Posted on 06/06/2002 10:16:39 AM PDT by ex-Texan
China wants India as much as they do Taiwan, and with two billion in China and India, one kook or idiot can make things rather interesting; moreover, x42 made us rather vulnerable.
What's up with this??? These are certainly interesting times to be living in.
Oh PLEAZZZZA!!!!
And who knows, although it sounds rather improbable there is a chance that the Russians have been playing the west for decades. And to those who say the collapse of the USSR was a loss, think about it. Was it really a loss? Or was it a gain in efficiency by ridding itself of an inept system of government, and making itself get accepted by the West. And admired in the process for the great 'change' it has accomplished.
And to those who say 'what about all the good stuff Russia has been doing?' Well, there is a japanese saying that goes something like this: 'Tada yori takai mono wa nai.' It means nothing is more costly than something given free of charge. I am not Japanese, but they have a wealth of information on such matters, almost similar to Machiavelli!
Also remember: When you are weaker, never fight for honors sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you....surrender first! Make surrender a tool of power. (That was from some saying of power and deception).
Putin is very suave, quite possibly the most suave and cerebral world leader out there. He was bred to be smart, to look for openings, and maximize their potential. And at the moment most people see Russia as some second rate world power... a fallen superpower (which i never understand since Russia since has enough nukes to seed the world with contamination, and its influence is still bold. The only thing it lacks, for now, is the financial clout of the US). But it is definitely a super power, even if it never uses that moniker anymore!
And do you think the Russian oligarchs would see their soviet empire crumble, and just sit and do nothing about it? To them what happened was a slap in the face, and everytime the US sends some financial 'assistance' to them i am sure it makes them squirm and spit. There is an Ethiopian proverb that says: When the great lord passes, the wise peasant bows deeply and silently farts! Now imagine the 'wise peasant' was a former lord a decade ago, and although he is a peasant he still possesses the world's largest nuclear arsenal, and considerable clout overseas. His only problem is that the peasant lost all his money! What do you think the peasnt will do? Simple: GET HIS FORTUNE BACK, AND THEN LASH OUT AT HIS FORMER 'LORD' WHO TRIED TO SUBJECT A 'NOBLE' TO SERVITUDE!
When the Japanese were defeated in WW2 by the American 'Gaijin' barbarians (not my words...theirs), they were so angry many commited sepuku by ripping their bellies open with a blade! (which by the way is one of the most painful ways to die... which is why they had a firend nearby to chop of their heads once the initial cut was done across the belly). Then the survivors plotted their vengeance, and they won!
What?
Yep! In the seventies onwards they started to win the US in many facets of technology and industry, and currently only 3 big American car manufacturers are left. And according to an article in Fortune Magazine I read three weeks ago even those three will either be gone in a decade, or so foreign they are no longer 'American!'
However i doubt the Russians will find such tech dominance sufficient. I do not know what they will do, but stand assured the moment their economy comes back online and they do not need the US that they will act in someway to show the US they are still powerful!
The concept of SNEAK ACROSS THE OCEAN IN BROAD DAYLIGHT: This means to create a front that eventually becomes imbued with an atmosphere or impression of familiarity, within which the strategist may maneuver unseen while all eyes are trained to see obvious familiarities.
"The Thirty-Six Strategies," Quoted in the Japanese Art of War, Thomas Cleary, 1991.
A virus. Unseen, it enters your pores without warning, spreading silently and slowly. Before you are aware of the infection, it is deep inside you!
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