I state as much in a different comment tree that I agree China wants a buffer. And they’ll grab as much as they can until they meet the West in the middle.
At that point, shots might even be exchanged, but only out of confusion; I wholly doubt they’ll pursue a fight against the US & RoK armies to get all the way South…
Paul-AB
synerg4ce
A big, beautiful pile of TNT. Yuuuge
I didn’t mean to imply they would fight over it. (I say as much elsewhere in this nested comment tree)
In the event of war, I very much expect them to annex some territory for “humanitarian” reasons. And they’d fight Nork units in that scenario.
But IMO they’ll assiduously avoid a fight with the West.
I doubt that. A broader conflict against the West will ruin their economy — really, the world economy — and for what? A few hundred kilometers of the Korean Peninsula?
That’s Ayatollah / Kim Jong-Un levels of crazy.
China’s great interest would be to establish some kind of substantially-sized buffer between themselves & RoK, an American ally. Also to head off a refugee crisis.
The status quo has been convenient for them for so long, but this isn’t the 50's — they’re not sending a million men screaming down South in a fight…
The largely-Pashtun Taliban is bankrolled by Pakistan.
The reason Pakistan did little but complain about years of Obama drone strikes violating their sovereignty is their dog got off the leash, planned 9/11 on Afghan soil whilst in charge of Afghanistan, and later turned on the owner with a wave of violence in…
I see the MOAB strike and instantly divined that it’s the kind of thing most-likely long thought of being done by theater commanders, but wouldn’t pass Obama’s ROE dragnet.
SHORT VERSION: New President, relaxed ROE.
This is all that really needs to be said.
Longer version:
Maybe also: Pentagon won’t ever admit it, but…
The Norks have had all these many years already a deterrent: in the event of any conflict, the artillery starts raining on Seoul & it doesn’t stop until the US, RoK & Japan forcibly silence them, or they run out of ammo.
The overwhelming conventional threat & Seoul’s proximity to the North have been hostage all this…
Megaton?
Echo chamber hot takes like this do nothing good for the American body politic.
... that’s strange. I could have sworn the Syrians just gassed a town ‘bout 4 days ago. It is almost as if not enforcing a red line emboldened Assad to wipe his ass with that UN inspection & disarmament.
If President Obama wanted to act, he could have acted.
Obama is a superior orator to Trump; let the record also show he also didn’t lift a finger in recompense for Syria’s 2013 gas attack.
Irresponsible hot take: we didn’t bleed for Ukraine.
Russia won’t bleed for Syria.
LOL, FFS “crumbles?”
I know the USMC historically got hand me downs but that’s still a sad thing to hear.
GOOD.
The motorcycle driver was in the wrong for crossing a double line but that dude isn’t a cop, and even a cop would be wrong as hell to do that.
The Super Hornet is what the Hornet always should have been.
The A-D’s just don’t have the kind of range you want from a carrier plane, but it was a decent plane, with a diverse payload & didn’t break the bank.
As for Naval F-22, it’s like so many armchair ideas: it would be a brand-new plane; the reality is, we…
Boeing just wants more money at the government’s trough — but if they or anyone wants in on Navy contracts, what we so desperately need again is something with some LEGS.
Even without stealth, the lack of something with some real range has been a very sore capability gap since the F-14's & the A-6 before it were…