk of war on the subcontinent is in both countries' national interests. Additionally, India and Pakistan's neighbours have been urging them towards reconciliation, and that pressure has helped bring the two nations together.
Some of the most persistent pressure has come from the far-off US Pacific Command in Hawaii, where the top people have been working hard to bring India and Pakistan together.
They just have not been public about the effort. The general believes US diplomatic influence in Asia has not been eviscerated by the Iraqi engagement. He denies that military morale has suffered because of Iraq and the prison scandal, at least in the US Air Force.
Officer re-enlistment is actually so high, he says, that the air force has had to develop new buyout programmes and other measures to keep the overall numbers down.
General Begert paints an optimistic picture of military-to-military relations in Asia, especially with Australia, South Korea, Singapore and Japan, whose military policy is 'really changing'. During the air force's campaigns in Afghanistan, the Japanese air force quietly ran air-ferrying missions in the region, to allow US planes to focus on Afghan objectives.
The operations received very little publicity, since Tokyo is sensitive to domestic nervousness about military activity. Even so, the fact is Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Japan is doing more and more, month after month. Given Japan's history of military aggression in Asia, the whole region watches nervously, too.
But General Begert, who after four decades in his country's service will retire next month, is optimistic that the re-emergence of a major military profile in Asia will be a force for good.
Tom Plate, a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, is the founder of the Asia Pacific Media Network
Distributed by the UCLA Media Centre
