China Harasses Unarmed US Ship: Pentagon

Flights kept hush-hush because they're probably illegal

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration has begun sending high-altitude spy drones deep into Mexican territory to keep an eye on the movements of drug traffickers, the New York Times reports. The information is intended to be shared with Mexican law enforcement, and Felipe Calderón formally agreed to the flights in his March 3 meeting with President Obama, but they’ve been kept secret because of legal and political considerations in Mexico. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama opened bilateral talks with China today with a friendly speech, saying the US-China relationship would “shape the 21st century” and highlighting areas in which the nations have common interests, like nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and the global economy. He also touched on climate change, noting that the US and China are the world’s top energy consumers. “Common sense calls upon us to act,” he said. More»

Talks under way to increase presence as check against China: Washington Post

(NEWSER) - The US military might be returning to the Philippines in force, reports the Washington Post . It says the two nations are in talks to significantly beef up the American presence about 20 years after the US got evicted. The move would likely involve stationing ships in the South China Sea, joint exercises, and the deployment of troops. Why? China. More»

...because he's not terribly interested in fighting it

(NEWSER) - Democrats saw the way Mitt Romney's super PAC destroyed Newt Gingrich in Iowa, and it terrified them, because President Obama's super PAC—or as Politico terms it, "not-so-super PAC"—doesn't have the muscle for anything like that. "It's like when China got the bomb," says one Democrat close to the PAC, "We thought we were the ones with cash supremacy. That's clearly not the case." Obama's Priorities USA Action has just $5 million in the bank, less than half Romney's $12 million. More»

He wants to shift focus from ground troops to 'irregular warfare'

(NEWSER) - President Obama officially unveiled his plan for a slimmed-down military with a speech at the Pentagon today, promising that budget cuts and a reduction in conventional ground forces wouldn't harm the nation's security. "Our military will be leaner, but the world must know—the United States is going to maintain our military superiority with Armed Forces that are agile, flexible, and ready for the full range of contingencies," Obama said, according to NPR . More»