And, in one of the most 'deplorable' instances of US diplomatic/military policy malpractice by the Grandfathers of the current DC Swamp, this power was tragically squandered.
When Israel responded to the Iranian mass attack of missiles, the single greatest demonstration of "we can take you out any time we want" was the destruction of the radar for a single S400 missile site using a single F-35. OTH, touting the single Houthi truck destruction was just clueless.
I see it as a combination of the two factors you mention, as well as the diminishing demographics (sheer numbers) of the PRC and the fact that 30+ million PRC adult males will never marry due to the previous one-child policy.
When you have a large population of military-aged males with little to no domestic marriage prospects, there's only a few viable options for a country and you need to do it before they age out.
We need to reach down and find that strength that our ancestors used to survive and bring us into the world.
We need to honor our word and commitments to ourselves and our allies.
We need to train our children about the sometimes vicious realities of life and prepare them for these hardships and quit pretending that everything is pleasant all the time. This does our children a great disservice and doesn’t prepare them for adversity.
Gen X is pretty tough because we had a lot of freedom to succeed and fail and instinct told you that creeper standing by the stop sign and watching you was planning to put you on a milk carton if you went near him.
So the survivors stayed away and the more gullible unfortunately found themselves as pictures on milk cartons.
There is something to be said for nature culling the herd and if you don’t want your kids to be culled then you’d best ready them for this roller coaster called life.
You are bang on here...add in that the Global South has been watching the Israel Hamas war and they have been outraged !! The world sees the US lecturing and moralizing them...then sees them begging Israel to no effect...that is also what makes the US a target...they can't control their a lies even though they alone provide the means to do this. The US says Israel must stop preventing aid from getting into Gaza or the US will stop weapons shipments...Israel doesn't...the US says they did...shipments continue...Israel crosses red lines the US sets...the world sees the US getting played by Israel and also realizes US concerns about loss of innocent life is in fact "situational" as to who deserves protection.
Realize that the US will not get sympathy from the world the next time they are attacked like they did after 9-11. Recall Russia was the first to offer help...Iran had protests in the streets supporting the US...but our leaders are fools...sigh. NOW the world is used to seeing buildings collapsing.
REMEMBER: In a democracy you get the leaders you deserve...no other political system does this...lol
Yes...but they would likely disagree with J-Street also...
It is preferable (imo) not to have the perenial jew/jewish-state haters now aligning with those who love Israel but also disagree with Netanyahu...
You may disagree with J-Street also...but I guess my point is there is likely no jewish organization's outlook that the haters would agree with...we should not empower them by making THEM look reasonable...
US presidents have fallen into the trap of having too much power, both militarily and through the use of executvie orders (I can't tell you how much the latter makes me clench my jaws), which has allowed the executive and legislative branches to get mentally and morally sloppy. We will never be able to control all of the world; nor should we. But every administration seems to think they can. Pick the battles we need to win for national security and economics, and realize that other countries have strategic needs as well.
I realize that probably sounds pretty vacuous and unclear, but going into further detail with my personal picks for a list of national must-win events would hijack this blog, which is not my intention.
I am not a US citizen...though I did send a missive to Sens Chris Coons and Rand Paul as well as CNN ABC think tanks, newspapers etc... entitled "How to Help America Heal (from a Foreign Friend)" in June 2023.
With all due respect, given recent performances by various nations in regards to multiple international interests? I have zero interest in any input you or said countries may have. Particularly Western NATO.
In fact, I'm rather hoping Trump recalls the Ambassador to England and threatens to leave the Trident missile agreement.
Jetcal1...I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at other than not wanting to listen to non-Americans...
The US after the fall of the Soviet Union did not want its allies to increase military power...France and others wanted to build up a European military but the US didn't want them too...lots of examples of this...the US did not want alternate power nodes to exist...of course NOW...they want it...and in fact they may abandon these allies...
Here is an email I sent over 1 year ago...
On Wed, Oct 18, 2023 at 3:24 PM Arthur Anderson wrote:
If there is one thing I would say to Americans its this...why doesn't having an 80 year old leader nearing the end of his life...under political pressure...a deeply believing Catholic thinking about the after-life and his legacy and who says he has an abiding belief in providence...(and can't get over himself btw) ...SCARE THE bejesus out of America...checks are being written that Biden will not be around cash...wakey wakey...slow down...its a trap...the world recognizes the US is weak...allies will step back...foes will step up...just because the US believes silly things doesn't mean the rest of the world does...
We are weak and we are sending away our weapons...we have years of resupply just to replenish as we continue to weaken (assuming our very few munition factories aren't taken out right away at the start of hostilities (recent border crossers 🤔))...strategic petroleum reserve at all time lows...Saudi and Iran could cooperate and / or be supportive of China...hard for military to recruit...country divided...
Many countries are eyeing the moves they will make... ( or won't make)...US siding so tightly to Israel is allowing China and Russia to woo Arabs and Muslims...China and Russia don't have to support Hamas...they just have to be reasonable...countries are choosing sides now and once chosen they will be hard to shift...so its important not to be stupid...this is exactly when choices and examples are made...
The problem is the one lesson we have taught our politicians / leaders over the last 20 years is that it pays to be stubborn...never compromise...
Remember when "failure is not an option" and "we have to project strength" (sb reason)...it doesn't mean you can't lose...it only means you can't loose small...
Wouldn't surprise me if 30 years from now history says that China and Russia won the cold war...they paused in the 1990s to get western technology and get rich...it was a headfake and the west fell for it...the cold war resumed after the pause and the west was defeated (not totally but weakened greatly etc...)
Recall Israel worked with South Africa on nukes and also they worked together to develop military equipment designed to control populations of unruly people in desert and urban environs...South Africa after apartheid ended gave up their nukes...
Recall prior to WW2 Mussolini tried to get an alliance with England and France and Russia because he knew war was coming...they refused so he made a pact with Hitler because he knew war was coming and he needed allies...
Britain went to war to free Poland...well after the war finished Poland wasn't free...🧐...was that a victory?
Britain and France declared war on Germany because they invaded Poland...well Britain and France only made a treaty with Poland months before...in an attempt to deter Hitler from attacking...
This is where we are now...maximalist...keep pushing...never compromise...
Regards,
Arthur
P.S. Hopefully I'm wrong and the world sobers up and perhaps we do address world governance globally and restructure global institutions instead of mindlessly clinging to a system that will only result in WW3...
In my opinion, one should not define "Europe" as the "European Union." That's what a "European military" means. Europeans within NATO are welcome to arm up.
The EU is an anti-American proto-imperial body eager to strip away the prefix. America should resist that "ever closer union."
The EU was more than capable in the last thirty years of walking away from NATO in favor of an EU Army.
And it won't be walking away. Eisenhower himself said if the US was still in NATO after ten years it was a failure.
Israel? How many years did Hamas launch rockets into Israel from Gaza?
And btw? What's under the Al-Aqsa mosque? And how old is the Jewish cemetery on Mt. Olive? Ain't Israel's fault that Hamas uses kindersoldaten and human shields in a urban environment.
All Hamas has to do is surrender and release the hostages.
CDR Sal, shot, splash, on target, continuous fire. Lee Smith wrote a book, "The Strong Horse" that was aimed at how cultures rise and fall in the Middle East, (get strong, conquer others, get rich, prosperous and lazy, get conquered by new upcomers, wash, rinse, repeat). People gather around the "strong horse", and abandon that horse when perceived as now being "weak". Human behavior 101, and a pattern of human behavior and civilizational empire arc constantly repeated throughout recorded history. For all of the reasons you have accurately pointed out in this forum, the US Navy is in decline, and with the current industrial trends in ship building, munitions production, personnel development, research and development, etc., that decline curve is accelerating. Which means the U.S. is seen as a "weak horse" in Asia, Europe, the Middle East. Far from being "no better friend, no worse enemy", it can be argued we are seen as "not a reliable ally / friend, not a bad enemy to have since the U.S. is NATO (No Action Talk Only)." Continue fire until receiving check fire. Over.
Biden, 81, didn’t make the family picture after buzz ahead of time that he might want to avoid being seen smiling alongside Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov due to the ongoing Ukraine war.
The White House blamed “logistical issues” afterward and said it was simply a matter of bad timing that Biden missed the photo.
Bullshit, Biden is a divider, not a uniter. In his demented arrogance, he willfully ignored the fact that most wars are stopped by diplomacy and is dead set on the death of his supposed enemy.
I would dearly love to have adults back in the room instead of moody teenagers full of happy happy joy joy feelings.
And yes, we've lost the respect of the world, because we aren't leading. If we had been leaders, Putin and Zelensky would have already had a peace treaty on the table, and Israel would have been brought to heel by now.
The democrats and the deep state are worthless people who need to be gotten rid of, and new blood needs to be infused.
Israel doesn't need to be brought to heel. The US just needs to quit preaching to the Israelis and let them take care of business in Gaza and elsewhere.
Malaise came to an end on election eve 1980 and what followed was a glorious decade beginning with the release of the hostages in Iran to driving Saddam out of Kuwait.
Exactly how I remember it as well. Remember the soldiers running in a Middle East style by Reagan while he stood close by in the stand. They were in full combat gear. Very clear messaging.
US moral power is near zero. US meanderings in the NATO advance to the Balts is taken as threats against a nuclear power, intentional initiatives to Cold War.
At the end of long land locked lines of comm.
Post industrial US, cannot do both MacKinder and Mahan.
A little over two weeks ago the American people took the first step in restoring international respect for our country. Just ask Sheik Baghdadi and General Soleimani.
We, too must show respect for our adversaries. Just ask Putin, Xi and Kim. Issuing indictments, seizing yachts and hurling insults does not appear to accomplish very much.
Another sign that we’re a weak horse, that has been going on for years, is that Russian and Chinese aircraft cut in front of ours or fly close to our aircraft and all we do is whine about their “unsafe and unprofessional” conduct.
Yep. There's three choices for those that are more effective. Light them up with a radar, burst of cannon fire, or Sidewinder launch. Blame it on being nervous.
Why kill someone in public when you can kill them in private. If we have a means to pluck one with electronic warfare, do so. We will know it. They might know it. No one else will. I suspect we can.
Looks like we're gonna need to "inept seamanship" a couple of Chinese boats in Philippine waters....
Soon. Around Jan. 20th.
The amount of combat power the USN amassed in the SCS in 1965...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Task_Force_77_in_South_China_Sea,_1965.jpg
And, in one of the most 'deplorable' instances of US diplomatic/military policy malpractice by the Grandfathers of the current DC Swamp, this power was tragically squandered.
https://archive.org/details/strategyfordefea0000shar_a6c7
Today we see their progeny applying the same stupid ideas of "War as Theater" to effect political and military concessions from the Houthis...
The big brag about blowing up a single truck shows just how clueless these 'Really Smart Guys!' are...
https://x.com/uncensorednews9/status/1857192017073406454
With this band of clowns backing up Adm. Paparo, he won't stand a chance when/if the balloon goes up on his watch.
When Israel responded to the Iranian mass attack of missiles, the single greatest demonstration of "we can take you out any time we want" was the destruction of the radar for a single S400 missile site using a single F-35. OTH, touting the single Houthi truck destruction was just clueless.
"Weak" is relative.
Today, PRC aggression is not from democrat folly. Xi knows President Trump is on the way.
PRC strikes to distract people from their own economic and demographic failures.
I see it as a combination of the two factors you mention, as well as the diminishing demographics (sheer numbers) of the PRC and the fact that 30+ million PRC adult males will never marry due to the previous one-child policy.
When you have a large population of military-aged males with little to no domestic marriage prospects, there's only a few viable options for a country and you need to do it before they age out.
That's the embedded demographic fail. It takes 30 years to create a generation, just a few years gap to lose it.
We need to reach down and find that strength that our ancestors used to survive and bring us into the world.
We need to honor our word and commitments to ourselves and our allies.
We need to train our children about the sometimes vicious realities of life and prepare them for these hardships and quit pretending that everything is pleasant all the time. This does our children a great disservice and doesn’t prepare them for adversity.
Gen X is pretty tough because we had a lot of freedom to succeed and fail and instinct told you that creeper standing by the stop sign and watching you was planning to put you on a milk carton if you went near him.
So the survivors stayed away and the more gullible unfortunately found themselves as pictures on milk cartons.
There is something to be said for nature culling the herd and if you don’t want your kids to be culled then you’d best ready them for this roller coaster called life.
Word is, that when he visited the Amazon during his G20 trip, Biden kept asking to meet Jeff Bezos.
You are bang on here...add in that the Global South has been watching the Israel Hamas war and they have been outraged !! The world sees the US lecturing and moralizing them...then sees them begging Israel to no effect...that is also what makes the US a target...they can't control their a lies even though they alone provide the means to do this. The US says Israel must stop preventing aid from getting into Gaza or the US will stop weapons shipments...Israel doesn't...the US says they did...shipments continue...Israel crosses red lines the US sets...the world sees the US getting played by Israel and also realizes US concerns about loss of innocent life is in fact "situational" as to who deserves protection.
Realize that the US will not get sympathy from the world the next time they are attacked like they did after 9-11. Recall Russia was the first to offer help...Iran had protests in the streets supporting the US...but our leaders are fools...sigh. NOW the world is used to seeing buildings collapsing.
REMEMBER: In a democracy you get the leaders you deserve...no other political system does this...lol
A lot of nations are troubled by Jews who fight back.
Perhaps Pete...but that doesn't change anything I have said...everyone who diagrees with Netanyahu is not an anti-semite.
Maybe, but all anti-Semites disagree with Bibi.
Yes...but they would likely disagree with J-Street also...
It is preferable (imo) not to have the perenial jew/jewish-state haters now aligning with those who love Israel but also disagree with Netanyahu...
You may disagree with J-Street also...but I guess my point is there is likely no jewish organization's outlook that the haters would agree with...we should not empower them by making THEM look reasonable...
No offense intended...
Perhaps Pete...but that doesn't change anything I have said...everyone who disagrees with Netanyahu is not an anti-semite.
US presidents have fallen into the trap of having too much power, both militarily and through the use of executvie orders (I can't tell you how much the latter makes me clench my jaws), which has allowed the executive and legislative branches to get mentally and morally sloppy. We will never be able to control all of the world; nor should we. But every administration seems to think they can. Pick the battles we need to win for national security and economics, and realize that other countries have strategic needs as well.
I realize that probably sounds pretty vacuous and unclear, but going into further detail with my personal picks for a list of national must-win events would hijack this blog, which is not my intention.
Realize that the US will not get sympathy from the world the next time they are attacked like they did after 9-11.
They, not we?
I am not a US citizen...though I did send a missive to Sens Chris Coons and Rand Paul as well as CNN ABC think tanks, newspapers etc... entitled "How to Help America Heal (from a Foreign Friend)" in June 2023.
With all due respect, given recent performances by various nations in regards to multiple international interests? I have zero interest in any input you or said countries may have. Particularly Western NATO.
In fact, I'm rather hoping Trump recalls the Ambassador to England and threatens to leave the Trident missile agreement.
Jetcal1...I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at other than not wanting to listen to non-Americans...
The US after the fall of the Soviet Union did not want its allies to increase military power...France and others wanted to build up a European military but the US didn't want them too...lots of examples of this...the US did not want alternate power nodes to exist...of course NOW...they want it...and in fact they may abandon these allies...
Here is an email I sent over 1 year ago...
On Wed, Oct 18, 2023 at 3:24 PM Arthur Anderson wrote:
If there is one thing I would say to Americans its this...why doesn't having an 80 year old leader nearing the end of his life...under political pressure...a deeply believing Catholic thinking about the after-life and his legacy and who says he has an abiding belief in providence...(and can't get over himself btw) ...SCARE THE bejesus out of America...checks are being written that Biden will not be around cash...wakey wakey...slow down...its a trap...the world recognizes the US is weak...allies will step back...foes will step up...just because the US believes silly things doesn't mean the rest of the world does...
We are weak and we are sending away our weapons...we have years of resupply just to replenish as we continue to weaken (assuming our very few munition factories aren't taken out right away at the start of hostilities (recent border crossers 🤔))...strategic petroleum reserve at all time lows...Saudi and Iran could cooperate and / or be supportive of China...hard for military to recruit...country divided...
Many countries are eyeing the moves they will make... ( or won't make)...US siding so tightly to Israel is allowing China and Russia to woo Arabs and Muslims...China and Russia don't have to support Hamas...they just have to be reasonable...countries are choosing sides now and once chosen they will be hard to shift...so its important not to be stupid...this is exactly when choices and examples are made...
The problem is the one lesson we have taught our politicians / leaders over the last 20 years is that it pays to be stubborn...never compromise...
Remember when "failure is not an option" and "we have to project strength" (sb reason)...it doesn't mean you can't lose...it only means you can't loose small...
Wouldn't surprise me if 30 years from now history says that China and Russia won the cold war...they paused in the 1990s to get western technology and get rich...it was a headfake and the west fell for it...the cold war resumed after the pause and the west was defeated (not totally but weakened greatly etc...)
Recall Israel worked with South Africa on nukes and also they worked together to develop military equipment designed to control populations of unruly people in desert and urban environs...South Africa after apartheid ended gave up their nukes...
Recall prior to WW2 Mussolini tried to get an alliance with England and France and Russia because he knew war was coming...they refused so he made a pact with Hitler because he knew war was coming and he needed allies...
Britain went to war to free Poland...well after the war finished Poland wasn't free...🧐...was that a victory?
Britain and France declared war on Germany because they invaded Poland...well Britain and France only made a treaty with Poland months before...in an attempt to deter Hitler from attacking...
This is where we are now...maximalist...keep pushing...never compromise...
Regards,
Arthur
P.S. Hopefully I'm wrong and the world sobers up and perhaps we do address world governance globally and restructure global institutions instead of mindlessly clinging to a system that will only result in WW3...
In my opinion, one should not define "Europe" as the "European Union." That's what a "European military" means. Europeans within NATO are welcome to arm up.
The EU is an anti-American proto-imperial body eager to strip away the prefix. America should resist that "ever closer union."
The EU was more than capable in the last thirty years of walking away from NATO in favor of an EU Army.
And it won't be walking away. Eisenhower himself said if the US was still in NATO after ten years it was a failure.
Israel? How many years did Hamas launch rockets into Israel from Gaza?
And btw? What's under the Al-Aqsa mosque? And how old is the Jewish cemetery on Mt. Olive? Ain't Israel's fault that Hamas uses kindersoldaten and human shields in a urban environment.
All Hamas has to do is surrender and release the hostages.
Even Neville knew when enough was enough.
CDR Sal, shot, splash, on target, continuous fire. Lee Smith wrote a book, "The Strong Horse" that was aimed at how cultures rise and fall in the Middle East, (get strong, conquer others, get rich, prosperous and lazy, get conquered by new upcomers, wash, rinse, repeat). People gather around the "strong horse", and abandon that horse when perceived as now being "weak". Human behavior 101, and a pattern of human behavior and civilizational empire arc constantly repeated throughout recorded history. For all of the reasons you have accurately pointed out in this forum, the US Navy is in decline, and with the current industrial trends in ship building, munitions production, personnel development, research and development, etc., that decline curve is accelerating. Which means the U.S. is seen as a "weak horse" in Asia, Europe, the Middle East. Far from being "no better friend, no worse enemy", it can be argued we are seen as "not a reliable ally / friend, not a bad enemy to have since the U.S. is NATO (No Action Talk Only)." Continue fire until receiving check fire. Over.
Biden, 81, didn’t make the family picture after buzz ahead of time that he might want to avoid being seen smiling alongside Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov due to the ongoing Ukraine war.
The White House blamed “logistical issues” afterward and said it was simply a matter of bad timing that Biden missed the photo.
Bullshit, Biden is a divider, not a uniter. In his demented arrogance, he willfully ignored the fact that most wars are stopped by diplomacy and is dead set on the death of his supposed enemy.
I would dearly love to have adults back in the room instead of moody teenagers full of happy happy joy joy feelings.
And yes, we've lost the respect of the world, because we aren't leading. If we had been leaders, Putin and Zelensky would have already had a peace treaty on the table, and Israel would have been brought to heel by now.
The democrats and the deep state are worthless people who need to be gotten rid of, and new blood needs to be infused.
Israel doesn't need to be brought to heel. The US just needs to quit preaching to the Israelis and let them take care of business in Gaza and elsewhere.
Yes, it does have everything to do personally with Biden. He has accelerated our decline.
To be fair, he's had 50 years in DC to perfect that decline, and he's made damn good money doing it.
YOU HAVE NAILED IT!
And yet I feel like we are climbing now. It isn’t as strong as when I chose to join under Reagan but it is the same feeling.
Malaise came to an end on election eve 1980 and what followed was a glorious decade beginning with the release of the hostages in Iran to driving Saddam out of Kuwait.
Then came Slick Willie.
Exactly how I remember it as well. Remember the soldiers running in a Middle East style by Reagan while he stood close by in the stand. They were in full combat gear. Very clear messaging.
I remember Reagan in a battleship sailing past the Statue of Liberty. What a time to be in the Navy.
US moral power is near zero. US meanderings in the NATO advance to the Balts is taken as threats against a nuclear power, intentional initiatives to Cold War.
At the end of long land locked lines of comm.
Post industrial US, cannot do both MacKinder and Mahan.
It might not be capable for the necessary
A little over two weeks ago the American people took the first step in restoring international respect for our country. Just ask Sheik Baghdadi and General Soleimani.
We, too must show respect for our adversaries. Just ask Putin, Xi and Kim. Issuing indictments, seizing yachts and hurling insults does not appear to accomplish very much.
Absolutely on point!! Thanks
We don't take Clueless Joe and Facemask seriously, so, why should anyone else?
Hopefully that changes soon
Another sign that we’re a weak horse, that has been going on for years, is that Russian and Chinese aircraft cut in front of ours or fly close to our aircraft and all we do is whine about their “unsafe and unprofessional” conduct.
Yep. There's three choices for those that are more effective. Light them up with a radar, burst of cannon fire, or Sidewinder launch. Blame it on being nervous.
Why kill someone in public when you can kill them in private. If we have a means to pluck one with electronic warfare, do so. We will know it. They might know it. No one else will. I suspect we can.
an AESA radar at 50 meters with a tight beam should be able to send a message