GROUND ZERO, New York City, Jan. 16- It was chilling this morning to read China's newspaper, The People's Daily, and find a list of U.S. troop and arms movements being deployed in preparation for war against Iraq.

       It seemed I was reading a U.S. intelligence report, something that might be kept in a locked safe in Donald Rumsfeld's office marked "Top Secret."

      What was interesting about the People's story, presented below, was that it included ship movements and details about the execution of strategic war plans that I didn't think I'd find as a lead story in a communist China's leading news organ.
        It made me wonder how "secret" anything is about war these days.
        The lack of secrecy surprised me about the People's Daily.   The Chinese seem to have more access to, or at least make public, sensitive war-planning information than the New York Times.  If I were Saddam Hussein, all I would have to do is click on the Internet and dial up China's paper to see what I was facing and how I might escape or defend myself against the forces massing around my borders.

      The concept of war itself has changed dramatically in the 21st Century from the days when a nation's plans were kept under lock and key, with secret couriers slipping here and there in the shadows, passing intelligence from one secure hand to another so that the enemy might not know what or when to expect an attack.   Surprise, the first key to all war strategies, seems to have been lost in today's War on Terrorism.   All a Terrorist has to do is tune in CNN to find out what the next move will be against him.
         Public debate over the tactical elements of war has replaced secrecy.  Instead of confirming actions with allies in closeted war rooms, we seek the  global public opinion barometer as our endorsement to proceed.  I wonder what George S. Patton would think of it all.

         Even as I am writing this,  the United Nations is pressing toward a second vote on Iraq to affirm or deny violations of the weapons disclosure mandate.   The U.N. wishes to act as the jury in sentencing.  It wants the right to either issue the death warrant or life in prison for Hussein.    If the U.N. has its way, the United States will bend to its will and not act unilaterally.  The U.N. doesn't want Clint Eastwood cleaning up Dodge City, the U.N. wants to do it by committee, appeasing everyone through a "process" rather than a "gunfight."
          The United States and its limited allies, however, are poised for battle with or without U.N. sanction.  Terrorism is not a negotiating enemy.   It needs to be punished with "spare the rod spoil the child," ferocity that America has vowed to grant all Terrorists and any nation which harbors or supports them.   Attacking Iraq, the U.S. claims, sends a message to all Terrorist-allied nations that the penalty will fit the crime, plus, plus plus.
          At least, that's what China's People's Daily  makes clear.  It reveals a massive posture of U.S. forces hawkishly roosting on the Iraqi borders about to swoop down.   Below is an excerpt from today's edition of the People's Daily regarding U.S. and allied troop movements and buildups.   It reads to me like a internal report from the Chinese intelligence gathering systems.

        I have to admit this information might possibly have been spattered over every newspaper in the world and I just didn't notice it.  I might be super sensitive to the fact China is reporting it, and my Cold War paranoia may still be clinging to my Right Wing inner self.  I just be wary of anything that comes from behind the Bamboo Curtain, and look at it with jaundiced eye.
        But putting that prejudice to the side for a moment, it strikes me as odd that every movement the U.S. makes worms its way into headlines and commentary of China's papers almost before it happens.
        It makes me wonder if the war against Terrorism is about who can grunt and groan the most, sound most bellicose, threaten and bully the opposition with the most sword rattling.  It might make me think the War on Terrorism is a war based on the headlines screaming in Pravda (Russia's paper) or the People's Daily.

       Today, the New York Times reported that the U.S. is sending 600 troops and antimissile systems to defend Israel if Iraq counter attacks when America storms Iraq's borders.    The presence of U.S. support in Israel is designed to keep Israel from launching its own retaliation against Iraq if Hussein launches SCUD missiles at the Israelis.   
        The U.S. Patriot antimissile systems, supported by an Aegis air defense cruiser, will track enemy missiles and attempt to blow them up before impact, limiting and hopefully stopping Israel from launching its own retaliation, which, according to Mid East specialists, could suggest the U.S. is fighting a war against Islam on behalf of Israel, rather than trying to dethrone a dictator who seeks nuclear might.
        Without question, the Sentinels of Vigilance are massing around Iraq while the Beasts of Terror are watching and reporting their movements.  Some of the great observers of what is happening in Iraq are armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons, and probably biochemical weapons.   They are watching what the U.S. does, wondering if it will turn on them and want to expose their secret vaults where bacteria are grown, and examine its stockpile of nuclear weapons.
        China is not an American ally in many ways.  China ultimately is the greatest of all threats to world peace, for its size and army and nuclear capacity is vast, and its hunger to consume large chunks of real estate and amass economic power is endless.  If any nation wanted to show its power of command, China need only belch and its breath alone would smash down legions standing in its way.

        It is not surprise then that China offers the world a microscopic view of America's positioning, and through its newspapers, illustrates its "thumb-on-screw" attention to American and Allied details of war preparation.    It is as though a message of "perspicuity" were being sent to all who read its paper--"We Know What You're Doing!"    This message is also a cloaked warning to let the West know it is being watched by the most secretive nation in the world.

        China is a Terrorist nation.  It still kills its babies, restricting families to certain sizes.  It rules with an iron fist not stuck in a silk glove.   It is a bellicose Beast of Terror that when it roars, the world shudders.    Right now it is purring like Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat, smiling as it reports to the world every minute detail of America's chess game with Iraq.
         While all the time, China may be sharpening its fangs, ready to move its power and might against any who threaten it, or, more practicably, to expand its empire over others.
          My instincts wonder if we are watching the Beast of Terror watching us.  Is the cobra watching the lion fight the bear, and when the lion tires, slip through the grass and strike?  
          Will China one day learn from what we are doing how to Terrorize the East and take what it wants as we talk about defending ourselves from its hunger for power?
          Time will tell.
          But I can hear the growl of the Beast.   It is disguised as a purr. 
          But we don't have to sit back and wait for China to grow stronger.  We can defend ourselves by becoming Citizens of Vigilance, and urging others around the world to join us as a Global Vigilance Community.  We can reach into China's heart--those of the parents, grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts, and ask them to take the Pledge of Vigilance also.  If we fight for Vigilance, we can defeat Terrorism where it starts, in our own backyards.
          But if we are Complacent at home, what can we expect abroad?
          Take the Pledge of Global Vigilance today.  Don't wait until the purr turns into a roar.

 Jan. 15 -- Sleeping With The Beast Of Terror