20 Comments
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Arthur W's avatar

Great vision as always. Thank you. Glad to have finally found you after you disappeared from USNI.

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Stephen Skubinna's avatar

Incidentally, the French obviously liked what they saw, as they ordered twelve Kaba class destroyers from Japan for their own navy, which served as the Arabe class.

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Umiami91's avatar

“Our friends are better than their friends anyway.”

Hear, hear. The takeaway from the article.

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the long warred's avatar

We don’t have friends, we have vassals. That’s a critical distinction and a fatal error if believed.

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Jetcal1's avatar

Syria is a vassal.

Cuba is a suzerainty.

Comparison of treaty allies or nominal allies as vassals is not correct.

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Umiami91's avatar

Yeah. And Japan and the Japanese Navy would like a word.

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M. Thompson's avatar

It seems to me, the Japanese are looking at meeting the NATO 2% minimum, if not exceeding it.

I work with a number of Reservists who support CNFJ and recently heard from RADM Lahti recently. I've never heard anything bad about the JMSDF as professionals; only about how they work differently than us. Also, Friday curry.

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thenextbubble's avatar

Now if we could just get Germany to really wake up to the current reality .....

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M. Thompson's avatar

Easier said than done. I don't think anything short of a mass casualty incident in Germany will cause a reexamination of foreign and defense policy.

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Jetcal1's avatar

Germany will defend themselves to the last American.

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M. Thompson's avatar

At least when the Fulda Gap was a defense line, once the balloon went up, the Bundeswher fell under SHAPE said so, and that's what German law said!

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Ron Snyder's avatar

I believe that Germany does want that, but those days are gone (I hope).

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Jetcal1's avatar

Germany is useless. France is marginally useless unless they can leverage it for France or the EU.

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Ron Snyder's avatar

IMO neither Germany nor France feel threatened by Russia, yet. Today is not the Fulda Gap days.

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the long warred's avatar

We just destroyed German industry and we blew up NORDSTREAM, Germany is well cognizant of their current status.

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Ron Snyder's avatar

We have not done anything to German industry. Germany's troubles are all self-imposed. If Germany is aware her vulnerability, and risking her status as an ally of America, she gives no sign of it.

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Ron Snyder's avatar

I wonder how many people realize that the Top Three GDP's in the world are the U.S. at $25 Trillion, China at $18 Trillion and Japan at $4 Trillion. (Russia is just over $2 Trillion).

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Brett Baker's avatar

The Japanese will be great allies in rolling back the Chinese.

Especially if we put them in charge of ship procurement and maintenance....

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the long warred's avatar

We took our laws to war, and lost the wars and the laws-and the Republic.

Now I predict we’ll lose the Empire but keep the country.

And yes it’s your turn.

To lose.

The Navy.

Not even animosity, you won’t believe it until you do it, so go.

As Rumsfeld said you’ll go to war with the Navy you have, not the Navy you’d like to have...

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Ron Snyder's avatar

The former Warsaw Pact countries, Baltic States and Nordic States know what the real threat is. We have pampered Western Europe for 70+ years and they still expect us to take care of them. My opinion is pony up the $$ boys or learn how to speak Russian. France depends too much on her nukes.

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