Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Tue 09/20/2011 View Mon 09/19/2011 View Sun 09/18/2011 View Sat 09/17/2011 View Fri 09/16/2011 View Thu 09/15/2011 View Wed 09/14/2011
1
2011-09-20 China-Japan-Koreas
Countering China's military might
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by ryuge 2011-09-20 06:21|| || Front Page|| [1 views ]  Top

#1 I don't think that is going to happen until there is new leadership at the helm.
Posted by JohnQC 2011-09-20 08:31||   2011-09-20 08:31|| Front Page Top

#2  China isn't that mighty.

Please read that again.

We went through this in the Cold War. The Soviets were alternately giants and midgets. Our intelligence people consistently misunderstood (and misrepresented) the Soviet threat. Then that blundering Reagan (blessings upon him) came along, disregarded all the experts, and knock down the Soviets in a decade.

I would not want us to underestimate the Chinese. But we shouldn't overestimate them either. They have their problems. If they decide to be our problem and challenger, then we should use their problems against them the same way we used the Soviets' moral rot against them.

The Chinese are not giants.
Posted by Steve White 2011-09-20 09:59||   2011-09-20 09:59|| Front Page Top

#3 The Chinese are not giants but they are putting a lot of [our] money into their military. However, 4-5+ more years of a rudderless ship here and they might loom larger. That said, we owe them a lot of money and they don't mind the more than favorable trade with the U.S. I doubt it would be in their best interests to have a kerfuffle with the U.S.
Posted by JohnQC 2011-09-20 10:13||   2011-09-20 10:13|| Front Page Top

#4 The Chinese have given you lots of goods in exchange for a lot of promises you can photo-copy away.

Who's been the rubes?

Exports are the price of imports. The Chinese have been thick.
Posted by Bright Pebbles 2011-09-20 10:21||   2011-09-20 10:21|| Front Page Top

#5 Steve: Reagan didn't think the Soviet military machine was weak; he actively worked on plans to counteract where it was strong.

I suspect the Chinese are working on similar plans regarding ours. Keep in mind we've spent ten years of modernization funds on keeping troops supplied in Afghanistan and Iraq via hostile people charging us $ 200 per delivered gallon of gas.
Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2011-09-20 11:41||   2011-09-20 11:41|| Front Page Top

#6 The problem for the Chinese as it was/is for the Russians is a solid NCO corps. It's also a problem for the US if it decides to downsize and politicize its military. Good NCOs won't stay to play.
Posted by Procopius2k 2011-09-20 21:07||   2011-09-20 21:07|| Front Page Top

00:05 Deadeye Phatle6264
23:45 Bill Clinton
23:17 Cheamble Uninter4715
23:16 Barbara
23:12 Cheamble Uninter4715
23:02 SteveS
22:52 phil_b
22:43 RandomJD
22:21 European Conservative
22:07 CrazyFool
21:30 rammer
21:13 Procopius2k
21:07 Procopius2k
21:04 Procopius2k
21:03 Iblis
21:01 Barbara
21:00 Iblis
20:20 Shung Slavick1304
20:20 European Conservative
19:40 Nimble Spemble
19:37 Nimble Spemble
19:33 GolfBravoUSMC
19:28 JohnQC
19:19 Anonymoose









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com