■"Pentagon Urges Closing of Bases, Cutting 26,000 Jobs: 180 Sites Listed-Opposition Is Intense," by Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 14 May 2005, p. A1.

■"All-Navy, Groton Is Stunned At Plans to Close Its Sub Base: The Submarine Capital of the World faces a grim future," by Kirk Semple, New York Times, 16 May 2005, p. A21.

The Base Realignment and Closure list hit the streets last Friday, with 33 major bases listed. It's the first BRAC in roughly a decade. Because of the Global War on Terrorism, this BRAC won't represent a reduction in force so much as a rearranging from a Cold War footprint to one more suited for dealing with the Gap on a regular basis.

The list of proposed closures goes to a commission which will hold hearings and make inspection visits over coming months. In the previous four rounds, these commissions have approved between 80-90 percent of the proposed closures, so some backsliding expected but not too much.

The biggest single loser is no surprise: the U.S. naval submarine community loses the big base at Groton, CT, self-described "submarine capital of the world." Groton will fight this, of course, but I suspect this closure will go as planned. Still, you see why it is so crucial for that community to argue for a big focus on China as a rising threat. No near-peer, and the submarine community gets increasingly marginalized. That's why getting someone like Robert Kaplan to hawk their preferred future war vision with China is seen as crucial. You might think this is all about great power politics and rising powers and what not, but in the end it's more about the defense budget. If the submarine community were perceived to have a large role in the GWOT, then it wouldn't be so desperate to demonize China at all costs.

This is where Americans should be grateful that, in our system, neither the military nor celebrity journalists get to decide who our enemies are.