Interesting RR. Thanks for posting. I agree with you that it is not just the big cities. I'm sure there is much more going on that we will never hear about.
G'nite all. Back on the Thune campaign trail early in the morning. Lots of doors to knock on....and when I get to the "rez", lots of tent flaps.
Sorry, that wasn't very P.C. of me. Actually, we have some really progressive and wonderful Native Americans here wanting to make positive contributions to the political scene. I have great respect for most of them, and I call many of them "Friend".
My feelings about the "reservation system" is for another thread and another time.
The unipolarity of the United States and its near domination of the world's oceans by its naval fleets ensure that no other nation could build a navy with enough strength to rival the US in the near future. Washington's unchallenged dominance is an obvious strategy in view of the strategic situation that currently favors the US.
Since the Korean War, the US Navy has been reduced to what are in essence support and transportation roles for US ground and air forces fighting their conflicts on land. The recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have further increased these protectionary maritime roles along sea routes that deliver oil to the United States and its allies. The use of the navy in opposing other potential enemy naval fleets is almost moot. The last major naval engagement was a short, one-sided operation between the US fleet and Iraqi naval assets in the 1991 Gulf War. Thereafter, the US Navy largely played a deterrent role, as seen in the Taiwan crisis in 1996 when China fired missiles in the waters around Taiwan. This was reaffirmed once again by US Admiral Thomas Fargo in a message to Beijing, stating that US naval forces would be used in defense of Taiwan should war break out over the Taiwan Strait.
Thus the world's strategic naval situation is one of uneasy balance and inactivity. Naval forces will not likely have opportunities to pit their firepower against each other in the future. But navies will need to remain strong as another threat requiring the use of naval power now lurks in the shadows.
September 11, 2001, highlighted terrorism as a new worldwide security threat, and modern terrorist groups have already demonstrated a capacity for creative horizontal escalation, with possible development toward terrorist operations at sea.
Excerpted, more at link