India, Oct. 26 -- The upcoming revised US National Defense Strategy will reportedly prioritize 'homeland defense'-while downgrading the People's Republic of China as a security threat.

Despite concerns of a US military drawdown in the Western Pacific, China will still get its due even as American partners in the Western Pacific are asked to do more.

Renewed emphasis on defending the homeland is a good idea-it's just a little late. And it is often geographically inaccurate. The US homeland includes the Western Pacific-in the form of Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands-and the South Pacific, in the form of American Samoa. These Americans might wonder how they fit in to the Pentagon's map of the homeland.

The protection ...