Bill you are living the evidence. Just because we stopped calling an approach by a certain name does not change the approach from what it is. Just because we see it as "normal" and take it for granted as a baseline for operations does not mean it is not abnormal.

I am not tap dancing. Our current policies, plans and postures regarding every land mass from the Philippines to Japan and all the water in between were designed SPECIFICALLY to contain China (and the spread of their influence as well as physical presence). That is not my perception, that is a matter of historical fact. The conventional force never lost that focus throughout the GWOT even as SOF focused on other things.

We did not think about the Pacific in this way during the first half of the last century when we first reached out into the region. Then we looked for ways to extend our naval presence to better secure our commercial interests. Not to contain anyone, we did not even work to contain Japan as it spread its empire. That era and mission is far more in line with what the President is talking about now that what we have done since the end of WWII.