"The Americans are the most propagandized people on Earth" - Daniel McAdams of the Ron Paul Institute.
Could lobbyists in Washington be working deliberately to provoke a new arms race for the sake of profits? Daniel McAdams of the Ron Paul Institute joins Rick Sanchez to discuss the flood of missiles, aircraft and warships with which Washington is eagerly arming its Pacific allies.
While this may be a reason, there is seldom one reason or even a chief reason behind these kinds of things. Lots of vested interests in empire involved. But they usually be categorized as based on power and wealth. Here, world domination and unheard of wealth are on the table. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of it is just instinct: The US wants no rival, and fears it has a lot to lose.
DeleteOnce we reach a multipolar world, hopefully things will calm down with each country keeping the other ones in check.
We are in a multipolar world, and this can be considered calm.
ReplyDeleteHow Taiwan Will Fall Into Beijing’s Lap, Like an Overripe Mango —Fred Reed
ReplyDeleteNow, suppose that China keeps on doing what to all appearances it is doing: increasing its amphibious- assault assets, improving and enlarging its already highly non-negligible air force, building missiles and increasing its number of marines. Meanwhile the Chinese navy grows like kudzu on a Georgia road cut. China can increase its forces across the Strait virtually without limit. The US cannot. At some point, past or future, Taiwan will face assault forces it has no chance whatever of repelling by itself. Taipei would notice this.
Further suppose that China keeps doing what else it has been doing for some time: practicing amphibious assaults that could at any moment become real assaults. Thus no one—read, America—would know whether the attack would come in two months, five years, or never. This would require keeping defensive forces, such as carriers, on station constantly and at a high state of readiness. Militaries do not do this well, and it is expensive. Moreover, after long periods of peace militaries do not mobilize quickly as it is discovered that there aren’t many of things there ought to be lots of because of some budget cut, or something, and the whole enterprise turns into a gargantuan goat-rope.
What kind of attack might Taiwan expect? I haven’t talked to the Chinese General Staff for weeks now, and so am making this up. But the goal would probably be to get the war over before America had time to react. Keeping invaders out is one thing, getting them out another. So, maybe a sudden attack with ballistic missiles to crater runways with simultaneous mass missile attack on air defenses with amphib ships simultaneously setting sail. At fifteen knots it would take about eight hours to reach the island. With heavy air support from China’s highly non-negligible air force, Chinese troops might well get ashore and into cities before America’s hypergalactic indomitable military could get its thumb out of…well, never mind. The Americans would be caught flatfooted by a fait accompli. Washington would face the joyful choice of bombing Chinese soldiers inside Taiwanese cities, or—this is Saturday Night Live territory—undertaking a land war in Asia against China.
It may be that Taiwan has thought of this.
More in the link: How Taiwan Will Fall Into Beijing’s Lap, Like an Overripe Mango
The US could just declare that any attack on Taiwan will be met with nuclear strikes on mainland China. That is, if Washington actually gave a shit about the Taiwanese people.
ReplyDeleteSo Eisenhower was right to warn about what he called the "military industrial complex".
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