Is the US military a force for good? US Deputy Defence Secretary, and neo-con supremo Paul Wolfowitz would like us to think so.
As one of the key players behind the Project for the New American Century America's grand plan to carve up the world in its own image - he used the crisis created by the tsunami to re-establish links with some old friends in South Asia.
Wolfowitz was ambassador to Indonesia in the 1980's under the murderous President Suharto.
Wolfowitz being, well, Wolfowitz missed no opportunity to link aid with the War against Terror, and (in neo-con speak Indonesia, with the largest concentration of muslims in the world, is of particular interest to America.
In exchange for aid he wished to reap some political capital' according to ABC News.
The US deployed 15,000 troops to the devastated region under the banner of a humanitarian mission to help
On January 16, Wolfowitz held a joint press conference with Indonesian defence minister Juwono Sudarsono.
Much of the meeting was dedicated towards reassurances of Indonesia's human rights record, promises of military assistance from the US and the ending of the US arms embargo imposed on Indonesia.
Wolfowitz stressed that there was no use forcing Indonesia's military to become more democratic, because cutting off contact with Indonesian military only makes matters much worse.
Besides, they WelC all trained by the US military and on US soil anyway, he reassured us. Thank god for that then!
More importantly, the US had plans to build a military base in Sabang, close to Banda Aceh according to former Indonesian President Gus Dur, but denied of course by Wolfowitz today.
Since 9/11 the US has set up military bases housing 60,000 troops, excluding Iraq, but including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and Bulgaria, amounting to overseas bases in almost 60 countries.
It also has access to other bases owned and operated by Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines to ensure its ability to move through the region quickly and easily in a crisis.
A large part of the strategic plan of US imperialism is to ensure its hegemony in the Middle East and Asia, and some of that concern directed at the economic and military might of China, as well as its interests in Middle East oil.
Worried in the medium term that relations with some of its closest allies; Saudi Arabia, South Korea or Japan could worsen, the US is ready to do business with any regime, and throwing a few million dollars in aid at countries destroyed by US economic policy is just part of the public relations exercise designed to shoe-horn its way deeper into the region.
According to some sources, India is high on the list of targets for US bases. Sri Lanka, whose biggest export partner is the US, could also be a possible target, hence the strange presence of US military there after the tsunami. Asia's poor have good reason to beware of troops - even those bearing gifts
Since the occupation of Iraq, many people in the region consider the presence of the US military to be an unwelcome threat.
They're absolutely right, because militarism, neoliberalism and aid are all part of the same star-spangled package.