The Beauty of the Future
This will be short and sweet. Mostly because I have little time to actually expand upon it and I have to get back to working.
Those of us who live in the US are very aware of the little blaring sirens of alarm telling us that things are wrong. We can’t go a day without hearing at least something about recessions, bleak environmental outlooks or conflicts on the horizon. The one I link at the bottom of the article appears in an Air Force article about a possible war with China.
Now, this isn’t some hand waving ninny commentary telling anybody anything new. We all have a sense of what is going on, whether we choose to recognize it or not. This is actually a suggestion that you stop and think about the time we’re living in. We certainly are living in a world that is completely unrecognizable from the one at the turn of the new millenium. It’s not often that we stop to take appreciation of this, even if most of the time our world is filled with seeming chaos. The proverb is probably very true: May you live in interesting times.
Click here to read the article
Skavian @ January 23, 2008
I would assume all militarys run war-games, and of course, China is not going to sit back forever and let Taiwan become their Albatross, continue to shame them, and let them lose face. That doesn’t actually interest me, it is what it will be.
What I do find interesting is a common miss -conception that americans are not willing to accept causalities. I believe WWI and WWII turn this on it’s head; even the early part of the war on terror, and the steady and increasing deathtoll.
Americans are always willing to accept causalities if they believe in the actions they are taking, if the anger or the pain is directed at them or they have been wronged. They are unwilling to continue these actions if however its deemed “someone’s else” problem”.
Somalia is “Why are we over there?”
Taiwan will be “Why are we doing this?”
Inflicting maximum causalities is a good strategy as long as its “conventional weapons.” Nuking the American military in a preemptive strike would lead a feeling of being wronged and the building of resolve in its people. Pearl Harbor; 911; These are military acts of surprise and if your goal, as a country is not to follow through, then there is only one expected response. If in any way, any nuclear action leads to death of military personnel, then the “minimally acceptable level of firepower.” goes right out the window and the demand will be to retaliate.
And then, won’t times be interesting.