[Light Speed]

USS Guam PR-3

The Port treaties of the 1920's..which enabled commerce on the inland rivers of China.
The many "Gunboats" serving on China Station so that companies like Standard Oil could explore resource possibilities in China.

The current dilemma of Iraq has been the norm for a hundred years as envious peoples attack progess in the name of nationalism.

oil/commerce and Communist China...oil/commerce and Islam.

not much change in 100 yrs

[SAMWolf]

Progress means loss of control of the population to the Mullahs and sheiks, just like it did to the warlords and communists.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks for some interesting information. The Shanghai station and the Yangtze gunboats are almost a forgotten subject in our history. Sam, has a thread been done on this?

Using military force to protect commerce has gotten a bad name, unfairly so in my opinion. Think about it. The primary destablizing countries who triggered WWII, Germany, Italy and Japan, have all decided that getting rich is more fun than fighting wars. If we can persuade the Arabs that this is so, we will have come a long way toward winning the war on terror.