COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, January 02, 2011

US Military Spending and Chinese Naval Ambitions




China’s Naval Ambitions
Published: January 1, 2011
NY Times

Beijing’s drive to extend its military and territorial reach is making America’s close allies in the region nervous and raising legitimate questions about American diplomacy and future military procurement. The commander of America’s Pacific forces recently revealed that China could soon deploy a ballistic missile capable of threatening American aircraft carriers in the region.

The Pentagon has a long history of hyping the Chinese threat to justify expensive weapons purchases, and sinking well-defended ships with ballistic missiles is notoriously hard. But what should rightly concern American military planners is not so much the missile but the new Chinese naval strategy behind it.

China seems increasingly intent on challenging United States naval supremacy in the Western Pacific. At the same time it is aggressively pressing its claims to disputed offshore islands in the East and South China Seas. Washington must respond, carefully but firmly.

The Pentagon must accelerate efforts to make American naval forces in Asia less vulnerable to Chinese missile threats by giving them the means to project their deterrent power from further offshore.

Cutting back purchases of the Navy’s DDG-1000 destroyer (with its deficient missile defense system) was a first step. A bigger one would be to reduce the Navy’s reliance on short-range manned strike aircraft like the F-18 and the F-35, in favor of the carrier-launched N-UCAS, a longer-range unmanned strike aircraft. The Air Force should also drop its plans to buy 2,000 short-range strike planes but no long-range bombers.

The Obama administration must also redouble its diplomatic efforts to persuade Beijing that great power cooperation is far better than a costly and dangerous military rivalry. North Korea is a good starting point. The two countries share a clear interest in reining in Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and reckless threats.

China — North Korea’s main supplier of food and fuel — has been far too reluctant to use its leverage. Fearing a huge influx of refugees, it is focused solely on propping up the Kim dynasty. Before it is too late, Beijing needs to realize that an erratic, nuclear-armed neighbor is anything but a recipe for stability — or for an American military drawdown.

Dealing with a rising China could be Washington’s biggest challenge in the decades ahead. The United States has no interest in heightening tensions. A rapidly developing China has better uses for its new wealth than weapons. But when China pushes, as it is doing now, America needs to push back with a creative mix of diplomatic suppleness and military steadfastness.

43 comments:

  1. "There's only two kinds of white folks, there's only two kinds...
    bad white folks and worse white folks.

    Malcolm X said if you find one good, kill him first, before he turns bad, because he's only faking."

    Dr. Khallid Abdul Muhammad

    ReplyDelete
  2. Muhammad's condemnation of whites and Jews extended to conservative Blacks, whom he criticized for what he perceived as their self-subjugation:

    When white folks can't defeat you, they'll always find some Negro, some boot-licking, butt-licking, bamboozled, half-baked, half-fried, sissified, punkified, pasteurized, homogenized Nigger that they can trot out in front of you.[4]

    In 1993, following a speech at Kean College in Union Township, New Jersey, in which Muhammad referred to Jews as bloodsuckers; labeled the Pope a "no-good cracker"; and advocated the murder of any and all white South Africans who would not leave the nation subsequent to a warning period of 24 hours.

    Muhammad became the national chairman of the New Black Panther Party. On May 21, 1997, he delivered a heated speech at San Francisco State University in which he criticized Jews, whites, Catholics and homosexuals.

    He endorsed a Holocaust denial position, asserted Jewish control over U.S. policy, and alleged Jewish involvement in various conspiracies.[5]

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  3. Malcolm X is dead.

    Has been for years.

    His successor lives down the street, never hear a negative thing from him, locally.

    This Khallid fella, doug, you're going back decades to find shit, about a man of no consequence, in the real world.

    Of no import, but for the importance you grant him.

    The New Black Panther Party, what do they do, dance until dawn?

    Do you hunt for things to fear?

    ReplyDelete
  4. "The best way to discover the meaning of life or lack thereof is to live longer..."

    Doin' a little recon?

    Be sure to report back and brief.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The United States government is financially tapped.

    There are no threats but for the ones we create, ourselves.

    Certainly the Chinese are no type of military threat, to the US.
    Neither are the billion plus Islamoids in the whirled.

    Cultural threat, perhaps.
    Economic threat, without doubt.
    Military threat, not in the next twenty years, if ever.

    Yet the Military Industrial Complex has gotten more money, from US, than ever before.

    Not something to fear, but cause for concern. More so for the citizens of the United States than any military threat that China can mount, against US.

    More so than concern about an ignorant fool that represents the "New Black Panther Party".

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  6. The New Black Panther Party, as important a group of folks as the White Knights of America

    Robert Byrd died, too, didn't he?

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  7. Here in my ripe old middle forties I'm fairly certain that the meaning of life, if there is one, doesn't include most of that that I've wasted pixels on for the better part of a decade.

    I have a sneaking suspicion that if there is one, EVERYONE is wrong about it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Seems that there are some Israelis that "get it".

    11 Israeli activists arrested after protest at home of U.S. ambassador

    Demonstrators were protesting death of 36-year-old Palestinian woman, who inhaled tear gas at a rally against the West Bank fence on Friday.

    ReplyDelete
  9. FFB:

    Abbreviation for fatso fatty butt. A fatty with a big booty or fat ass. A lardass.

    When does the General return home?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Egyptian police have arrested 17 people suspected of involvement in the bombing of a Coptic Christian church that killed at least 21 ...

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  11. Gunman kills deputy
    Columbus Dispatch -

    German Township Patrolman Jeremy Blum is hit and falls during a shootout with a gunman at Enon Beach campground in western Ohio. Blum was shot in the shoulder and is in stable condition at Miami Valley Hospital, ...


    Trailer trash.

    Does not mention race or religion of the cop killer.

    But he was living in an Airstream travel trailer, in Ohio.

    ReplyDelete
  12. 10%, Across the Board. The only way I can see Budget Reductions working. In addition to winding down the foreign adventures in Iraq, and Afghanistan, of course.

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  13. More code talking... what is an FFB? I don't expect an answer...just a rhetorical flourish.

    ReplyDelete
  14. There is no well spent time. There is no wasted time. There is only too much time and too little.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The sound of falling pixels in the internet forest, ignored by the cosmic ear, but pixels come and go, data accumulates.

    ReplyDelete
  16. "When does the General return home?"

    He's not gone.

    ReplyDelete
  17. "There is no well spent time."

    With this I absolutely disagree.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have to get ready for church.

    Not quite sure what I'm doing there but it keeps me out of trouble for an hour or so.







    And it stands for Farming Fucking Bob.

    ReplyDelete
  19. desert rat said...
    Seems that there are some Israelis that "get it".



    Yep there are some mentally retarded israelis...

    glad there were arrested...

    Even gladder that there is now one more dead terrorist lover...

    Died on the same spot her terrorist brother died...

    Family of terrorists said how proud they are of her...

    I hope Israel stops using tear gas and switches to live ammo...

    Kill terrorists dont shoot tear gas at them

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  20. Tension flares amid Israeli raids
    Aljazeera.net -

    One Palestinian shot dead at checkpoint in the West Bank and two more injured in Gaza as Israeli jets hit refugee camp. Two civilians have been injured in air raids on Gaza by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian emergency services officials, ...


    Israeli terrorists strike again, using US manufactured aircraft.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The Muzzies strike in Egypt, the Israeli counter in Gaza

    The Equivalency continues.

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  22. You may disagree and I am sympathetic to your disagreement but the universe is profoundly disinterested.

    No, I'll go beyond that. I would be more concerned if someone were watching, keeping score on some permanent record.

    It is best to maintain your panoply and defend against an indifferent world rather than an interested world.

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  23. our jew hater laments...

    Israeli terrorists strike again, using US manufactured aircraft.


    Wow, those Israelis suck, only ONE goat fucker killed??

    Hell the muzzies murdered DOZENS this weekend....

    Come on Israel, kill more of these puss filled sub humans already...

    The Rodents of the world already hate you, so what's the difference between erasing one terrorist or a few thousand!

    After all Obama has no problems using predators on an hourly basis...

    Israel be like America more, kill more muzzies and ask less questions...

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  24. desert rat said...
    The Muzzies strike in Egypt, the Israeli counter in Gaza

    The Equivalency continues.



    No, the Muzzies shelled Israel and tried to shoot rockets at a sports stadium in Israel...

    Then the "terrorist" israelis struck a hamas bomb factory...

    sound like a plan...

    I only wished Israel would have used cluster munitions on a wider scale...

    time to drive the population of gaza into egypt...

    give them crackers and water in the sinai...

    freedom for the muzzies in egypt...

    gaza needs to be made a minefield...

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  25. Cumulative body counts, the Israeli have killed many more Muzies than the Muzzies have killed Israeli.

    Over the past 24 hours, though, the Israeli have only killed three women. The Muzzies, 21 assorted victims, killed.

    The Egyptians have arrested the suspected bombers, the Israeli feted theirs.

    Equivalency plus.

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  26. The Israeli are not worthy of hating, "Story".

    They do not rate that high.

    They're just Europeons still lost in the Arabian desert.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The US Predator strikes, in Pakistan, an exercise in futility.

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  28. A stark example of military spending not getting the job done.

    Fighting a cultural battle with a half-hearted military effort is doomed to fail.

    As Mr Rumsfeld often said, terrorism is of little military significance.

    Right he was, about that.

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  29. rodent says


    Cumulative body counts, the Israeli have killed many more Muzies than the Muzzies have killed Israeli.



    And the Brits killed more germans in dresden....

    so what?

    the evil goat fucking ishmael named terrorists that get killed trying to murder Israelis havent killed as any as the Israelis killing terrorists?

    that's the funniest thing i heard all day...

    hey rat, sucks being an incompetent muzzie doesnt it?


    they do call you ishmael dont they....

    lol

    fucking goat fuckers...

    ReplyDelete
  30. Saddam Hussein killed more muzzies than any other in the history of the world...

    can we give him a medal?

    oh that's right Rummie did....

    ReplyDelete
  31. Iran used children as human mineclearing waves..

    betcha the body count was high...

    so what?

    ReplyDelete
  32. Saddam Hussein is dead.

    Cost US almost a trillion dollars to get 'er done.

    Money well wasted.

    ReplyDelete
  33. muzzies murder in nigeria...

    rodent gets his panties in a knot that Israel killed a couple terrorists...

    lol

    the good news?

    The muzzies are wearing out there welcome EVERYWHERE...

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  34. The Iranian tactics, in their war with Saddam, proof positive that they are no military threat, to anyone.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Should have kept saddam in power, he was great at killing muzzies....

    not to worry another muzzie will rise up to murder, hack and stab everyone and everything that surrounds him...

    jews, christians, other muzzies, goats and even dogs and pigs...

    patience..

    the muzzies are insane, just look to our own "desert rats" posts... you can see the insanity...

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  36. I think Rat is off his meds today...

    time for him to get locked up in his rubber room...

    let's call him ishmael...

    ReplyDelete
  37. Muzzies murder dozens in Egypt and Nigeria this weekend, muzzies plan rocket attacks on stadiums, shoot rockets, burn cars.....

    Muzzies got arrested last week for plotting all sorts of evil....

    yep the muzzies are losing their limited minds...

    lol

    could not have happened to a more deserving group

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  38. The Israeli have been bombing the Muzzies since the inception of the State of Israel. Trying to contain them, with terror.

    Yet the Israeli still live in fear of the Muzzies. Well exemplified by the Story of "o".

    Insanity is described as doing the same thing, over and again, but expecting a different outcome.

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  39. (CNN) --
    Arkansas game officials hope testing scheduled to begin Monday will solve the mystery of why more than 1000 blackbirds fell from the sky just before midnight New Year's Eve.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Ishmael aka the nazi rat says:

    desert rat said...
    The Israeli have been bombing the Muzzies since the inception of the State of Israel. Trying to contain them, with terror.


    If ONLY you spoke the truth!

    I would LOVE ISRAEL to try bombing the muzzies.

    now that would be a party!!!

    Direct hit on civilian muzzie targets, Israel would then be just like every other nation in the world...

    but NO israel cant just bomb the goat fucking muzzies...

    they have to send flyers, make calls to preserve "civilians" from harm...

    stupid israelis, stupid israelis...

    I WISH they would "just bomb the muzzies"...

    No matter, the rest of the world will do so soon enough...

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  41. WiO,

    trish feels the use of Ishamel inappropritate. By all means, she should not use it.

    Ishamel started the new year playing his two notes of choice: 1) bad Israel and 2) bad USA. We have heard it all before. Looks like 2011 will be more of the same.

    Christians are murdered on Christmas by Muzzies and all Ishmael can say is "Israel is bad." "Dolt" is the perfect word.

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  42. I missed the trish objection...

    I'll bring it up in the next meeting of our family...

    It's the truth ya know... Ishmael & his family have had their collective panties in a knot since ole Great Grand Zada schutped the maid...

    Ishmael is what Ishmael is...

    and his namesake here at the bar?

    a perfect example of generational inbreeding...

    The most silver lining of course when it comes from the line of Hagar is that they are breeding themselves into quite the genetic pickle.

    Ishmael is upset that the comparative body counts are unequal... But let's face fack, Ishmael and company kidnapped ONE 21 year old Jew and want 11,000 hamas members released...

    one to 11,000, by their own standards..

    Happy secular new year to all and to the bastard children of my great great great great grandfather?

    fuck off....

    smile...

    ReplyDelete