85,000 civilians are dead and those responsible refuse to call it a tragedy


India and China battle over who rules the world more

It seems that when China makes threats against the USA, the great global peacekeeper and its allies just keep shut. Whether China is calling the Dalai Lama a terrorist or talking about nuking every US city, the Americans and Europeans are obviously too scared to say one single word back - meanwhile if an Iranian leader just mentions that he's fed up of Israel's apartheid they start gearing up for an attack (which of course China played a big role in calling off).

Is this the end for the USA and the former European imperialist countries?

Or they choose not to give China credence. To say anything in response would be to take China seriously and give it recognition it doesn't deserve.

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A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

China's credible. Iran is not.

China's a big trade partner we can't get along without, and holds a huge part of our debt. Iran is barely out of the Bronze Age.

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

Astute, clear and concise, Skerlnik.

China is both a credible and gathering threat. They already maintain the ability to "blind" our military satellites as they pass overhead with ground-based lasers.

In January 2007, they successfully tested a crude, but effective anti-satellite missile. Additionally, their defense community has openly been discussing the benefits from pursuing a strategic-balancing doctrine in space; one that would attack our technological Achillie's heal and level the battlefield by denying us our control of space and our satellite communications networks.

Through in the fact that they have armed their subs with the Russian Sunburn supersonic anti-ship missile and have demonstrated their submariner seamanship by surfacing inside the defensive perimeter of the carrier Kitty Hawk in fall 2006.

That's not even mentioning the remark by the General in charge of their strategic rocket forces that they were willing to sacrifice 30 of their major cities if need be to secure Taiwan and victory in the event of war with the US. He then asked if America were willing to sacrifice Portland, Seattle or Los Angelos.

The Chinese are a very credible and serious threat; militarily, economically and politically. We ignore them at our own peril.

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THE BARE KNUCKLED PUNDIT

When you say "we" ignore them at "our" own peril, who are you referring to?

Are Americans expected to follow the world vibe, or should we establish a pulse of our own? I see a subtle agenda here being controlled by international powers that want to globalize the world economy.

I am referring to the United States and its global strategic and geopolitical interests.

And if you wish to disregard China as a gathering threat and rising peer competitor, then you are the one that is following the "world vibe".

I, on the other hand, believe the United States should take a more realistic view of China and begin making decisions based on our interests and not the glossy state-produced propaganda that NBC is gleefully parroting.

I might call your attention to the motto of the Beijing games, "One World, One Dream". Contrary to the prepackaged sentimentality geared to promote the motto, I see a blatant reference to globalism and the CCP's dream of one world led benevolently by a Chinese hegemonic state.

Need I remind you they, much like the Russians, believe they are a great civilization that was taken advantage of and humiliated by the West. Sino jinogism is a powerful force in Chinese society and one that the CCP taps into readily. Accordingly, they believe they have a right to move to the head of the ranks of nations. If they must sacrifice millions of their countrymen to topple America from her position of prominence in the process; so be it.

So that is who I am referring to and why I say we ignore them at our own peril.

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THE BARE KNUCKLED PUNDIT

Thx, Bare.

I sort of split the difference, in a way. While it's of course important to maintain our role as a superpower, and keep our standards of living high, I think we need to acknowledge that other countries are also important.

A big part of being a responsible member of world society is occasionally acquiescing to international treaties and accords - I don't think our sneering at Kyoto, for example, was in our best interest. We only pay attention to the UN when it suits us, and I think that's an arrogant message to send out.

It's kind of a complex tightrope I advocate: non-interventionistic, yet still internationally responsible and honorable.

China is a tricky problem. We can't simply ignore them, and we can't afford to piss them off, because they own half our country. I see this as an opportunity to respond and handle things differently than we did the USSR, and China seems a bit more open (at least economically) to better relations. It might not HAVE to be another, hostile Cold War, unless we choose to respond that way.

It's all dependent on how we play this, over the next ten years. (If they could be turned, they could make a powerful ally.......)

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

Thinking more on it, I tihnk we should just say, "Look, business is business. You guys can have a big ideological hootenanny in Tiennamen Square, that's not our concern. We need to stay our of each other's way, and maintain/improve our trade partnerships. We'll quit carping about Tibet and human rights stuff, which has nothing to do with business."

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

China will take control.

. . .

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Quaestor Patriciusque Imperii Mundi



. . .

China could be brought to its knees in weeks, if not days. How? Simple: half a dozen submarines blockading the ports and totally stopping the importation of oil (sinking tankers, if required), backed up by a CVBG & maybe a few B-2's based on Guam. Combine that with a couple more subs laying mines, and China's maritime trade is effectively halted.

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Jarlaxle
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I know that I will never be politically correct
And I don't give a damn about my lack of ettiquette
--Jim Steinman