Eddie Miller was proud to be a U.S. Marine. He was just 23 years old when he drove his tank onto Iwo Jima’s black-sand beach. This was day one in a bloody 36-day war that saw nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines die. Another 20,000 were also wounded. The Marines captured 216 Japanese soldiers. All the rest were killed in action. Finally, the island was secured on March 26, 1945. Eddie Miller was my father.
Since my dad’s passing, I have had many thoughts about what he, and the other members of the Greatest Generation, would think of America’s current state and place in the world. In some ways, I am glad that my dad, and all the Marines who fought for, and so many others died for, didn’t live to see America’s decline, moral decline, or the left’s attack against it. The list is endless.
Forbes reported Friday that 79 years after U.S. Marines won the Battle of Guadalcanal in a decisive victory, the most inept president in modern history is losing Guadalcanal as well as the entire Solomon Islands to Xi Jinping or Communist China.
China and the United States were battling for a World War II battleground. The Guadalcanal Campaign, a bloody, heroic victory for the U.S. led by the U.S. Marine Corps gave the Allies absolute dominance in the Pacific.
State Department officials will be visiting the Solomon Islands this week to try and beat China, another Pacific foe. Yesterday, China announced that it had signed an agreement to send security and law enforcement personnel to the Solomon Islands upon request.
The U.S., along with its allies, fear this will enable China to establish a base or foothold in the Pacific. This pact provides lessons for U.S. Pacific policy.
We all know how Biden behaves in “showdowns” with Xi Jinping, the ChiComs, and our commander-in-chief (Biden is a travesty of the title) as well as his hollow sanctions threats against Vladimir Putin’s threats that he would invade Ukraine.
The Solomon Islands made what is now known as “The Switch” in September 2019. This ended a 36-year-old diplomatic relationship with Taiwan and established ties with China. Forbes noted that China now aggressively seeks to persuade the remaining countries with Taiwanese relations to change. (Hong Kong could not be reached for comment. These countries are barred from lucrative business deals or tourism with China by Taiwan.
So where is the Biden administration? (Other than Clueless Joe, lying about traveling in the Himalayas with Xi Jinping).
Soon after The Switch, 2019, Chinese companies began to pour money and influence — always cleared with Beijing’s Communists — into the group islands approximately the same size as Maryland with a population of less than 700,000. Why bother? Forbes rightly observed:
China was certainly interested in the Solomons’ vast mineral reserves and deepwater ports, which would enable it to stop military aggression from other countries.
China offered Prime Minister Manasseh Sogare a deal, which would have allowed him to call upon Chinese security forces in an emergency to help him.
Forbes also noted that a draft of the secret agreement was leaked to the media on March 24, and it allegedly contains language that China could easily exploit to interfere in The Solomons democratic process and achieve its strategic goals. This includes, without doubt, docking warships and setting up a military base. (Hong Kong was not available for comment.
The draft security cooperation agreement between China and Solomon Islands has been linked on social media and raises a lot of questions (and concerns). (photos of agreement in this and below tweet) 1/6 pic.twitter.com/nnpnJJQC7r
— Dr Anna Powles (@AnnaPowles) March 24, 2022
The Bottom line: The story of the Solomon Islands is a warning to America, “led” in part by an inept president who left Afghanistan and abandoned untold numbers behind the lines of the most violent terrorist organization on Earth, while simultaneously threatening to impose sanctions on Vladimir Putin, as I mentioned earlier.
The Solomons are now the canary in a coal mine — the Pacific Island States and U.S. relations throughout the Pacific. Add to that increased Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and it is chilling to think of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. as holding any American cards.
