Posted on 03/31/2005 12:01:29 PM PST by Willie Green
"Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause."~ Victor Hugo
The Chinese leadership is, at least, rational. They don't really have a desire to start a nuclear war over Taiwan. They could always miscalculate, though.
That being said, if the country goes to hell in a handbag, God only knows which regional warlord(s) ends up with nukes under their control and who they decide to aim them at.
I'm pretty pessimistic. Barring some sort of democratic revolution in China (unlikely) a confrontation between us and them is inevitable in the next decade or so.
Under the pressure of a civil war, rationality may fade.
Rememebr that we routinely need to fight one war, some small skirmishes, and detter other wars. Today we are at war in Iraq, while the Navy attempts to deter Iran, North Korea, and China.
As far as our Navy, one problem we have is people are getting accustomed to thinking in terms of our latest wars, the two Iraq wars and Afghanistan. They were not wars that the Navy had that much of a role in...plus, consider the poor fighting quality of the our opponents. We went through them like a hot butter knife.
We must never lose sight of what it is like to fight a real opponent. In a real war. Never forget WW2.
Our Navy played a tremendous role in both theaters in WW2. The Navy got the troops to the beachead in Europe, plus bombardment, at North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Normandy, and the French Rivera. And the Pacific? Good heavens, the entire campaign was conducted on the backs of the Navy.
Admirals (we speak of Navy here) always fight with the last war mentality. We best not judge future opponents by these camel jockey yahoos.
Incorrect.
We can, and already have made up for the "lack of troops" you suggest.
Should China and North Korea decide to attack Taiwan, our Subs will block their ports and harbors until they can buy or sell nothing. Should either try Nukes, we will turn their countries into smoking holes in the ground.
Our Military has never been more powerful or effective as it is right now. Wars will not be fought man-against-man anymore, they will be fought economy-against-economy. If China cannot ship products, they cannot purchase the means to defend themselves. When the Captains of Chinese shipping vessels refuse to leave port after we blew up the first 20 or so that tried, the war would be effectively over.
We don't have a real opponent anymore. You cant buy gas for your weapons with Monopoly money.
Military defensive superpower YES. World military occupying robo-cop NO.
I saw today the EU is planning sanctions against the United States. I've always thought the EU would end with another war in Europe, but maybe they'll remain united in their hatred for the U.S.
Sorry, I've got to disagree with you. The federal government should exist to fund national defense, lighthouses and the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame!(/s)
Quote: Wars will not be fought man-against-man anymore, they will be fought economy-against-economy.
If your theory is correct(which it is not) then why don't we just get rid of our military and rely soley on nukes???
If we don't like what you are doing we'll nuke ya.
Also china holds the majority of our treasuries. In a sense they US by the balls. Oversmplication of course but bascially true in a nutshell.
heh ... moldova didn't even make that list.
I really can't believe how this author danced around the REAL truth:
Social welfare is swamping the ability of the U.S. to afford to defend the nation.
The entire article gave facts and data but failed to say what the clear reality is--the cost of social welfare has grown so heavily that it eats up 67% of all spending.
The horrendous decline in outlays for the military, as stated in this article, is due to the extreme rise in the social welfare percent of budget.
America is abdicating its sovereignty. Soon, Russia or China will be able to blackmail us into submission and surrender. We no longer have the WILL to defend our nation.
I think the ONLY thing uniting the EU is hatred of the USA.
From my trips abroad, the EUropphiles worship the euro but only as a counter to the US Dollar.
The Europhiles, worship the united states of EU but only as a counter to the United States of America.
Hating the USA is the formula uniter for EU politicians. When french and german politicians got in trouble at the polls, they just wheeled out anti-american sloganeering.
bump
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