Every day when I wake up, I am waiting to hear that missiles are flying around the ME, and an American warship is in flames.
Or that Europe is haveing an “emergency,” and the banks are not opening, and the NY stock exchange will not open on time.
Or a Japanese warship has been torpedoed in the South China Sea.
And it’s game on.
This may be the last “normal” election in our lifetimes.
We cannot forget that both India and Pakistan "tested" and announced their nuclear capability during Clinton's administration because the Indian's didn't trust Clinton to protect them in the event of a Chinese or Pakistani war. Pakistan didn't trust Clinton to be an honest broker of the India-Paki conflict so it to had to detonate to prove their capability. America's perceived weakness raised the stakes of regional nuclear war.
The same is true in our current situation. If the World's Policeman (Pax Americana) can't be trusted well then the gang members of the other countries have to be shown how tough the resident gang is. It is an escalation based upon weakness - both real and imagined.
There are any number of scenarios that can be conjured up to describe what will happen if....
The problem is the unpredictability of the current American Regime. We don't even know if Obama has assured Israel he will support a strike on Iran and not actively oppose it.
Remember the USS Liberty? What happens if Obama tells the Admiral of the USS Stennis to actively oppose an Israeli AF incursion over Iraqi or NATO Ally Turkish Airspace? Legal order? Illegal order? Could that order be issued? Do you think Colonel Benson would think it a legal order? How Many - if any - Flag officers would resign in the event of such an order?
Were that scenario to come about do you think the Stennis Battlegroup would still be afloat four hours later? Do you think American popular opinion would demand nuclear retaliation against Israel for such an act? Each of us can posit a similarly frightening devolution of the world situation. Game on. I hope some active-duty people are contemplating this because I think Col. Benson's scenario is pretty frickin benign compared to mine or the one Matt posits above.
Semper Fi,
TS
We may know before November.
Once any of these happens, the other bad actors around the world may take it as their signal to achieve their own regional goals. That’s why we used to have a “two major wars” policy. Then 1.5. Now 1. Soon?
The other players are watching, and waiting.