General Eric Shinseki is a seasoned armyman but he might be wrong when he called for more military force into Iraq, before his early retirement there was Thomas White standing similarly against Donald Rumsfeld on whether to change the current structure of the U.S. Army or to send more troops into Iraq.
I was refering to the Future Combat System and the STRYKER Brigades initiated by Gen Shinseki. I was one of those who thought the occupation force was too small.
Shall we say Iraq is a big headache,shall we not?
From a strategic standpoint, there was no other choice. After 11 Sept, Saddam had become an intolerable strategic threat and not because of any connection to any terror group or the WMD argument but mainly because that there was no doubt if he could find a way, he would try to hit the US. 11 Sept showed him the way.
I would call Iraq as a pain-in-the-butt for the American public. I don't see anyone wanting to solve the situation. They just want it to go away.
The fault is again leadership. If you don't tell me (or any soldier) what you want, I will definitely give you something you don't want. The American political leadership is not telling anyone what they want to do with Iraq
The taiwan issue is indeed a danger to Chinese government, you know why it insists on the return of a small island? in my view it actually concerns the overall stabilization of the country. and that's why China prefer the status quo to its independence.
anyway, if there have to be a Sino-USA war in the future,the causing fuse could be nothing more than Taiwan.
as for the populace in Tibet and Xinjiang, a recent internet vote on China's Sina.com somehow resulted unlooked-for, 93% of the Tibetan and 96% of the Uigur voted for satisfaction on the current condition of China,while only 83% of the Han clicked the same button.
You're speaking of the current situation with the CCP still in charge. I was hypothetically referring to a China that would be under an American occupation. How long can various ethnic groups stay together before they rebel against a Han insurgent leadership?
I recommend cordially a good visit deep in China. Being a China watcher,you need to make your time on it. and welcome.
Beijing Garrison. Didn't like the kung fu demonstrations but loved the mess. I could grow fat there.
Incidently, Johnny Walkers ain't a good scotch, not even the blue label.
btw,I'm originally from Beijing, now live in Guangdong. dont quite get you on dislikings between different cites in China.it's atbest cultural joke.
Easy, can a person speak only Cantonese in Beijing and get services without jumping through hoops. I speak both Mandarin and Cantonese but I bet you I get more services speaking English than speaking Cantonese. Never tried French in China though.
Humanitarianism is the splendid flag,under which it's Nixon's global stratagem (we still need to give thanks to whatever it was). a good judgement was made during cold war--China could be an excellent frontline in confronting the polar bear. later on was the once-a-time Sino-USA honeymoon featured by the Peacepearl project.
I always thought of them as a Brown Bear. I really don't know what was the final straw that made Moscow backed off. Strictly from a military standpoint, taking Lop Nor would not be hard and effectively divide China in half, destroy their nuclear program and take out Mao.
You're right but my point is that warfare has been changing technically and you may fight a totally different one in near future,whereas the art of war will inspire every generation to the last.
But the fundamentals of war have changed drastically. Caveman days, you take the other guys' dinner, you win. A 1000 years ago, you take the other guy's cities, you win. 200 years ago, you force the other guy to sign a piece of paper, you win. Today, you deny the other guy the information to make decisions, you win.
100 years from now, you may crash the other guy's computer systems and you win
It depends, you can nuke million people prior to their dispersal, but it's very very hard to perish a nation, Judah is the best proof. and on the contrast,10000 superiorty like FBI might also fail to hold back a couple of desperado.
I'm not qualified to speak on nuclear targeting other than that it terrifies me.
I feel you're beside Rumsfeld by preaching smaller amry and higher efficiency. am I right?
No, I'm a dinosaur. I believe that we have lost alot of combat capability since the end of the Cold War. Those Armies facing each other across the Fulda Gap were the deadliest armies the world has ever seen.
I look at V Corps' performances and I feel a cold chill knowing that had V Corps done what they did in Iraq against the Soviet Guards and Shock Armies, they would have been meat. 3-7Cav allowed themselves to be surrounded by the Medina - a single battalion against an entire division - not the odds that I like.
That being said, I also know that I'm a dinosaur and if I stick with my thinking back a 100 years ago, we still be polishing our lance tips and arguing which horse is the best breed on the battlefield - Belgian with Clydesdale a closed 2nd.
