Posted on 08/12/2011 10:29:30 PM PDT by robertvance
On August 14th, 1912, the United States launched its first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley. This 11,500 ton ship served during both World Wars until its luck ran out near Java in 1942 and had to be abandoned and sunk in order to avoid capture by the Japanese.
Almost one hundred years later, China has just launched its first aircraft carrier and the U.S. State department is demanding to know why.
"We would welcome any kind of explanation that China would like to give for needing this kind of equipment," said Victoria Nuland, a State department spokeswoman.
Let me give you the explanation, Victoria. China is the world’s largest country and has recently become the second largest economy behind the United States. China is also the undisputed powerhouse in Asia. Is that a good enough explanation for you?
(Excerpt) Read more at teachabroadchina.com ...
“the Soviets, facing the same dilemma, simply used a pencil.”
I heard that too.
Just did a search and Snoops says that the claim isn’t entirely true. NASA asked Fisher to make a prototype of the pen, but it wasn’t developed or used.
http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
“1. It is going to cost them a ton of money that they could use for something much more dangerous
2. They don’t know how to support and maintain these ships
3. They don’t know how to defend them
4. They don’t have the training to run them
5. They don’t know how to use them”
Fair point, and China has downplayed the carrier’s role as a threat, saying it will be used for training and research.
That would be training on operating aircraft carriers and research into building better aircraft carriers. They are aware of the items on dila813’s list, and they intend to check them off.
Plus Obama promised China in February 2009 that if we were unable to pay back our debts, we would give them land/assets. He said it to get them to resume their buying of treasuries. Whether or not it’s true that he will actually try to give them our assets, if the economic situation goes south, they’ll still be miffed. I don’t see the average American buying into that plan.
I think I like felonious munk on this topic.
I agree. And the US needs to be prepared for the possibility of a conflict with China someday. However, since China is not threatening us or our allies, I don’t understand how we can demand that China tell us what it wants to do with the aircraft carrier.
Take back Taiwan? The U.S. already recognizes a one-China policy (not to be confused with China’s one CHILD policy ;)).
It’s just how fast the reunification should take place that is in question.
Well, we only learned them through lost lives, blood, and sweat.
It isn’t exactly something that is transferable in a text book...it is only transferable through navy tradition and discipline.
“our chicken shit president “
Obama admires the Glorious Peoples Republic of China. He also compared himself to Lincoln.
“Obama: “China is making investments in the future, they’re making investments in clean energy, they’re making investments in infrastructure…we used to have the best infrastructure in the world…had the best roads, the best airports, the best ports, the best highways, the best internet service, now we’re second, we’re third, we’re fifteenth, we’re twenty-first, we can’t win that way…listen Abraham Lincoln helped to build the intercontinental railroad in the middle of the Civil War...” http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama/2011/02/17/obama-says-china-has-better-infrastructure-us-compares-himself-lincoln
Well, we certainly don’t want China to have an air craft carrier. We better go to war!
China will simply acquire Taiwanese companies and buy out Taiwan without firing a shot.
I am not going for this and no future President is going to respect the words of this commie sole licker.
He said last Spring that the US is the only nation that has figured it out.
Figured out what? "Copy the British"
Very interesting, thank you for the link. Having read that, I conclude that the government made a restrictions (Unable to burn, work in vacuum, no gravity, and temp requirements), and someone apparently out of the goodness of his heart (since he sold 400 at a couple bucks a piece to the government) paid over a million to develop. I was unaware that the U.S. used pencils prior, and the Soviets used the Fisher pen after development. But the devil is in the details, as they say!
Thanks for teaching me something new!
That is their plan, and it is working very well.
They just need their military to cool it. The military over there is really butch, always scrapping for action even when it isn’t needed.
The only thing that would disrupt this ... the dollar suddenly becoming worthless and not having enough of their money in gold.
Then I bet things would quickly get hot if global trade broke down because of it.
Before WWII, you got to keep the spoils of war, the only one that enforced that you don’t get to keep the spoils of war was the US. If the US is no longer the dominate power, who is to say the world doesn’t return back to the spoils of war?
I think that is really the frighting scenario.
The lefties always give the US such a bad rap, but they have no idea how bad things would be today if we weren’t around to prevent this type of insidious payoff for aggression of neighboring countries.
“I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true.” - Lewis Carroll
I believe they will eventually make a deal with South Korea to bring them into fold, in exchange for helping them to take care of the “North Korea Problem.”
"We would welcome any kind of explanation that China would like to give for needing this kind of equipment,"
They want to be able to launch aircraft at sea. Can I pick up my fat consulting check from the State Dept. now?
Actually I just had a change of heart. In purely altruistic interest of minimizing the national debt, I will waive the consulting fee.
I don’t know, maybe.
I know a lot more about the south than the north.
Agreed, the problem is the Chinese don’t like being lied to either. This President is knowingly screwing the people of the U.S., and setting us up to be destroyed after he leaves office (which is why so many provisions in the laws he’s signed don’t go into effect until years later, he can either grant waivers and stave off the political fallout, or the buck merely gets passed to his successor). The problem is that he’ll make sure after he makes his bed, someone else will have to sleep in it.
I don’t see that it makes a whole lot of difference - we have become so co-dependent economically that military threats will not be in either’s side’s interest.
The question is rather useless since we can’t/won’t stop them anyway. We just have to keep an eye on them and react appropriately. They have a long ways to go before they match our military strength, if they start closing in we need to be sure to stay a step ahead.
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