[Maigrey]

There's a growing consensus that at some point in the mid-to-late '90s, there was a fundamental shift in the sophistication, breadth and re-sorting of Chinese defense planning,"

Could it be that was when a certain administration sold to the chinese government cruise missile technology? That would seem key to me.....

[Dat Mon]

The key is the MIRV technology they 'acquired' under the Clinton admin...its all in the super secret Cox report.

The thinking goes as follows...if the Chinese attack Taiwan...would we risk losing a carrier or two defending it in a conventional attack from lets say for example Chinese submarines...its an asymmetrical threat... If we did lose a carrier...how would we respond..conventionally?...go nuclear preemptively?

We can effectively destroy China in a matter of minutes using a couple of Trident subs parked off the coastline. Would we do this preemptively?

The key question is...could China take out a couple of our cities using MIRVs launched from their latest nuclear subs parked off our coastline. When will have China have that capability...does it have it now?

The last thing China...like the Soviet Union wants is for the US to have a comprehensive space and land based missile defense system which destroys missiles in the boost or ascent phase...when they are the most vulnerable, and before the MIRV aspect applies.

Thats why China will do anything it can to drain us economically NOW...even at cost to their own economy...so as to keep us from having the political and economic will to spend the necessary money to acquire such a defense capability. Also..if Hillary gets in...you can forget missile defense.

JMHO of course.