I wrote about the Bloggers Roundtable a little bit. But I didn't get to post my question.
Q Hi, Admiral. This is Maggie. I write at BostonMaggie, and I am tolerated around the naval blogosphere.
ADM. KEATING: Hi, Maggie.
Q And my question -- I'm a civilian, and my question is, what is it that you want the American people to know about the buildup of the Chinese navy?
ADM. KEATING: I'd like the American people to know that we're watching the buildup of the Chinese navy very carefully. We have been for a long time, and we're going to continue watching for a long time.
We want the Chinese to understand that there's lots of -- we say there's lots of room in the Pacific, in the Asia-Pacific region, Maggie. When I talk to Chinese military and diplomatic leaders about their -- the growth of their military, they come back and say to me all they want to do is protect that which is theirs. That's fair enough; we certainly understand that as a strategic goal. We share that as a strategic goal.
We are encouraging the Chinese to operate with us with increasing frequency and with increasing intensity, and we want them to understand that there is plenty of area for us to cooperate so as to develop better understanding between their military forces and ours.
And we would encourage them to help us achieve our goals of prosperity and stability throughout the Asia-Pacific region. I think we're making progress, albeit gradual.
Q Thank you, sir.
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So, last night I was talking to SB and he says "Caught a few minutes of the interview. Second question. Good job." Then I proceeded to taunt him about ADM Keating addressing me by name, puffing myself up to comical levels to get a laugh out of him. He replies the he didn't hear the whole interview - I told him he didn't need to, I just told him the most important part!
Anyway, the Navy Coterie always tells me to go with my strong suit....my take as a civilian. Nevermind trying to ask the cool Navy question.....ask the civilian question. So I did. How'd I do?
Half Navy/Half Civilian. You asked a very important question. I can't imagine asking a cohesive question to an Admiral.
ReplyDeleteYou did great: but I'm not surprised.
Maggie,
ReplyDeleteI think that it was a great question regardless whether it was navy or civilian.
Capo
Stella - Hehehe. Are you saying I'm "Half Navy/Half Civilian"? Or my question?
ReplyDeleteCapo - you say the nicest things...
You said Nevermind trying to ask the cool Navy question.....ask the civilian question. I'm saying it wasn't just a civilian question: you are Half Navy/Half Civilian.
ReplyDeleteAdm Keating's response was great.