Analyst's note: Absolutely must read. Our warnings are now coming to pass. Stunning .. please consider carefully the impact of what is being reported here.. Will somebody in our federal gov't charged with the national security (includes economic security) of America wake up? China is now in position to control the kind of weapons we make and the number of them - or if we make them at all.
Just two examples of the impact of this story - there are many more examples.
China is now controlling the lead time for magnets used to: (1) Make "[...] electric motors for cars, trucks and weapons including Raytheon’s AMRAAM -- or Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile -- and Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munition, a tail fin kit for making precision-guided “smart” bombs out of ordinary weapons." This also includes magnets for "[...] stereo speakers, computer disk drives and motors.
(2) "China is virtually the only supplier of yttrium needed for laser gun sights in the General Dynamics Abrams tank."
"HONG KONG — China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted shipments of those materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said on Tuesday.
[....] “The embargo is expanding” beyond Japan, said one of the three rare earth industry officials, all of whom insisted on anonymity for fear of business retaliation by Chinese authorities.
They said Chinese customs officials imposed the broader restrictions on Monday morning, hours after a top Chinese official summoned international news media Sunday night to denounce United States trade actions.
China mines 95 percent of the world’s rare earth elements, which have broad commercial and military applications, and are vital to the manufacture of products as diverse as cellphones, large wind turbines and guided missiles. Any curtailment of Chinese supplies of rare earths is likely to be greeted with alarm in Western capitals, particularly because Western companies are believed to keep much smaller stockpiles of rare earths than Japanese companies.
[....] Congress is considering legislation to provide loan guarantees for the re-establishment of rare earth mining and manufacturing in the United States. But new mines are likely to take three to five years to reach full production, according to industry executives, although existing uranium mines may be able to move faster by reprocessing previously mined material, which often contains rare earths. [....]"
To learn more, I also recommend listening to the following audios within CSIA Report found at here.
- Dialog: East Coast - West Coast 13 Oct 2010-- Call for Strategic Planning
- Science That Matters from 5 May 2010
