The Trump Presidency

[R.Caerbannog]

@AWP I don't know why but I just feel like we are being played by the PRC and it unsettles me. It's like we always have to take the high road while our adversaries get to run amok. Recently been thinking of the PRC as more successful variant of the GOT character Littlefinger. Plots and subplots.

@Ocoka Looking back at my statement you're right about a more restrained leader being better in this situation. I guess we'll see what happens with the DPRK as this thing moves forward. I dunno man, I just get the feeling that all of this is working in favor of the PRC and it's objectives to reclaim the past glory of the Chinese. At the end of the day, China scares that crap out of me especially as it starts to solidify it's place as a global powerhouse and near peer adversary. Fingers crossed that they lose at their own game.

 

[Devildoc]

@AWP I don't know why but I just feel like we are being played by the PRC and it unsettles me. It's like we always have to take the high road while our adversaries get to run amok. Recently been thinking of the PRC as more successful variant of the GOT character Littlefinger. Plots and subplots.

@Ocoka Looking back at my statement you're right about a more restrained leader being better in this situation. I guess we'll see what happens with the DPRK as this thing moves forward. I dunno man, I just get the feeling that all of this is working in favor of the PRC and it's objectives to reclaim the past glory of the Chinese. At the end of the day, China scares that crap out of me especially as it starts to solidify it's place as a global powerhouse and near peer adversary. Fingers crossed that they lose at their own game.

I would feel a lot more comfortable about the theory that China is playing on us if they did not have the mess with India going on right now. I think that is one reason they're concerned about a conflict in North Korea, then they will have two potential conflicts on their borders.

I think inasmuch they don't want to get splattered, I just think they don't care. Unless of course it affects them.

 

[R.Caerbannog]

I would feel a lot more comfortable about the theory that China is playing on us if they did not have the mess with India going on right now. I think that is one reason they're concerned about a conflict in North Korea, then they will have two potential conflicts on their borders.

I think inasmuch they don't want to get splattered, I just think they don't care. Unless of course it affects them.

Didn't know that they had issues in India, definitely gonna have to read into it. Sweet!
Add on: Just checked Xinhua and the main page doesn't seem to have any info on it. I see something on CNN though.

 

[ThunderHorse]

@Ocoka Looking back at my statement you're right about a more restrained leader being better in this situation. I guess we'll see what happens with the DPRK as this thing moves forward. I dunno man, I just get the feeling that all of this is working in favor of the PRC and it's objectives to reclaim the past glory of the Chinese. At the end of the day, China scares that crap out of me especially as it starts to solidify it's place as a global powerhouse and near peer adversary. Fingers crossed that they lose at their own game.

I'm not really sure that's the case. We paid off Iran to not do something that they're still doing and we paid them.

China is trying to peck a fight with India. Wild Stuff.

I don't remember a lot of these during O's presidency-

Chelsea Handler on Twitter

 

[TLDR20]

He is talking about Military action in Venezuela now too.

 

[Devildoc]

He is talking about Military action in Venezuela now too.

Yeah, that came out of nowhere. North Korea we knew was festering.

Venezuela? Really??

 

[ThunderHorse]

Then there's this crap from Rosie...

ROSIE on Twitter

 

[Totentanz]

Venezuela's like Iran - an authoritarian government will cause the nation to eat itself alive and outside intervention will serve no purpose for us.

 

[AWP]

I would feel a lot more comfortable about the theory that China is playing on us if they did not have the mess with India going on right now. I think that is one reason they're concerned about a conflict in North Korea, then they will have two potential conflicts on their borders.

I have long held the view that we should dump our friendship w/ Pakistan infavor of one with India. I think if Afghanistan wasn't in play we could. A partnership w/ India would offset PK's stupidity and provide us with a rather robust counterbalance to China. China's already working w/ PK, so it is only a matter of time before India is slowly pushed aside. India gives us another, and better, option for forward deployed forces or at least friendly ports and airports from which to operate. The odds of us turning the tide on their purchase of Russian airframes is small, but their aviation industry is capable of producing aircraft variants if we licensed them. Given its nava; presence it could also allow us to work together on new ship designs or provide a better place to sell older Ticonderoga and Burke ships. We could also, maybe, work out a deal for F-35 purchases. India also has strong ties with our partners in the Persian Gulf (the UAE comes to mind).

If it wasn't for Afghanistan and our reliance on PK's ports, I think a move towards India is a no-brainer. Of course, given my extreme dislike of PK, I'd invade and eliminate that cesspool from the face of the planet, but that's another rant.

 

[Devildoc]

@AWP I have said the same thing for a long time. India is much more stable, they are a solid trade partner, and have really been shoulder-to-shoulder with the US in a lot of military ops. It makes a lot of sense for many reasons.

 

[SpitfireV]

Disagrees re India and reply to Diamondback coming tonight. On phone; annoying to type long messages.

 

[ThunderHorse]

I would take India every day of the week and twice on Sundays over Pakistan. But I suspect there will be a war with both of them soon and would prefer to be pretty far away at that time.

 

[AWP]

An interesting take on matching words with deeds. Assuming this is true I have a hard time disagreeing with the author.

There Are No Signs That US Forces Are About To Go To War With North Korea

There are no tankers dragging American aerial combat aircraft across the Pacific—especially ones like the F-22 that would be key to any fight. Extra missile defense capabilities aren't being sent into the region and US Marines and US Army ground combat units are not being called up for a deployment to the Korean Peninsula to augment US forces already garrisoned there. No ships have been ordered to leave their births to begin their voyage toward Korean shores. Even the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group remains in port in nearby Yokosuka, Japan.

Contrast this with our operations directed at the Russians in Europe. We deploy damn near every airframe in our inventory, troops, ships, the full range for exercises, but nothing for NK? Weird...

 

[RackMaster]

An interesting take on matching words with deeds. Assuming this is true I have a hard time disagreeing with the author.

There Are No Signs That US Forces Are About To Go To War With North Korea



Contrast this with our operations directed at the Russians in Europe. We deploy damn near every airframe in our inventory, troops, ships, the full range for exercises, but nothing for NK? Weird...

It wouldn't take much for the Reagan to move to Korean waters. I have no doubt there's more than one sub in the region.

 

[SpitfireV]

Re India. It just won't happen without a major shift from them. I've spoken before here about it and while I agree it would be a good move for the US I just do not think it could work. India is still too hung up on their old NAM type mindset- they're not inclined to ally up. They'd make a great buyer of aeroplanes in particular but they're so all over the place and so corrupt I'm not sure you guys could lower yourselves to that particular level (heh).

@SpitfireV I didn't mean my comments to be offensive, and if you took them as such I apologize. I was trying to point out that we have been planning for this showdown for a long time.

You're all good mate. Shit happens! The thing is, any preemptive attack on DPRK's nuke capacity can in no way be limited to just that action. It would set off a chain of events that would include, IMO, a series of terrorist attacks on US citizens and facilities. It wouldn't be like Israel taking out the Syrian or Iraqi nuclear facilities, which were basically struck without repercussion. The whole region would suffer, and badly. The defences there- I'm talking geographically wise- would make it particularly difficult to take them out out too IMO- it's not an open desert. That's why I draw some skepticism. I could have worded that a lot less cunt-ily though. I do think that if people think a limited strike is an option then I would disagree since I think it would be a seriously serious operation.

For the record, I would never be against a counter strike. If he tries something or is looking to then yeah, take it all out. It's a big boy's world out there.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

What Bizaro world am I living in when China has become the voice of reason?

Xi calls Trump to urge restraint over North Korea: | Daily Mail Online

Chinese President Xi Jinping made a plea for cool-headedness over escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea in a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, urging both sides to avoid words or actions that could worsen the situation.

 

[TLDR20]

This all seems like theater to me, NK at least. NK does this stuff all the time, we say some shit, and that is it. This time they did some stuff and no one knows when POTUS is being rhetorical or not. I honestly don't. I know we aren't talking about all the other shenanigans though....

 

[ThunderHorse]

What Bizaro world am I living in when China has become the voice of reason?

Xi calls Trump to urge restraint over North Korea: | Daily Mail Online

Chinese President Xi Jinping made a plea for cool-headedness over escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea in a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, urging both sides to avoid words or actions that could worsen the situation.

I wouldn't call it reason, NK is a client state of China.

 

[SpitfireV]

Not so much they're not. Not anymore.

 

[Gunz]

Not so much they're not. Not anymore.

True. Juche (self-reliance) was the senior Kim's ideology for making NK independent and strengthening the dictatorial hold. It got added incentive when the USSR collapsed. It's also responsible for the ongoing malnutrition in NK and the threat of famine. The Army eats first. The people get the scraps.