Flashback December 1941 . The Japanese crippled our fleet at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 and simultaneously began an attack of the Philippines . American General MacArthur's troops fought valiantly . But their position eroded because of lack of supplies . MacArthur made a strategic call to abandon Manila and to make his defense on the Bataan Peninsula because he believed he could hold out long enough to be resupplied .
But Admiral Thomas Hart informed him that he could not resupply the Americans .
Why ? Because the Japanese had occupied Palau ;the Mariana Islands ; the Caroline Islands (aka Micronesia );the Marshall Islands . They are a chain of islands stretching in a straight line from Hawaii in the East to the Philippines .
When you watch or read about the island hopping campaign by the Navy and Marines it is these islands the US had to take to liberate Philippines and begin the attacks on Japan.
After the war the US came to a defense agreement with these islands called 'The Compacts of Free Association' . It was renewed in 1987 . Together with a separate pact with Palau the US agreed to provide finacial aid for the islands in exchange for defense and security rights . (we also got to do stuff like blow away an island or two testing hydrogen bombs .)
What does it mean for US security ? It enables us to have strategic deniability to our adversaries in the Pacific ,especially China. Our west coast is secure because we forward deploy on these islands 'the 2nd island chain' . Along with assets in the 'First Island Chain' (Japan ,Taiwan ,Philippines ,and Indonesia )we are able to bottle up the PLN (China's navy) preventing them an unobstructed passage to the Pacific.
China of course would like to change the equation and is conducting a full court effort to do so.
Funding for the compact is due to run out this year. The funding is tied up in the continuing resolution that is stalled in Congress.
The former President of the Federated States of Micronesia has warned us that if the money is not delivered soon ;then there are forces in the islands that would be more than welcome to come to terms with China.
“It is very critical that approval of this is done as soon as possible,” Panuelo said, because on February 2, the money allocated to the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands runs out under the terms of the continuing resolution. (Palau’s funding expires in September 2024, but it also needs the new Compact funding approved soon to help its struggling economy.) The White House has also called on Congress to pass the funding
as soon as possible.
In the meantime, Panuelo said, “China is looking at the chaos in Washington, D.C.” Delaying Compact funding, he emphasized, “would severely impact the U.S. being the major player in our region, especially in the Freely Associated States.”
China Threatens US Interests in Micronesia, Former President Warns – The Diplomat
During the debate Wednesday Nikki Haley repeated a line I am frankly tired of hearing Speaking of throwing more $$$ down the Ukraine rabbit hole she said ....
“Supporting Ukraine is 3.5 percent of our budget …"
I submit that the money to the Micronesia chain is much more critical to our interests. The monopoly bucks going to Ukraine would more than cover our commitment.