You realize that US can sink any vessel leaving China port for the most part unimpeded? How will China function when any shipper knows their ship is possibly next? Same for any military vessel. They cannot sail beyond sight of the shoreline.
Ukraine updates
- Thread starter OUBubba
- Start date
Monahorns
10,000+ Posts
Okay. So you've conceded your first point. Great.
Sure. What are a few hundred more bodies if we can destroy important infrastructure that benefits many others in the world.
I don't. I just recognize that the situation in Taiwan is escalating because of the change in US foreign policy. Since Nixon the US had a policy of strategic ambiguity around the relationship between Taiwan and China. Nixon and every administration until Biden recognized that the best approach was to refer to Taiwan as Chinese when talking to the Chinese but then working with Taiwan separately on specific things. China has always and will always consider Taiwan a part of China regardless of what we do or say. In their view Taiwan would some day be annexed into China. However, China wasn't in any hurry to do so as long as the nations of the world publicly acknowledged China's stance. The one thing that would cause them to start the war machine up was any threat of an outside power coming to claim Taiwan would always be independent and publicly working to do so. The Biden Administration did just that.
So it is counter-intuitive but if you want Taiwan to remain independent as long as possible (which I do), then the only play is to continue the strategic ambiguity that Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump maintained. I just want Reagan's foreign policy toward Taiwan. That's all.
Monahorns
10,000+ Posts
Okay. China can also sink any air craft carrier or battelship that enters the South China Sea easily. They have good defensive capabilities in their region of the world. China can do this with how they are set up right now. Whereas your scenario assumes that the US Navy moves in en masse to the locations they would need to protect Taiwan.
But good to know that you are on board with Biden's agenda.
Monahorns
10,000+ Posts
How do you know that?
The funny thing is that the French have long had a well-equipped and strong military. As a country, they just don't have any balls. That has generally been the problem.
Not to defend Biden, but it looks like these guys went to Ukraine on their own. If they want to go fight, that's up to them.
Mrs. Deez's job is helping to find and coordinate education services for the children of military personnel deployed in areas that do not have Dep't of Defense Dependent Schools. Many of the families she works with are at US embassies. That is normal. It also makes sense to have a much stronger group of troops (even special forces) at an embassy in a country with open combat like Ukraine.
Anyone who has experience in forecasting knows this.
Wrong. You've misinterpreted "the world loses 20% of the semiconductor industry".
It means the free world loses 20% of the semiconductor industry to China.
Eventually, the strategic ambiguity plan will fail. Maybe it's in 2050 or 2080. Either China will get weak, the US will get weak, or one will start a physical conflict.
Monahorns
10,000+ Posts
That doesn't reflect the conclusions of those doing the war gaming. I have heard what those in the Pentagon are saying, right or wrong. I hear you as saying your experience trumps those reports. Not sure that is credible. Not sure the Pentagon is credible either but this is what they are saying.
Monahorns
10,000+ Posts
So the world doesn't lose anything. You have conceded your 2nd point. Thank you.
The free world will end up with those semiconductors in their electronics whether they are made in Taiwan or China. Personally I would prefer they are made in the in rural Texas. There is no economical metric or financial game we are playing which scores production value coming from free-world vs dictator-world anyway.
It worked for 51 years with no sign of failing. Within 2 years of Biden we are going the wrong direction. If you think it will eventually happen then it would be best to delay the war and set up alternate supply chains for things we don't want to buy from China in the future.
I'm sure there aren't families there, but there are undoubtedly personnel of some kind there, including the Defense Attache.
AC
2,500+ Posts
I just give up! Nothing but MSM talking points.
When does the MSM say anything bad about communists? Virtually never. They kiss China's *** pretty routinely, and they generally like Venezuela and Cuba. North Korea sometimes takes some flack, but that's probably because they don't do the LGBTQ thing there, not because they're communist.
Just look back at the 'advisors' the US had on the ground in Vietnam in the late 50's...that didn't end well for America.
This will be no different. Biden has gotten us into the same level of quagmire...
Yes, but that is what a dem president does - start a fight and leave it for the Republicans to decide how to clean it up. Once that decision is made the dems then start a full-scale onslaught against the "Republican warmongers".
Monahorns
10,000+ Posts
I think Trump would end the war in Ukraine. Of course that will make Dems scream about how that is proof that Trump has always been a shill for Putin. But if Trump did remove NATO activity and gave Zelensky the green light to negotiate, I think the US can build back some level of good will in the world. Right now, the US is seen a meddler and an instigator, and it has cause many countries to work on circumventing the US global economic system.
This is INSANE
US sending $325 million in more military aid to Ukraine
US sending $325 million in more military aid to Ukraine
So, $32.5M back to the big guy...
Christopher Cavoli stated that the Russian army operating in Ukraine is larger than when the Kremlin launched its special military operation and the Ukrainians “have to be better than the Russian force they will face” and decide when and where they will strike.
Cavoli said Russia has strategic depth in manpowerand has only lost one warship and about 80 fighters and tactical bombers in an air fleet numbering about 1,000 so far. The general gently contradicted Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chief of General Staff Gen. Mark Milley who have been propagating that Russia is on the brink of defeat.
Why The Long-Awaited Ukrainian Counteroffensive Is Delayed | ZeroHedge
Cavoli said Russia has strategic depth in manpowerand has only lost one warship and about 80 fighters and tactical bombers in an air fleet numbering about 1,000 so far. The general gently contradicted Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chief of General Staff Gen. Mark Milley who have been propagating that Russia is on the brink of defeat.
Why The Long-Awaited Ukrainian Counteroffensive Is Delayed | ZeroHedge
He said at one point in his written testimony, “Russian air, maritime, space, cyber, and strategic forces have not suffered significant degradation in the current war. Moreover, Russia will likely rebuild its future Army into a sizeable and more capable land force… Russia retains a vast stockpile of deployed and non-deployed nuclear weapons, which present an existential threat to the US.”
This. Milley is a disgrace to the uniform, and Austin is useless.
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