Posted on 06/21/2004 12:55:23 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
If there's a ChiCom attempt to invade Taiwan?
Yes, absolutely. We're going to be involved from the get-go in such a war.
The alternative is that the Taiwanese had better win unassisted. That's because if the Taiwanese lose, they will use their nuclear arsenal on China as a last statement of Dew neh loh moh to the world.
Missile shield will be up and running
It's probably easier for us to build NMD against China, and maintain pace with the ChiCom nuclear force structure, than it ever was against the Russians.
We would be able to start bringing the manufacturing back home again; bring all the tech stuff to Silicon valley etc.
Alberta's Child: I tend to agree with her. Did she also suggest that the U.S. had no business chasing the Japanese out of Manchuria in the 1930s?
I'm afraid I didn't ask her that. But it really impressed me, how nationalistic to China she was even though she was Canadian. (She was a graduate student in molecular biology I met while visiting the University of Minnesota.) If her attitude is typical, we've got a real problem considering our treaty obligations to Taiwan.
They aren't ready yet, but they are a massive country. We are like a little bug.
Just thank goodness we have Dubya, who will actually continue to advance our weapons so China's will continue to be inferior.
Another 8 years of a Clinton type would have kept our weapons pretty stagnant as the Chinese advanced rapidly.
That's a fact, and there are fewer young Americans getting graduate degrees in science, per the National Science Foundation. We aren't filling the pipeline for the future.
There is a further problem. China can either liquidate our debt on the open market, or merely quit purchasing our bonds and T-Bills. The net result will be a disruption of the markets and an increase in interest rates. Without firing a shot, they can hurt our economy.
I think we will pay a heavy price for those cheap goods.
Um-hmm. And if that's true, what happens to the billions of dollars of U.S. investment in China? What happens to our economy when we can't manufacture the things our military require?
Can you say consequences?
Or even, "Mr. Lenin, please buy this rope. I've arranged a nothing down, E-Z payment plan for you!"
After the COSCO ships return to port with the food that was originally destined for us, China won't have all that much trouble feeding their own.
Bingo. China has been putting American farmers out of business for the past several years, and it hasn't been only so they could "make money selling us food."
When they turn the COSCO ships around, that food will go to domestic consumption, and we, meanwhile, will be looking at starting from scratch, with no lead time.
Advantage China.
What will happen is that China will sit back and say, "Isn't it great when a PLAN comes together?"
I suspect they'll do a much better job of coping with food shortages than we will. Can you imagine the wailing that will occur if WalMart runs short on the free-traitors' favorite TV snack?
Some years ago, we had a minor snow storm here. It couldn't have been more than five or six inches of snow, and it was all gone in 48 hours - but by the end of the first evening, the grocery store shelves were bare. This in a city of more than a million!
I think we are very vulnerable to any supply disruption, and I question our fortitude in dealing with such situations.
Speaking of plans - I cannot help wondering if Iran is serving as China's pawn presently. Why do they seem to be spoiling for a fight? Why did they seize the British patrol boats? It could be Mullah madness, of course...but I cannot help wondering if Beijing isn't encouraging it.
And the reason is simple: Supply and demand. There isn't any pipeline for the future, so why prepare to fill it?
There is a further problem. China can either liquidate our debt on the open market, or merely quit purchasing our bonds and T-Bills. The net result will be a disruption of the markets and an increase in interest rates. Without firing a shot, they can hurt our economy.
We're balanced on such a razor's edge in so many areas that it would take but a puff for them to blow us over. And they know it. And they plan it. And they make no secret of it. It's only our self-imposed delusions that motivate us to ignore it, to our own peril.
I think we will pay a heavy price for those cheap goods.
Heavier than this world has ever seen. It wouldn't take much to make "The Postman" seem like a walk in the park.
I suspect they'll do a much better job of coping with food shortages than we will. Can you imagine the wailing that will occur if WalMart runs short on the free-traitors' favorite TV snack?Some years ago, we had a minor snow storm here. It couldn't have been more than five or six inches of snow, and it was all gone in 48 hours - but by the end of the first evening, the grocery store shelves were bare. This in a city of more than a million!
I think we are very vulnerable to any supply disruption, and I question our fortitude in dealing with such situations.
Sadly, you're right on the money for the most part. The average Chinese will cope fairly well with a diet of rice and beans, because it won't really be much of a transition at all. The average American, on the other hand, is really screwed when it comes to the "living with adversity" department.
Rice, wheat, and beans are really cheap. And they store well, without much difficulty. I'll be able to survive for a year or so, living like a Chinaman, until I can (hopefully) get some crops in, to see us through to the next year. I'd be way ahead of the game if not for resistance from my wife. :(
Possibly. Possibly without realizing it, too.
Why do they seem to be spoiling for a fight?
It's their nature. Islamists, like communists, are obsessed with the idea of ruling the world.
Why did they seize the British patrol boats?
For that matter, why has there been pretty much of a news blackout on it? An act of war by Iran against the UK should be THE news of the day, but it ain't. I can't shake the idea that TPTB have put out the word to the compliant "free" press to keep a lid on it.
We've gone from Roosevelt's Big Stick aimed at Raisuli to the modern "don't rock the boat" neochamberlainism.
that missile shield will probably contain a ship mounted contingent. Mobil and hooked into the main satalite system. If the barrage of missiles happens and we can take out a large number of them, we can seriously screw up the plans to land a force of 245,000. At least it will buy time. They will not be able to mobilize that many troups without use seeing it. ( hopefully)
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