While it would certainly be nice to think of China as a benign, friendly, democratic nation, if not an ally of the United States—which makes the computers and cellphones that Americans use, and provides most of the products sold in Walmart stores—the fact is that China is our enemy, now and in the future. A failure to recognize this fact has serious national security implications for our great nation. Those who cavalierly dismiss this and similar assessments, as nothing more than the rantings of “Cold Warriors,” may be condemned to repeat and relive the world wars of the past.
Does this mean that we will be in a shooting war with China any time soon, or that we should gird for war in the future? No, but it means that we must maintain and strengthen our military might, and do nothing to diminish it. We face deadly challenges elsewhere in the world too: for example, from North Korea, Iran, Russia and terrorists. However, we must never underestimate the threat from China, America’s rising Asian rival globally. Among other things, there is a “disconnect” between China’s civilian and military leaderships, which may grow dramatically—and it does not bode well for the future.
As the Wall Street Journal reported:
China conducted the first test flight of its stealth fighter just hours before U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sat down with President Hu Jintao here to mend frayed relations, undermining the meeting and prompting questions over whether China’s civilian leadership is fully in control of the increasingly powerful armed forces.[2]
In early 2001, at the beginning of George W. Bush’s presidency, China’s military tested his metal by forcing down one of our spy planes near the island of Hainan. There were serious questions raised then—as they are being raised now—about whether China’s civilian leadership was fully in control of the country’s military.
Also, the New York Times had a fine article recently, which stated in part:
Older Chinese officers remember a time, before the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 set relations back, when American and Chinese forces made common cause against the Soviet Union.
The younger officers have known only an anti-American ideology, which casts the United States as bent on thwarting China’s rise.
. . .
Chinese military men, from the soldiers and platoon captains all the way up to the army commanders, were always taught that America would be their enemy.[3]
Viewed in its starkest terms, China has threatened a nation-ending EMP Attack against the United States already—which went largely unnoticed by most Americans, even though such an attack might kill all except 30 million of us.[4] In addition to its submarine forces that have been expanded greatly in the past decade, China’s military is deploying new ballistic missiles that can sink U.S. aircraft carriers, and are potentially game-changing, unprecedented threats to our supercarriers and their carrier battle groups.[5]
Also, China is preparing to build an aircraft carrier, which symbolizes the ambition to move far beyond its own shores[6]. Its growing anti-satellite capabilities and quite soon its fifth-generation fighter, not to mention its ongoing Cyberwarfare and economic warfare, are alarming to say the least.
Barack Obama manipulated the 2010 lame-duck session of Congress to ratify the “90 percent useless and 10 percent problematic” New START Treaty with Putin’s Russia—from which the next Republican administration should withdraw[7], just as George W. Bush withdrew from the ABM Treaty, which had expressly prevented major American advances in missile defense. However, the United States’ focus must be on China, not on an essentially-Third World, backwater country like Russia.[8]
As one China military-affairs specialist put it:
Clearly, China’s communist leadership is not impressed by the [Obama] administration’s ending of F-22 production, its retirement of the Navy’s nuclear cruise missile, START Treaty reductions in U.S. missile warheads, and its refusal to consider U.S. space warfare capabilities. Such weakness is the surest way to invite military adventurism from China.[9]
On the positive side, China represents an enormous consumer market. Yet, even on that front, caution is advised and prudence is required. As the Wall Street Journal noted:
It’s tempting for U.S. companies to believe they can rely on access to hundreds of millions of new consumers in China and other emerging-market countries for the lion’s share of future profits. But they had better be prepared for a wide variety of unforeseen barriers.[10]
The United States has other issues and problems with China, including but not limited to Chinese adoption policies that foist “sick” children on unsuspecting, needy American adoptive parents, leading to tragic human suffering and other consequences[11]; China’s human rights abuses, including political prisoners who often serve their terms in an archipelago of labor camps scattered across the country called Laogai[12]; North and South Korea—and their respective international protectors, China and the U.S.—which might be heading for a showdown in the future[13]; and China’s expanding influence in the world, such as its willingness to bail out debt-ridden countries in the euro zone[14].
China has a violent history, which is of recent vintage. Indeed, the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin and China’s Mao Tse-tung were the most ruthless killers of their own people in the 20th Century, and perhaps in the entire history of mankind. Mao was directly responsible for an estimated 30-40 million deaths between 1958 and 1960, as a result of what his regime hailed as the “Great Leap Forward.”[15] Even though human rights activist Liu Xiaobo won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize—after having been sentenced to prison for putting his name to the “Charter 08″ human-rights manifesto, which says that the Chinese people “see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values”—he was denied the right to have a representative collect the prize for him.[16]
Perhaps the best hope for a democratic China at peace with the world rests with the expansion of human rights in the country, as well as consumerism and capitalism; and greater civilian control over the country’s potentially-renegade military. Whether this hope comes to fruition, or ends up as a pipe dream, remains to be seen. Will China’s bluster and swagger lead to war, or dissipate over time; and are the United States and China on a collision course in the Western Pacific and elsewhere?[17] Only time will tell. However, one can never forget that China’s violent past was only a short time ago, and its human rights abuses continue to this day.
© 2011, Timothy D. Naegele
[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). He practices law in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles with his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates, which specializes in Banking and Financial Institutions Law, Internet Law, Litigation and other matters (see www.naegele.com and http://www.naegele.com/naegele_resume.html). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from UCLA, as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles), and can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com
[2] See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704428004576075042571461586.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop
[3] See http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/world/asia/12beijing.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=all
[4] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/
[5] See, e.g., http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/27/china-deploying-carrier-sinking-ballistic-missile/
[6] See, e.g., http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa7f5e6a-09cc-11e0-8b29-00144feabdc0.html#axzz18PUuKHZh
[7] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1014: see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1167 and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1245
[8] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/
[9] See http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/27/china-deploying-carrier-sinking-ballistic-missile/
[10] See, e.g., http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704852004575258541875590852.html?mod=WSJ_hp_editorsPicks
[11] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/problems-with-foreign-adoptions/; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-348 and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-434 (“[B]oth Russia and China have used the U.S. as dumping grounds for their ‘sick’ children”)
[12] See, e.g., http://www.naegele.com/documents/BretStephens-FromAthenstoBeijing.pdf (“How strong can China be if it is terrified of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo?”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-824
[13] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/the-next-major-war-korea-again/ and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1012
[14] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1177
[15] As I have written:
Like Stalin, Mao’s crimes involved Chinese peasants, many of whom died of hunger from man-made famines under collectivist orders that stripped them of all private possessions. The Communist Party forbade them even to cook food at home; private fires were outlawed; and their harvests were taken by the state. Those who dared to question Mao’s agricultural policies—which sought to maximize food output by dispossessing the nation’s most productive farmers—were tortured, sent to labor camps, or executed.
[16] See infra note 12; see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Xiaobo#Nobel_Peace_Prize
[17] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1188
NaegeleBlog 
China’s Tough New Attitude Is Both Dangerous And Counterproductive
This is the subtitle of the first of two important articles in the UK’s Economist—entitled, “Discord”—which states:
See http://www.economist.com/node/17902953?story_id=17902953&fsrc=nlw|hig|01-13-2011|editors_highlights
The second and related Economist article about China is entitled, “Wary detente between China and America: Another go at being friends”—which is subtitled, “A troubled year gives way to handshakes, but tensions between the United States and China are likely to grow”—and it states:
See http://www.economist.com/node/17908622
The most critical issue involving China is whether its civilian leadership is fully in control of its increasingly powerful armed forces. This is the “800-pound gorilla” that may reign and govern in the future, with respect to whether China evolves into a democratic nation at peace with the world, which does not trigger wars in the future.
As I have written in the article above:
Actions speak louder than words. China’s “charm offensive” is illusory, inter alia, because it never really existed. Yes, Hu Jintao and the Chinese delegation are likely to turn on the charm again when they visit the United States, but the reality is clear. China is America’s enemy, and there are no signs of that abating in the future.
If “America is . . . losing clout in relative terms,” as the Economist asserts, it is because of the ruinous presidency of Barack Obama, which hopefully ends no later than January of 2013.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/
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Americans See China As No. 1, Which Is Patently Absurd
A Wall Street Journal article states:
See http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/01/13/americans-see-china-as-no-1/
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List Of U.S. Concerns With China Grows
This is the title of an article in the UK’s Financial Times, which states in part:
See http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2e915fce-1e53-11e0-bab6-00144feab49a.html#axzz1Ax2OHyjr
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Gates Tries To Obscure Fact That China’s Armed Forces Operate Independently Of Civilian Control, And That Command And Control Of Its Nuclear Weapons Is Uncertain
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asserted that he is confident of China’s civilian control over its military, on the eve of next week’s visit to Washington by Hu Jintao, the Chinese president. This is pure political spin by Gates, and is at odds with the facts and with his earlier statements.
Perhaps most importantly, a Los Angeles Times article on the subject contained a paragraph that stated:
See http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gates-20110114,0,6629586.story; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-1266
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China Engages In Totally-Predictable Charm Offensive On The Eve Of Hu Jintao’s American Visit
A Wall Street Journal article notes:
See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703551604576085803801776090.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEADNewsCollection
As always, China’s approach and tactics are well choreographed and calculated.
. . .
Americans’ ace in the hole is that if we were to stop buying goods produced in China, their economy might collapse. Americans are very nationalistic; and a “boycott China” movement might gain momentum, and bring them to their knees.
However, once again, the key factor from China’s standpoint is whether there is or will be civilian control of the country’s armed forces and nuclear weapons. If not, . . . ___.
Please feel free to fill in the blank.
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While I disagree with most of your writing on the subject of China and its government as well as other writings, I will give you credit for your expression and well thought-out points. It is important to listen and read counterpoints as we all have tainted glasses on.
Cheers.
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Thank you for your comments.
Yes, I agree completely.
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Thirty years ago my father said the next major war would arise out of China as generations of males were being raised without girls to marry. He didn’t know what the pretext of the war would be, but that would be its root; excess sons to waste on conflict.
Katherine
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Thank you, Katherine, for your comments, which are interesting.
Similarly, my paternal grandfather was very concerned about America being drawn into a war in the Middle East. He was against it because he believed it was not in our best interests. He did not articulate his concerns or reasons—at least to me—beyond that.
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Dealing With An Assertive China
This is the title of a Wall Street Journal editorial that is subtitled, “If Beijing wants to be treated like an equal, it should act like one.” It states in pertinent part:
See http://www.naegele.com/documents/DealingWithanAssertiveChina.pdf
This is an excellent editorial, which supports two basic and fundamental conclusions:
Lots of people will try to “sugar coat” these issues; however, the facts are irrefutable. As I concluded in the article above:
Lastly, by reason of its reference to “a zero-sum game,” presumably the Journal is referring to a situation in which America’s gains would result from China’s losses. Or to put it another way, if American consumers rejected or boycotted goods from China, its economy might collapse in short order. Perhaps Americans might wish to send this message to China loud and clear, in the near future.
See also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-1292 (“Americans’ ace in the hole is that if we were to stop buying goods produced in China, their economy might collapse. Americans are very nationalistic; and a “boycott China” movement might gain momentum, and bring them to their knees”)
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In Marked Contrast To The Regal Welcome Given By Obama To China’s Hu . . .
. . . The Dalai Lama Was Ushered Out Past White House Trash
What is crystal clear is that Obama’s presidency must end no later than January of 2013, when he is sent packing either to Chicago or Hawaii to lick his political wounds and write his memoirs, and work full time on his presidential library.
It cannot happen fast enough!
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/ (see also the footnotes and comments beneath this article)
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China On “Collision Course” With USA
In an important article about China—which is subtitled, “We all learned at school how the status quo powers mismanaged the spectacular rise of Germany before World War I, a strategic revolution so like the rise of China today”—the UK Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has written:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8277143/Appeasement-is-the-proper-policy-towards-Confucian-China.html (emphasis added)
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Obama Is An Unmitigated Disaster
The Washington Times’ editorial following Barack Obama’s 2011 “State of the Union” speech is excellent, worth reading and reflecting on, and it states in pertinent part:
See http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/26/editorial-obamas-spaced-out-speech/
Barack Obama is a far-Left, anti-war, naive, raving narcissist whose actions have saddled the United States with unprecedented debt, and have been weakening this great nation at every turn. He must be removed from office before he can do even greater damage.
See also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/
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The biggest impediment to the continued growth in Chinese power is their own faith in centralized top down control.
China has achieved its impressive growth of the last few decades by allowing market forces to work – by not trying to direct from the top down.
They don’t seem to appreciate this recent history given their moves to boldly force the transfer of important technologies from Western and Japanese firms directly to their own domestic companies. Yes, it will succeed – to some extent – but ultimately it will create an unfavorable response as the market participants move to protect themselves and ultimately lead to suppressed growth rates and a lower standard of living. In any case, as the Japanese have discovered, in the long run the market will beat any group of bureaucrats in deciding how to allocate resources.
Also it is important to appreciate just how integrated we all are in a rapidly globalizing economy. We all have much more to gain by allowing the process to continue than by hindering its development. One major impediment is that the integration process causes dislocation among specific groups, which respond, because of the persistent habit of most people to impose political boundaries on top of what is an economic and cultural phenomenon, through actions taken politically from within their nation states that inhibit overall growth.
And yes it’s very possible that rogue military elements could bring about a major war through revanchist sentiments. The average Chinese tends to feel that China has been deeply wronged by the outside world and that China must seize a prominent role in the world. Their concept of ‘fair’ in this is extremely different than that of the typical well off liberal in the West and their often aggressive unfair actions will mystify people.
The Chinese military is systematically developing very effective asymmetric means to defeat American forces that they expect to confront in asserting their fair share of prominence. Soon it is very likely that we will reach a point in which our defending Taiwan will become impractical. In any case the best defense must come from the Taiwanese themselves. IMO this will consist of their own Taiwan based set of ICBM’s and ballistic submarine based missiles with nuclear warheads. These together with a clear communicated intention to wipe out all major mainland cities if Taiwan is invaded or blockaded will probably be enough to facedown any rogue elements. Short of that a confrontation with American forces over Taiwan is coming and it is one we will likely lose given the distance from us and proximity to mainland China.
China is both an enemy and a friend and trying to put them in one or the other is to impose unrealistic assumptions on the larger picture developing as the two cultural and political centers integrate economically.
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China’s Jasmine Crackdown
Obama is an utter buffoon, who will not be reelected.
Why is he silent when the forces of democracy are moving in China—like he was silent and failed to come to the aid of those courageous Iranians who were tortured and killed after rising up in protest against the disputed victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, following the 2009 Iranian presidential election?
See http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d4fcf4e6-3f6d-11e0-a1ba-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EpwDexBl (“Nervous China puts security apparatus into overdrive“) and http://www.theworld.org/2011/02/22/china%E2%80%99s-jasmine-crackdown/ (“China’s Jasmine crackdown“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (“China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/#comment-1406 (“The Collapse Of The Mubarak Regime, Wholly Unexpected A Month Ago, May Constitute A Precursor Of What Is To Come Elsewhere In The Middle East“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/is-barack-obama-a-racist/#comment-1445 (“The Goal Of A Global Caliphate . . . And Barack Obama’s Reticence To Fight It“)
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It’s much too soon to conclude that Obama will not be reelected. I remember what happened with Clinton and Dole in 96.
The key to making sure he’s not reelected is to link him to the growing troubles both here and abroad arising out of his extremely foolish and delusional economics and energy policies.
His administration refuses to permit new drilling for oil in the Gulf. That would be bad enough.
Worse his fiscal policies (the stimulus etc) and his Keynesian buddy Bernanke’s foolish QE monetary policies are laying the groundwork for intense political flare ups abroad as the liquidity Bernanke is injecting here flows abroad first causing inflation and conflict as people living on the margins see their food and fuel prices climb out of their reach. This is unnecessary.
Another year or so of this nonsense and we will up to our ears in Egypts and Libyas. The Chinese government is doing a lot all by themselves to create economic problems. But I suspect that in part the bout of inflation causing unrest in China is due to the recent QE and the Chinese inability to counteract its effects flowing into their backyard.
We’re going to get hit several times over because we have such a clueless prof as president. First here for his horribly misguided fiscal and monetary policies. That would be bad enough, but his mismanagement of our economic situation – the downturn which started in 06 – is flowing overseas exacerbating the downturn’s effects over there. Second, as problems both here and overseas grow Obama will continue to make major mistakes in handling them e.g. Iran, Egypt, Libya, China, Wisconsin!!, more to come.
Obama is Carter on steroids and we are all going to suffer for his backwards primitive worldview stuck in a Leftist’s Alice in Wonderland nightmare as to how the world works. Hopelessly muddled.
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Obama Is Carter On Steroids
Thank you for your thoughtful comments as always. I have taken the liberty of using your phrase for the title of this response. 🙂
I agree that the time between now and the 2012 elections is an eternity in political terms.
Also, you may be correct with respect to your second paragraph. I have believed that the twin pincers of the domestic economy and his failed Afghan War will seal Barack Obama’s political fate. With David Petraeus and other key members of our Afghan “team” leaving, the country seems doomed.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/#comment-1440
You state:
I agree with that; and the political unrest in China is interesting, to say the least. I made brief mention of it in my comments that are immediately above yours, which are entitled, “China’s Jasmine Crackdown.”
While China may be embarking on new economic directions in its “12th Five-Year Plan,” I have never believed in centralized governmental planning since I studied the former Soviet Union’s multi-year plans in college, which proved ultimately to be an utter failure and fraud. China’s plans may not be a whole lot better, as evidence appears of Soviet-style deserted “ghost towns.”
See http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/roach2/English (“China’s Turning Point”) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1339536/Ghost-towns-China-Satellite-images-cities-lying-completely-deserted.html (“The ghost towns of China: Amazing satellite images show cities meant to be home to millions lying deserted”) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2005231/Chinas-ghost-towns-New-satellite-pictures-massive-skyscraper-cities-STILL-completely-empty.html (“China’s ghost towns: New satellite pictures show massive skyscraper cities which are STILL completely empty”)
Your last paragraph is brilliant, and I agree with it completely. Indeed, it bears repeating, and emphasis:
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Pentagon Report Reveals China May Have Triggered Economic Crash
The UK’s Daily Mail has reported:
See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361898/Financial-terrorists-bankrupted-America-New-Pentagon-report-blames-U-S-enemies-financial-crisis.html
There is no question whatsoever that China and “dictator-for-life” Putin’s Russia are America’s enemies. Anyone who ignores this fact, or is oblivious to it, is more than simply naïve. He or she is potentially traitorous. Among other things, according to a Wall Street Journal editorial, “China and Russia have the capability to launch an EMP weapon—and have let us know it.” As a result of such an attack, only 30 Million Americans might survive.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/ (“EMP Attack: Only 30 Million Americans Survive”) ; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/
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If the article is accurate as to the results of the report’s analysis, then it’s a waste from beginning to end of taxpayer resources.
“The first phase was the deliberate inflation of oil prices in 2007” How and by whom through what mechanism was the ‘deliberate’ inflation brought about? This is fevered conspiracy thinking. We inflicted Greenspan and Bernanke on ourselves.
If it makes you feel better, the Chinese are as avid followers of Keynes as Greenspan/Bernanke and are well along into screwing themselves over and for many of the same reasons.
“In the second phase, untraceable investors attacked financial institutions such as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers in a ‘bear raid’.”
There were many people who were well aware by that time that we were deep into a bubble that had to burst. That a couple of traders guessed the timing is not remarkable.
“Following this, the ‘third phase’ has seen the massive U.S. public debt now threatening the primacy of the dollar as a global currency.”
Again, this is something we are doing to ourselves. The Chinese have nothing to do with it.
After a debt fed asset bubble bursts, deleveraging is the first priority. Private citizens have been rightfully pursuing this. The Federal government should not have started replacing private debt with public. It is extremely counterproductive and will only prolong the downturn.
And as for dumping shares of Freddie and Fannie, if I were a Russian or a Chinese or for that matter an American investor I would have done the same thing.
The Chinese have been shifting their Treasury exposure from the long end – certain to get hammered – to the short end. This is just common sense.
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Preserving And Enhancing American Military Might During Difficult Economic Times, And Forever
Author Mark Helprin wrote a fine article in the Wall Street Journal about the need to maintain America’s Navy, and not allow it to decline. I agree with his goals completely.
See http://www.naegele.com/documents/TheDeclineofUSNavalPower.pdf
However, there is more to this issue that must be noted.
First, those who venture close enough to the Somali coast to place themselves at risk should not expect the U.S. Navy to rescue them.
It has been suggested that a joint military effort be undertaken by all the countries whose ships have been attacked or are at risk. My understanding is that there are joint operations globally to defend critical shipping lanes. Indeed, even China has contributed military forces to those efforts.
See, e.g., http://www.economist.com/blogs/asiaview/2011/03/chinas_foreign_policy
Yes, it might be ironic if China were to unleash a crippling attack on the Somali pirates and their bases, and thereby earn the respect and admiration of people worldwide. However, the Somali pirates are like gnats: bothersome, but not really dangerous in terms of America’s global commitments.
Yes too, the recent killing of the four sailors went awry, as any hostage taking negotiations can do. I concur that the Somali thugs should be terminated.
Second, Helprin noted: “[W]e are in effect an island nation.” This is how most Americans view their country. Many have never flown on an airplane, nor ventured far from where they grew up; and it is surprising how many sophisticated, wealthy, educated Americans have never been to Europe, or out of the States, or to other parts of the world. Their views are insular, which is reflected in American policies and outlook.
I believe in our great country, and in the inherent wisdom of the American people, and my comments are not intended to disparage them one iota.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/america-a-rich-tapestry-of-life/
Third, I concur with Helprin that vital U.S. national security and economic interests demand a large blue-water fleet. He adds: “As China’s navy rises and ours declines, not that far in the future the trajectories will cross.” I concur with that conclusion too. Both China and “dictator-for-life” Putin’s Russia are our enemies, now and in the future.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/ (see also the footnotes and comments beneath both of these two articles)
Fourth, Helprin states:
I agree; and the same thing is true of other vital military needs and expenditures. Tragically, at present, we have a naïve, anti-war, far-Left, “Hamlet on the Potomac”—or “Jimmy Carter-lite”—narcissistic president, who is a cowardly demagogue. He is determined to weaken our great nation at every turn; and he must not be reelected.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/ and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/is-barack-obama-a-racist/ (see also the footnotes and comments beneath both of these two articles)
Fifth, it has been suggested that American military expenditures are equal to many times what the next countries combined are spending. Hence, the question arises: where is the money going?
There is no question that—like it or not—the United States must maintain its absolute superiority now and in the future. No nation must be in a position to ever challenge us. Our very survival depends on it.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/
As I told a friend recently, who had commented on a Pentagon report that China may have triggered our economic crash:
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-1467
I spent two years working at the Pentagon in intelligence, and then I have worked on and with Capitol Hill for most of my legal career. During this time, I have had an opportunity to see many federal government agencies and programs in action; and I can honestly say that the Pentagon is the best by far. There is no agency or program that is even remotely close.
The people who work at the Pentagon and serve our military—both in uniform and as civilians—are totally dedicated and professional; and they have inspired enormous pride in me over the years. If you read any of my articles, you will realize that I do not spare my criticism of people and institutions; and I am not naïve. Some people might assert that I am cynical; I prefer to believe that I am an idealist, who is repulsed when I encounter something that is less than just or the best.
The Pentagon and our military are not perfect, but they are truly excellent. There are reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed and we are the only superpower in the world today. It did not just happen by chance.
This enormous power must be maintained and nourished. I will repeat—because it deserves emphasis again and again—our very survival depends on it. This is not a “Mary Poppins” world in which we live. There are countries and terrorist groups around the world that want to destroy our great nation, and kill all of us. This is a fact of life, period.
What follows are the comparative numbers relating to our military expenditures vis-à-vis those of other countries. There may be more recent numbers that are available publicly, but I have not seen them.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures#Chart_by_country_or_organization
For better or worse, America protects the free world; we encourage those countries and people who yearn for democracy and freedom; we are winding down a very successful war in Iraq, which I questioned and opposed at the outset, but was impressed that George W. Bush’s “surge” worked and won that war; we are mired in the Afghan War, which Barack Obama does not seem to have the will or determination to win; and we have commitments that are essentially endless.
We have no allies that are capable of doing any “heavy lifting” today. The UK is “gutting” its military; NATO is a mere shell of what it once was; and we are it—with very heavy duties and responsibilities. After having worked in and with government for so many years, I believe government is a vast wasteland, most of which should be eliminated. The one exception would be the Pentagon and our brilliant and, yes, wonderful and awe-inspiring military forces.
. . .
Update:
The UK’s Daily Mail has reported:
See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365156/14-Somali-pirates-accused-killing-U-S-sailors-appear-Virginia-court-yacht-hijack.html (“14 Somali ‘pirates’ accused of killing four U.S. sailors appear in Virginia court over yacht hijack”)
Thus, even though the four sailors apparently placed themselves at risk by venturing into dangerous waters, and they should not have expected the U.S. Navy to rescue them, nonetheless the Navy attempted to do so and is bringing their killers to justice. It is another example of our brilliant military at work.
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China’s Defense Budget Draws Concern
In a Wall Street Journal article with this title, it is reported:
See http://www.naegele.com/documents/ChinasDefenseBudgetDrawsConcern.pdf
These are potentially-dangerous developments, inter alia, because—as indicated in comments above these—it appears that China is on a collision course with America, militarily and economically. Also, there are reasons to believe that its civilian leaders do not control its military.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-1322; see also http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1365330/Did-China-develop-deadly-stealth-fighter-using-parts-downed-U-S-bomber.html (“Did China develop its deadly stealth fighter using parts from a downed U.S. bomber?“)
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It’s not just my dad.
See http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-06/worldwide-gender-gap-means-more-bachelors-in-asia/
Katherine
[Note: Katherine raised the fact above that 30 years ago her father said the next major war would arise out of China, as generations of males were being raised without girls to marry. See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-1301]
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The global capital structure has been integrating at an accelerated pace since the end of the Cold War, and this has been particularly led by the integration of China and the US.
The recent asset/debt bubble that started to unravel in 06 – visibly in 08 – is far from finished. Both China and the US are taking actions that exacerbate the problems rather than encourage quicker healing and these actions will impact each other negatively.
Here’s a column by Andy Xie writing about the problem from the Chinese point of view.
http://english.caing.com/englishNews.jsp?id=100235531&time=2011-03-11&cl=111&page=all
The Chinese were able to achieve their phenomenal growth rates by seriously dangerous and horrendous exploitation of their ‘middle’ class and by our willingness to generate a huge consumer asset/debt bubble – something we have continued despite the downturn (via government borrowing/spending even as consumers retrench to repair their household balance sheets).
The downturn is far from over and far worse is yet to come that will be impacting both China and the US. The trigger will likely be higher interest/inflation rates. These effects will be felt long before either side can get a war started.
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Thank you for your thoughtful comments as always.
I concur except with respect to the issue of whether there will be “higher interest/inflation rates” in the United States, or serious deflation, or something in the middle: stagflation. The jury is still out; however, my guess is that there may be some inflation, albeit the likelihood of deflation is even greater. It is anyone’s guess though, unless one has a crystal ball.
Wars seem to be partly the outgrowth of severe economic problems, as you know. Among other things, they are a way for politicians of all stripes to refocus public attention on issues other than their own shortcomings (e.g., Obama’s attacks on Libya while he is “vacationing” in Rio).
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/#comment-1518
Next, Xie’s article about China—which is entitled, “Rebalancing Cannot Wait,” and subtitled, “When a white collar worker who is successful by any standard cannot afford a home after ten years of working, something is very wrong with the market and the economy”—is a good one, and worth reading. However, as China’s workers are “hurting,” its list of billionaires is growing. As Xie points out:
See also http://www.forbes.com/wealth/billionaires#p_1_s_arank_-1__99
Xie adds:
I would like to see Americans boycott products from China, and effectively shut them out of U.S. markets. This would be especially necessary as China becomes more aggressive militarily. I do not “need” to buy anything from China, and I assume lots of other Americans might reach similar conclusions and decisions.
. . .
Also, as the full effect of the “Great Depression II” sinks in with America’s Middle Class during the balance of this decade, its members will become more and more angry.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally
Indeed, as I wrote almost two years ago now:
See http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/tms/politics/2009/Apr/08/euphoria_or_the_obama_depression_.html
We saw this already with the American mid-term elections last November, in which Obama and his Democrats were “decimated” politically. However, the inept Republicans made him “relevant” again during the lame-duck session of Congress that followed. If the GOP does not blow it again, Obama will not be reelected; and he may return to either Chicago or Hawaii no later than January of 2013, to lick his political wounds and write his memoirs, and work on his presidential library full time. It cannot happen fast enough. He is truly an “Obamination.”
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/#comment-1149
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China Kills Dissidents
In an article entitled, “US deeply concerned over rising China detentions,” the UK’s Guardian reported:
See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9579943; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-1448 (“China’s Jasmine Crackdown“) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1165416/Chinas-hi-tech-death-van-criminals-executed-organs-sold-black-market.html (“China’s hi-tech ‘death van’ where criminals are executed and then their organs are sold on black market“)
What has been happening in China is akin to the brutal practices of other repressive regimes, such as “dictator-for-life” Putin’s Russia.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/
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China Is Likely To Be The First Country To Grow Old Before It Gets Rich
This is the conclusion of an article in the UK’s Economist, which is worth reading and states:
See http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/04/chinas_census&fsrc=nwl
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OSAMA IS DEAD, AND OBAMA MUST BE IMPEACHED
Multiple sources have confirmed that 9/11 terrorist mastermind, bin Laden, is dead. The Wall Street Journal has reported:
See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704569404576297941397558496.html?mod=#articleTabs%3Darticle; see also http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/04/us-binladen-pakistan-photos-idUSTRE74370620110504 (“Photos show three dead men at bin Laden raid house”) and http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/de-Borchgrave/2011/05/03/Commentary-Pakistans-split-personality/UPI-50101304416227/ (“The sad truth about bin Laden’s burial at sea is that it will have little impact on the global war on terrorism“) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382760/Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-Will-cutting-snakes-head-kill-Al-Qaeda.html (“Will cutting off the snake’s head kill Al Qaeda when Bin Laden was little more than an isolated figurehead?”—”If anything, there could be an increase in attacks on the West to avenge the killing of Bin Laden“) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382831/Senator-Scott-Brown-heading-Afghanistan-National-Guard-training.html (“I commend President Obama, former President Bush and the highly capable men and women in our military and intelligence community whose tireless work over the last decade made this day possible”) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382815/Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-Who-Obamas-Navy-SEALS-Team-6.html (“They are the U.S. military’s super soldiers . . . Navy SEALs from the famed SEAL ‘Team Six’—these secretive warriors are one of the most fearsome fighting forces in the world . . . the best of the best . . . [and] the success of the bin Laden raid proves just how versatile they are”—and “It hurts my heart that such warriors are needed . . . [but it] makes my heart swell with pride that the US has them”) and http://www.sealswcc.com/seal-default.aspx and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383482/Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-Did-US-forces-use-stealth-helicopters-raid.html (“Did U.S. forces use secret stealth helicopters in bin Laden raid?”) and http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-stealth-chopper-20110507,0,3304582,full.story (“Bin Laden raid reveals another elusive target: a stealth helicopter”)
Osama bin Laden’s death is a victory for U.S. intelligence and the heroic American military, not for Barack Hussein Obama who has been “gutting” the U.S. military and plans more of the same—which is why Leon Panetta is going to the Pentagon. At best, Obama is a narcissistic demagogue who is weakening the security of the United States; and he must be impeached.
As former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey warned in a Wall Street Journal article, the killing of Osama bin Laden was a great victory for the U.S. intelligence community, but it may well be the last one because of Obama’s refusal to use tough tactics such as waterboarding on terror suspects:
See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859304576305023876506348.html
Clearly, Obama must be removed from office. He is a threat to the security of the United States, and the American people.
See also http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1384070/Osama-Bin-Ladens-death-9-11-families-angry-Obamas-handling.html (“‘He took the spotlight’: 9/11 families angry over Obama’s handling of Bin Laden’s death“); and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected (see also the footnotes and other comments beneath the article) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383860/Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-George-Bush-angry-Obama-does-Ground-Zero-victory-lap.html (“Jilted George Bush angry at lack of credit for catching Bin Laden as Obama prepares for Ground Zero ‘victory lap'”) and http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/evil_does_not_die_of_natural_causes/2011/05/05/AFhTKG2F_story.html (“[T]he bin Laden operation could never have happened [without the] Global War on Terror infrastructure that critics, including Barack Obama himself, deplored as a tragic detour from American rectitude“) http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=43326 (“Thanks to our feckless president, most of the Middle East is rapidly degenerating into a terrorist fever-swamp“) and http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859304576306941215709576.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADSecond (“Bin Laden’s Death Changes Little“) and http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/ericholder-guantanamobay-closure/2011/05/09/id/395712?s=al&promo_code=C3C3-1 (“Eric Holder Vows to Close Guantanamo“)
. . .
Also, in an important article entitled, “Pakistan: Cutting to the quick,” UPI Editor at Large Arnaud de Borchgrave states:
See http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/de-Borchgrave/2011/05/06/Commentary-Pakistan-Cutting-to-the-quick/UPI-20221304676040/; see also http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/5/evidence-at-bin-ladens-home-raises-nuclear-concern/ (“Evidence at bin Laden’s home raises nuclear concerns“)
. . .
One “hostile government” that might get clues to sensitive U.S. military technology from what is left of the American helicopter that crashed at the bin Laden compound in Pakistan—if it has not done so already—is of course China, whose presence in Pakistan is considerable. Indeed, China would like nothing more than to fill the vacuum if, or rather when, the United States withdraws from Afghanistan.
One must never forget that China was on the spot almost immediately after the American F-117 Nighthawk was shot down over Serbia in 1999—and we failed to destroy the wreckage. Indeed, the Chinese gleaned some of their technological know-how from that crash; and there is evidence to support the fact that China’s new stealth aircraft is the result of reverse engineering gained from the crash.
History may repeat itself in Pakistan, as our enemy China seeks to leap frog American technological advances.
See, e.g., http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703992704576305573936767298.html (“Crashed Copter Sparks Concern About Secrets”) and http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-raid-pakistan-hints-china-peak/story?id=13570573 (“Osama Bin Laden Raid: Pakistan Hints China Wants a Peek at Secret Helicopter”) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385728/Osama-Bin-Laden-dead–stealth-helicopter-blackhawk-china-Pakistan.html (“Pakistan to let Chinese plunder secret U.S. stealth helicopter downed in Bin Laden raid“)
. . .
Also, a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan would constitute the death knell of Afghan women—and their rights—who were brutalized by the Taliban before the United States invaded the country.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/#comment-1102; see also http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386784/I-eating-souffle-Laura-said–good–George-W-Bush-speaks-moment-Obama-called-say-Bin-Laden-dead.html (“[George W. Bush] took no credit for initiating the mission and instead praised [America’s] troops for their bravery“)
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China Prepares For War With The U.S.
In an article entitled, “Glorious Revolution: Chinese army develop first-person shooter game . . . with U.S. troops as the enemy,” the UK’s Daily Mail states:
See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388867/Chinese-army-PLA-develop-military-game-Glorious-Revolution-shoot-U-S-troops.html
These are the peace-loving Chinese . . . NOT!
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China Sees America As Its Enemy
This is the conclusion reached by acclaimed Chinese author Xiaolu Guo, which is set forth in a UK Telegraph article that adds:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/8544960/Hay-Festival-2011-Xiaolu-Guo-says-China-views-America-as-threat.html
Our “war” is not with the Chinese people, but with their communist masters who occupy positions of power and oppression, foremost in the military.
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Why Barack Obama Must Be Removed From The Presidency
Arnaud de Borchgrave, editor-at-large of The Washington Times and of United Press International—and a foreign policy “guru,” with respect to whom I have enormous admiration and respect—has another fine article that is worth reading and reflecting on, albeit I respectfully disagree with many of his conclusions. Its implications go directly to the future of the United States as the world’s only superpower and the greatest nation on the earth.
See http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/30/shining-citadel-redux/
In it, he stated that “[t]he U.S. owes China $1.3 trillion.” So what? We can refuse to pay them.
Indeed, China is dependent on Americans’ consumer purchases. Hence, China is “in bed” with us. To bring down our economy is to bring down their economy. They have no choice except to ride along, God love ’em.
In a sense, our debt is “funny money.” It is like playing the game of “Monopoly,” as a kid, except that the U.S. is “too big to fail” and China’s economy is tied into ours. Is it a “zero-sum” game where only one party wins, or the game of “musical chairs” where only one person gets that last seat? Not at all. The global economy, at least with respect to China and the U.S., is too “integrated.” Yes, they might like to “screw” us, but they would end up screwing themselves too. Hence, it can be argued that they are “boxed in”—at least economically, if not militarily.
Next, de Borchgrave asserted:
It is not that easy, or straightforward. America cannot lose without China losing bigtime. If our economy comes to a halt, theirs will come to a screeching halt, with their population out of work and mass riots that even their vaulted security apparatus and military might not be able to put down. Then, the “Arab Spring” or the “Scent of Jasmine,” which they have quelled so far, will come to China with a resounding thud.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-1612 (“The Chinese Communist Party And The Masses Have Drifted Apart, And The Party May Be In Danger Of A Confrontation With The Chinese People”)
Also, de Borchgrave argued:
It is highly unlikely that the death of bin Laden “changed the course of history,” or anything close. However, Barack Obama, being the raving narcissist and demagogue that he is, is milking this one completely and will continue to do so. Our heroic intelligence and military personnel pulled it off. Apparently they knew of bin Laden’s whereabouts for quite a while; however, our “Hamlet on the Potomac,” Obama, “dithered” and could not make a decision.
Also, while this was a “small-scale operation,” we need our overwhelming military forces to protect us and our allies, and project American power and might around the world. Make no mistake about it. Among other things, it prevents wars and keeps us safe at home.
De Borchgrave stated:
Prior to the commencement of that war, I argued against launching it, inter alia, because I believed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (or “WMDs”)—which he would not hesitate to use against our military forces, and they might be at risk.
Having embarked on the war, however, David Petraeus’ “surge”—which George W. Bush approved, despite opposition from the Pentagon—proved to be brilliant and very successful. Whether Iraq can hold on to its fragile democracy remains to be seen. But we should not withdraw from the country despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s lack of support with respect to this issue. Also, like George H.W. Bush did with respect to the Gulf War (e.g., getting monies from the Saudis and Kuwaitis), we should be receiving Iraqi oil revenues to compensate us for the human and financial costs of the war.
De Borchgrave added:
Obama has increased our budget deficit dramatically; and it was totally foreseeable that he would use that as an excuse to slash our military. Without our military and economic strength, we will be in deep trouble. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said it best—which is quoted in the Wall Street Journal:
See, https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/#comment-1606 (“Barack Obama’s Sacking Of The Pentagon”)
It is arguable that Barack Obama is destroying the U.S., and that he must be removed from office ASAP, no later than January of 2013. Yes, I know that many Americans may take umbrage at this statement, but the man is a disaster in terms of the future of our great country. He is far worse than Jimmy Carter. At least Carter was a “misguided” patriot, who had gone to Annapolis and served in our military.
Next, de Borchgrave asserted:
I agree with them. In the past, de Borchgrave has catalogued the threat from China alone. The U.S. military must not be weakened one iota; and in fact, it must be strengthened. We have to rebuild after two wars.
De Borchgrave contended:
The “treasure trove” of intelligence was welcomed and valuable, and bin Laden’s death was a “symbolic” victory, but all of this is a mere drop of water in the vast oceans when compared with China and other enemies around the world that seek to destroy the United States and our allies. Bin Laden’s death cannot be used as an excuse to cut any military expenditures. However, the consummate demagogue Obama is trying to do it. Leon Panetta is not being sent to the Pentagon as our next Secretary of Defense to preside over a military “build up.” Hopefully both he and Obama are on their way out of office no later than January of 2013.
De Borchgrave observed:
This is true today thanks in large part to Ronald Reagan, whom the Democrats hated and tried to destroy politically. Now he is “deified,” and they do not dare open their mouths. However, they tried to bring down his presidency, inter alia, with the so-called “Iran-Contra scandal.” And yes, like Reagan, I was once a Democrat, but never again—to the best of my belief.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/the-rise-of-independents/ (“The Rise Of Independents”)
Taking a quasi-defeatist, Jimmy Carter-esque approach, de Borchgrave asserted:
“Self-inflicted” largely by Obama, who has increased our budget deficit dramatically and put us in an “either-or” posture (e.g., either debt reductions or defense). He and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and their Democrats, have come perilously close to bankrupting our great nation.
Next, de Borchgrave argued: “The Iraq war was an expensive mistake.” It was only an “expensive mistake” if the flame of democracy flickers and dies, after we have given it life.
De Borchgrave added:
It is Barack Obama’s Vietnam—which was Lyndon Johnson’s war.
If de Borchgrave is correct that the Afghan War is futile, it will represent a human tragedy of staggering proportions, especially for Afghan women. I would not give a plug nickel for the lives of Afghan women if the Taliban return to power!
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/#comment-1102 (“Why We Fight In Afghanistan, And Why American Women Should Demand Barack Obama’s Removal From Office By Impeachment Or Otherwise”)
De Borchgrave contended:
This is the “party line” from the “Kool-Aid” crowd, or far-Left, anti-war Democrats who occupy the White House and other seats of power in Washington, D.C. today, as well as the American media—and I am not suggesting that de Borchgrave is part of that group, nor has he become beguiled by it.
If we go to war with China or North Korea, for example, it will not be a “cyber- and robotic conflict.” If an EMP Attack can be mounted against us, we will not be able to defend against it with “pee shooters.” Yet, this is precisely the Obama-Biden view of the world, and the reason why their presidency must end, sooner rather than later. Our great country cannot go through another four years with them in charge; and yes, I am an Independent, not a Republican.
Next, de Borchgrave contended: “The F-35 will be the last manned fighter bomber built.”
I do not believe this at all. If we are in a shooting war with China or North Korea, for example, we will need fighter jets, bombers and drones. All of our drones in this world will not save us. To argue that they would do so is like arguing that American foot soldiers are obsolete, which is utter nonsense, and more left-wing, anti-war, Democratic “babble.”
De Borchgrave added:
Fifty years is a long time. Neither de Borchgrave nor I will be here then, but hopefully many hundreds of millions of Americans will be. The 50-year argument is a total “red herring,” used by the Democrats to inflate the apparent costs and kill off the weapons systems.
Also, de Borchgrave stated:
I concur that U.S. drones are potentially excellent, but like the American foot soldier, they will never replace fighters and bombers, especially when it comes to possible wars with China and North Korea—or Russia if it ever challenges us again. We need to project America’s power, and drones do not achieve that. Indeed, a logical extension of de Borchgrave’s arguments is that America would do away with our carrier battle groups too, which is absurd.
He asserted as well:
First, soldiers on the ground will prevent the Taliban—if enough are deployed, and if we have the will to win, which Obama does not.
Second, Taliban “pledges” in general, and those to treat women humanely, are utter nonsense. They are the equivalent of what happened in Vietnam after America departed, when an estimated million Vietnamese lost their lives.
Third, with the fall of Afghanistan, is Pakistan far behind?
Lastly, de Borchgrave asserted:
We have “fair weather” friends and allies. Indeed, our principal ally’s military, that of the UK, is getting “decimated” by its Prime Minister David Cameron, which is what Barack Obama and his Über-Leftists want to do to our great military.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-1591 (“Sun Setting On British Power”)
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The Chinese Communist Party And The Masses Have Drifted Apart, And The Party May Be In Danger Of A Confrontation With The Chinese People
These are conclusions set forth in an important Wall Street Journal article entitled, “Red Ghost Over China”—and subtitled, “Maoism makes a comeback as economic and political reform ebb”—which is worth reading. It states in pertinent part:
See http://www.naegele.com/documents/RedGhostOverChina.pdf (emphasis added); see also http://www.naegele.com/documents/ThousandsRallyinHongKongforHumanRights.pdf (“Thousands Rally in Hong Kong for Human Rights”)
Is China’s “neo-Maoist moment” similar to the resurgence of Stalinism in Russia—and the “iron fist” of Stalin’s heir, dictator-for-life Vladimir Putin? Mao Tse-tung and Joseph Stalin were the most ruthless killers of their own people in the 20th Century, and perhaps in the entire history of mankind. Mao was directly responsible for an estimated 30-40 million deaths between 1958 and 1960, as a result of what his regime hailed as the “Great Leap Forward.” It is estimated that Stalin was responsible for the deaths of more than 30 million men, women and children—his own countrymen—including millions during the collectivization of the Soviet farms in the 1930s.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin’s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao’s-chinese-holocaust/ (“The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/ (“Russia’s Putin Is A Killer”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-1611 (“Why Barack Obama Must Be Removed From The Presidency”)
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a blog from the ashes of the cold war.
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Thank you for your comment . . . whatever your real name is. I assume you are in China, working in its propaganda ministry or for its military, in part because you used a phony e-mail address, and my response to you was returned by Yahoo!
The Cold War never ended—it merely changed forms. China is every bit as much our enemy today as it was before. Your posting at this blog, and China’s Cyber-attack against Google’s Gmail, are perfect examples.
See, e.g., http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576359770243517568.html and http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576361300123816450.html
The same is true of “dictator-for-life” Putin’s Russia. However, Russia is closer to a Third World country than America’s rival, which it used to be—and it is essentially irrelevant today, although both the United States and China pay lip service to it.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/
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CNN Poll: Obama Approval Rating Drops As Fears Of Depression Rise
This is the title of an important CNN article, which is worth reading. It states in pertinent part:
See http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/08/cnn-poll-obama-approval-rating-drops-as-fears-of-depression-rise/; see also http://cnsnews.com/news/article/after-28-months-stimulus-spending-19-mil (“1.9 Million Fewer Americans Have Jobs Today Than When Obama Signed Stimulus”) and http://www.cnbc.com/id/43441924 (“Misery Index” Highest In 28 Years)
Since before this blog began in December of 2009, I have maintained that the United States and other countries worldwide are in the mist of the “Great Depression II.” If anything, the empirical data and other similar findings set forth at this blog support that conclusion. It has been stated again and again that 20-40 years from now, economic historians will describe the end of the last decade and the current decade as an economic depression, not a recession, drawing parallels between this period and the Great Depression of the last century that did not end until the outset of World War II—or perhaps at the end of it.
Also, I have maintained that “green shoots”—or signs that things are improving—may appear from time to time, similar to what happened during the Great Depression, and hopes may rise. However, in all likelihood, they will be short-lived and dashed as the green shoots turn into “dead weeds,” and the economic tsunami continues to roll worldwide, bringing enormous suffering to millions of people. With respect to the housing sector alone, I have predicted that the “bottom” will not be reached for at least another five years; and that those who sit on the sidelines and wait patiently, with cash, will find bargains galore and be rewarded handsomely.
See, e.g., http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/173_212/-365185-1.html (“Greenspan’s Fingerprints All Over Enduring Mess”) and http://www.philstockworld.com/2009/10/11/greenspan%E2%80%99s-legacy-more-suffering-to-come/ (“Greenspan’s legacy: more suffering to come”—”Interview with Timothy D. Naegele”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/will-the-eus-collapse-push-the-world-deeper-into-the-great-depression-ii/ (“Will The EU’s Collapse Push The World Deeper Into The Great Depression II?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/is-financial-reform-simply-washingtons-latest-boondoggle/ (“Is Financial Reform Simply Washington’s Latest Boondoggle?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/the-great-depression-ii/ (“The Great Depression II?”)
More and more observers are agreeing with what has been stated at this blog; namely, the Great Depression II is here to stay, at least through the balance of this decade, and the human suffering is and will continue to be unfathomable. As I stated in an article entitled, “Euphoria or the Obama Depression?” that was published by the McClatchy Newspapers and McClatchy-Tribune News Service on April 8, 2009:
See http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/tms/politics/2009/Apr/08/euphoria_or_the_obama_depression_.html
I have contended that “Barack Obama Is A Lame-Duck President Who Will Not Be Reelected,” and this conclusion is becoming more and more evident to millions of Americans and others worldwide.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/ (see also the footnotes and comments beneath the article); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/#comment-1617 (“Why Barack Obama May Be Heading For Electoral Disaster In 2012”) and http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-22/obama-gets-30-of-americans-certain-to-support-re-election-in-economy-poll.html (“Obama Gets 30% of Americans Certain to Support Re-Election in Economy Poll”) and http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304657804576401653113017130.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read (“President Barack Obama is likely to be defeated in 2012”)
. . .
In a CNBC article entitled, “US Is Nearing Even Worse Financial Crisis: Jim Rogers,” financial “guru” and international investor Jim Rogers’ sobering assessments are cited:
See http://www.cnbc.com/id/43328325; see also http://www.cnbc.com/id/43354054 (“JPMorgan Forecasts Another Drop in Home Prices”) and http://www.marketwatch.com/story/many-of-us-wont-be-able-to-retire-until-our-80s-2011-06-09 (“Many of us won’t be able to retire until our 80s”)
CNBC has reported:
See http://www.cnbc.com/id/43395857 (“US Housing Crisis Is Now Worse Than Great Depression”)
In another important Wall Street Journal article entitled, “The Great Property Bubble of China May Be Popping,” it has been reported:
see http://www.naegele.com/documents/TheGreatPropertyBubbleofChinaMayBePopping.pdf; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (“China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That”) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2005231/Chinas-ghost-towns-New-satellite-pictures-massive-skyscraper-cities-STILL-completely-empty.html (“China’s ghost towns: New satellite pictures show massive skyscraper cities which are STILL completely empty”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/8598998/Enter-the-dragon-to-save-the-euro.html (“Enter the dragon ‘to save the euro’”)
The economic tsunami that was unleashed several years ago continues to roll worldwide, producing tragic human suffering that will increase exponentially during the balance of this decade.
Hold on tight. The worst is yet to come. Things will get very ugly between now and the end of this decade, both in the United States and globally!
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Russian Despot Putin’s Repression Continues, While Obama Is Endorsed
In an article entitled, “Medvedev hints he and Putin won’t be 2012 rivals,” Reuters has reported:
See http://ca.news.yahoo.com/medvedev-hints-putin-wont-2012-rivals-213400461.html
It is not surprising that his lapdog, Medvedev, will not oppose Russia’s “Hitler,” Putin, in perpetuating his brutal de facto dictatorship. Hitler’s henchmen and those of Stalin did not oppose them either.
Similarly, it is not surprising that they would endorse and embrace Barack Obama, who was responsible for giving them the New START Treaty. George W. Bush withdrew from the ABM Treaty, which had expressly prevented major advances in missile defense. The next GOP administration must withdraw from the New START Treaty as soon as it comes to power.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1137 and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1147 (“Obama And His Democrats Did Not Get The Message—Their Ranks Need To Be Thinned Even More, Starting With Obama”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1167 (“Russia Warns Against START Changes—So What?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1182 (“Republicans Who Voted To Ratify START Should Be Defeated”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1194 (“The New START Treaty Is Another Obama Travesty—Like ObamaCare—Which The Next GOP Administration Should Withdraw From Immediately”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1245 and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1397 (“WikiLeaks cables: US agrees to tell Russia Britain’s nuclear secrets”) and http://www.theotherrussia.org/2011/06/09/russia-nato-missile-defense-negotations-break-down/ (“Russia-NATO Missile Defense Negotations Break Down”)
In important testimony before Congress, former world chess champion and chairman of the United Civil Front—a pro-democracy group—and co-chair of the Russian Solidarity Movement, Garry Kasparov stated:
See http://www.theotherrussia.org/2011/06/19/kasparov-asks-congress-to-take-a-courageous-stand/ (“Kasparov to Congress: Take a Courageous Stand [And Stop Treating Vladimir Putin And Other Corrupt Russian Officials As Members Of An Actual Democracy]”) (emphasis added)
The Washington Post’s Fred Hiatt has added with respect to Kasparov:
See http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/garry-kasparov-has-a-suggestion/2011/06/17/AGPUyiYH_blog.html
The KGB lieutenant-colonel who became Russia’s ruler, Putin, must be tried, convicted for his many crimes globally, and terminated. His lackey, Medvedev, is also complicit; and he too must be tried, convicted and imprisoned, at the very least.
The West’s goal must be to bring down a Russia increasingly focused on domination and replace it with a democratic nation that lives at peace with the world—and this is true with respect to China as well.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (see also all of the footnotes and comments beneath the article and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin’s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao’s-chinese-holocaust/#comment-900)
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China Salutes 90 Years Of Oppression
In a fine article about China that is worth reading entitled, “Chinese Party Marks Nine Decades,” the Wall Street Journal discusses what 90 years of communism has brought to the Chinese people and the world, and what the future may hold. It states in pertinent part the following:
See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303763404576417503968123210.html
What the Journal’s article fails to emphasize is that China’s ruthless dictator Mao Tse-tung was directly responsible for an estimated 30-40 million deaths between 1958 and 1960, as a result of what his regime hailed as the “Great Leap Forward.” Like the Soviet Union’s equally-brutal dictator, Joseph Stalin, Mao’s crimes involved Chinese peasants, many of whom died of hunger from man-made famines under collectivist orders that stripped them of all private possessions.
Approximately 70 years have passed since this human tragedy of epic proportions occurred in the Soviet Union. Approximately 50 years have passed since the comparable tragedy occurred in China. It is time for the world to pay tribute to more than 60 million people who perished under Stalin and Mao.
While the precise numbers of the victims may never been known, each of us has a duty to honor their memories and take steps to insure that holocausts do not occur anywhere again. These victims are forgotten today, seemingly having disappeared without a trace and having been swallowed up by history, as if they never existed. This compounds the crime against humanity.
Just think of the contributions that the offspring of those who perished might have made to this world, whose numbers might be in the hundreds of millions today.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin%E2%80%99s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao%E2%80%99s-chinese-holocaust/
The Journal’s article continues:
China is America’s enemy; and the United States’ and the West’s goal must be to bring down a China increasingly focused on domination, and replace it with a democratic nation that lives at peace with the world. The Chinese people have been oppressed and intimidated long enough, and they deserve nothing less. The same is true of the Russian people, who live under Putin’s barbarous regime—in a country where Stalin’s memory is being rehabilitated as well.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/ (see also the footnotes and comments beneath the article)
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The Future Still Belongs To America
This is the title of an important Wall Street Journal article by Professor Walter Russell Mead—subtitled, “This century will throw challenges at everyone[, but the] U.S. is better positioned to adapt than China, Europe or the Arab world”—which states in pertinent part the following:
See http://www.naegele.com/documents/TheFutureStillBelongstoAmerica.pdf (bold emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/america-a-rich-tapestry-of-life (“America: A Rich Tapestry Of Life”)
The only thing on the horizon that might dampen the American future that Professor Mead has described is a nation-ending EMP Attack, which might kill all except for 30 million Americans, and end any future that we might envision.
Query whether we are totally and absolutely protected against such an attack, or whether America’s “prince of darkness”—and its consummate narcissistic demagogue, “Hamlet on the Potomac” and “Jimmy Carter-lite”—Barack Obama, is weakening our great nation’s military strength in ways that will dramatically change the course of history?
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/
. . .
In another important article entitled, “World power swings back to America”—and subtitled, “The American phoenix is slowly rising again. Within five years or so, the US will be well on its way to self-sufficiency in fuel and energy. Manufacturing will have closed the labour gap with China in a clutch of key industries. The current account might even be in surplus”—the UK Telegraph‘s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard added:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8844646/World-power-swings-back-to-America.html (emphasis added)
It is noteworthy that Evans-Pritchard qualifies his predictions by saying that they will occur in “five years or so.” I concur that America has a very bright future ahead; however, this decade will be “dicey,” and it is difficult if not impossible to predict when there will be light at the end of the tunnel—or when the economic tsunami will have run its course and petered out. What we do know is that the Great Depression of the last century did not end until the onset of World War II, at the earliest; and this depression may last just as long.
Lastly, Russia will continue to be a pygmy when compared to the United States—in terms of America’s vibrant democracy, its growth, military power and economic strength, and all other indicia of global power. The same will be true, to a similar degree, with respect to China, although its future is much brighter than that of Russia.
See, e.g., http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063117/U-S-Army-tests-hypersonic-weapon-travels-times-speed-sound–ANYWHERE-earth-30mins.html (“U.S. Army tests hypersonic weapon that travels five times the speed of sound… and can hit ANY target on earth in 30mins”)
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I DO NOT BELIEVE OBAMA IS A U.S. CITIZEN. I FEEL THAT WAS A FAKE BIRTH CERTIFICATE (WAS IT CERTIFIED BY ANYONE) OBAMA IS THE MANCURIAN CANDIDATE WHO WAS SENT HERE TO DESTROY US AND IT SEEMS HE IS DOING A GREAT JOB.
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There Are Zero Questions That China Is America’s Enemy As It Builds EMP Weapons For Use Against Us
The Washington Times’ highly-respected columnist and reporter, Bill Gertz, has written:
See http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/21/beijing-develops-radiation-weapons/; see also http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-07-27-china-strengthens-military_n.htm (“China’s military flexes its muscle”) and http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MILITARY_COUNTERFEIT_PARTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-08-13-41-48 (“Fake weapons parts [from China are] ‘ticking time bomb'”)
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China’s Spectacular Real Estate Bubble Is About To Go Pop
In an article whose title is set forth above, Jeremy Warner—assistant editor of the UK’s Telegraph and one of Britain’s leading business and economics commentators—has written:
See http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jeremywarner/100011023/chinas-spectacular-real-estate-bubble-is-about-to-go-pop (emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-1639 (“The Great Property Bubble of China May Be Popping“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/8900271/China-property-raises-concerns-as-prices-continue-to-slide.html (“China property raises concerns as prices continue to slide”)
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Will The Euro Crisis Will Give Germany The Empire It Has Always Dreamed Of?
This issue is discussed in an excellent and very sobering article by Peter Oborne, the UK Telegraph’s chief political commentator, which states in pertinent part as follows:
See http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100098260/this-crisis-will-give-germany-the-empire-its-always-dreamed-of/ (emphasis added); see also http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c087c30e-b3be-11e0-855b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Smxa2CKN (“Athens’ ability to stay course in doubt”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8653579/Europe-steps-up-to-the-plate.html (“Europe’s economic recovery is sputtering out”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8656572/Eurozone-debt-crisis-Europes-politicians-will-be-punished-for-a-deal-dripping-with-moral-hazard.html (“At some point the Germans will realise that the package is a thinly-veiled fiscal union which makes the transfers they funnelled into East Germany look like small change, and they will revolt at the ballot boxes”)
. . .
There are those who preach the tenets of creating a global government; and they maintain that the constitution of a new world order is essential to maintain democracy. Also, they contend that the regulation of the economy by a global financial institution can be a solution to the financial crisis that began in 2007, and such an institution would be a first step towards the creation of a global government, of which the European Union is an illustration.
Barack Obama agrees with this; and it is among the many reasons why he must not be reelected next year. Indeed, he will “retreat” either to Chicago or Hawaii no later than January of 2013, to lick his political wounds and write his memoirs, and work full time on his golf scores and his presidential library.
“Global governance” is pure and utter nonsense. Indeed, lots of Americans would gladly get rid of the UN, and ship it to France or elsewhere in Europe, and let the French or other Europeans pay for it. Global governance is “Mary Poppins-esque” and/or “Alice in Wonderland-esque.”
Americans do not want Germany or France participating in the governance of anything relating to the United States, any more than Hitler’s Germany should have done it. This is among the reasons why World War II was fought by the United States. America’s history abhors “meddling” in our affairs, which is exactly what global governance entails, and much much more. A majority of Americans might be willing to give up their lives fighting to insure that this never happens.
France did not win World War II. Americans saved Frenchmen from “enslavement” by the Germans. But for the United States, the French might be speaking German today as their “native” tongue. Indeed, a German-American—Dwight David Eisenhower—destroyed Hitler and his monstrous “Thousand-Year Reich.” France did not do it. France was flat on its pathetic back.
The United States has real enemies in this world today, who want to destroy us (e.g., China’s military, Putin and his Stalinist thugs in Russia, North Korea, Islamic fascists). We cannot rely on France or Europe to defend us—militarily, economically or in any other way. Indeed, France and Germany are perhaps the last countries in the world to preach to the United States about democracy. Americans have given their lives for it. France has only “talked” about it.
Lastly, Americans are not about to trust their survival, the survival and national security of our great country, and our freedoms and democracy to France or Germany, two countries that lost World War II.
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It took something like 70 years for the big government centralized control Soviet Union to fail. The much milder European form of big government is also struggling to stay viable.
Europe in general has been living at a higher standard of living than their ability to generate economic value justifies for some decades by one manipulation after another.
One technique – hardly original – has been for governments to use long term debt to fund annual operational transfers of funds to pay very high salaries/pensions/benefits to government workers, and to make generous welfare/funds transfer to create a more equal society.
They co-opted private banks to help sustain this by incorporating in the Basel regulations provisions allowing banks to count 0 capital cost against holdings of ‘sovereign’ debts whereas the assets (i.e. loans) to private companies are marked at much higher costs.
This has several effects. Since sovereign debt costs are often used to benchmark all private lending there’s a bias towards borrowing running throughout (funds often derived via market issued sources vs direct bank lending, but also significant lending despite bias) society. In other words people/consumers borrow more and save less than they would have.
This is one reason in the last few decades we in the US have had a trading deficit – turbo charged borrowing by consumers, which in a globalizing context means buying from abroad.
So the lower prevailing interest rates mean a bias towards debt fueled asset inflation bubbles.
In the case of governments it has meant they’ve been able to issue far more debt than they would have allowing them to continue their wealth redistribution charging the bill to future generations.
In Europe, it meant that with the Euro German low interest rates were made available to other Europeans whose local systems were for a time able to borrow at a faster rate funding a extra cushy live style until the process began reaching its limits first with Greece, but also across several of the non German countries.
It meant that many private banks throughout Europe loaded up – many times for political reasons on top of the 0 capital costs – on sovereign debt making the problem of potential defaults by first Greece, and now Spain and Italy etc, very much a threat crossing borders.
With 08 bust when the excessive debt levels were made apparent to most people, we initiated a different painful de leveraging phase – something the Japanese have been contending with for more than 15 years – in which keeping interest rates low won’t work anymore.
The Europeans like most people prefer to put off today’s painful medicine until tomorrow, which is probably why they keep insisting on viewing the problem as one of liquidity instead of solvency.
The cute idea to foist off the problem on the Germans in order to delay the medicine a bit longer won’t work even should the Germans be foolish enough to accept Greece and other liabilities as their own. More likely the Germans in exchange for acceptance will require the transfer of some significant measure of fiscal control sovereignty – a cure that the current citizens receiving the favor may find accelerates the adjustment to more austere living conditions than if they muddle along as they have been.
Either way will mean difficult adjustments. One way though will mean consolidating control under German authority while the other will likely mean returning to a pre-Euro situation. The first would be an ironic turn simply because one of the primary reasons for undertaking the Euro centralization was to preempt a fourth go by Germany at bringing Europe under German control.
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Very interesting comments. Thank you.
Indeed, they are fully consistent with the comments above yours.
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Will China Go To War To Protect Its Core Interests In The South China Sea?
The Wall Street Journal has reported that smaller Asian nations such as Vietnam were already wary of China’s growing military prowess, but the launch of its first carrier is yet another message about its increasing strength.
See http://www.naegele.com/documents/USShowsoffCarrierAmidTensions.pdf; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (“China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That”)
The Journal’s article added:
Steps are being taken by Barack Obama to weaken America’s military might, which must be thwarted in their entirety. Indeed, Obama must not be reelected; his presidency must end as soon as humanly possible; and he must be sent packing either to Chicago or Hawaii no later than January of 2013, to lick his political wounds and write his memoirs, and work full time on his presidential library. It cannot happen fast enough for the good of the United States, and our national security interests and well being.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/barack-obama-is-a-lame-duck-president-who-will-not-be-reelected/#comment-1680 (“Obama’s Drawdown Disaster”) (see also the article itself, as well as the footnotes and other comments beneath it)
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I don’t believe war with China is inevitable. The painful depression in the 30’s and the really horrific hyperinflation in Germany, Hungary, and Austria in the 20’s were key ingredients leading to WWII.
We know what happened then. Plus we in the US will probably succeed in removing Obama in 2012 thus hopefully avoiding the worst that continuing to follow Keynesian voodoo economic ‘solutions’ would bring our way.
In the short term Obama is doing much harm including to our military. He has been starving military R&D in order to feed funds to the wars. But…
We should all thank Obama profusely. He has done more to discredit leftist thinking and in particular Keynesian economics (I thought it had been done in back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, but it rose again) than any single person in history. He is single handedly creating the necessary political movement to push back against his ideas / policies. And it’s likely that this movement will continue to take back power (note the resurgence in State and local governments already) with a national mandate for fiscal reform.
Once he’s gone the short term damage will be more than compensated by the promise that we’ll never elect another leftist. We’re just lucky he turned out to be as impotent as he did regarding his ability to carry out his vision to remake America.
China is going to suffer, but nothing like what they’ve already experience under Mao. They will adjust as the bust over there continues to roll out and it will depress their future growth and potential power. I agree there are extremely hostile elements within the government and in particular the military that resemble clones from a pre WWII Germany, but they’re a long way from going down the same path as the Germans back then.
The best move we could make is to carefully and selectively back off from seeking confrontation with their military in every theater as it grows and asserts itself – give them plenty of rope. It’s already very clear that they can’t resist pushing way too hard against neighbors. So give them rope and let their neighbors counter organize among themselves and by seeking out new ties with us.
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Again, very interesting comments—with which I largely agree. Thank you.
I concur:
The risk, of course, is that China’s military—which arguably is not controlled by its civilian leaders—launches an EMP or other attack against us, which might cripple the United States and/or kill most Americans.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/ (see also the footnotes and extensive comments beneath the article)
Lastly, while you might be correct about giving China’s military enough “rope” to hang themselves, the risks of miscalculations are enormous, as you know all too well. I do not believe in giving them any rope at all.
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The Lessons of Baghdad: Obama And NATO Snookered By Al Qaeda And China In Libya?
In a Wall Street Journal article entitled, “From Baghdad to Tripoli”—and subtitled, “In stark contrast to the challenges faced by Iraq, fair winds attend the Libyan venture”—Fouad Ajami has written:
See http://www.naegele.com/documents/FouadAjami-FromBaghdadtoTripoli.pdf
This rosy assessment for Libya stands in sharp contrast with the sobering views of Arnaud de Borchgrave—the distinguished editor-at-large of The Washington Times and of United Press International.
Indeed, de Borchgrave has written:
See http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/de-Borchgrave/2011/08/22/Commentary-New-world-disorder/UPI-22821314015006/
Even more disturbing are the following facts about Libya, which de Borchgrave has described in great detail in an article—entitled, “Global con?”—which is essential reading:
See http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/de-Borchgrave/2011/09/01/Commentary-Global-con/UPI-85911314879713/; see also http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-rebels-round-black-africans-130723394.html (“Libyan rebels round up black Africans”)
Will China, Islamic fascists and al Qaeda win the war in Libya; and once again has America’s raving narcissist and consummate demagogue—its “Hamlet on the Potomac” and “Jimmy Carter-lite”—Barack Obama, been nothing more than a fool, a buffoon, and a feckless naïf, who lost the Middle East?
See also http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2066380/Will-World-War-III-U-S-China.html (“Will World War Three be between the U.S. and China?”)
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America is everyones enemy.Why such a surprise other countries would want to defend themselves?
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Thank you, Sean, for your thoughts.
The American people have wonderful relations with the people of your country, New Zealand; and many Kiwis come to the States, and vice versa.
After the initial devastating quakes in Christchurch, American rescue personnel were on their way to help, almost instantly.
See, e.g., http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10685539 (“Clinton pays tribute to quake recovery effort”) and http://blog.usaid.gov/2011/02/christchurch-earthquake-deployment/ (“Christchurch Earthquake Deployment”)
These are merely some of the bonds that Americans and Kiwis share.
By the same token, the Chinese people are not our enemies. However, their military and civilian rulers are, who are bent on conquest and war.
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China Is Preparing For Space Warfare, And Is A Growing Threat To The United States
This is the conclusion of Army Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the agency for which I worked when I was a young Army officer at the Pentagon. His warnings are sobering, and must be heeded:
See http://freebeacon.com/dia-director-china-preparing-for-space-warfare/
China is a pollutant here on earth and in space; and it is our enemy. Make no mistake about it.
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I’m getting the feeling you’re not to keen on the Chinese, eh? 😀
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Thank you for your comment, Zam.
If you read every negative or critical word that I have written above, you will understand and realize fully that not one of them is directed at the Chinese people, but rather all are directed at the country’s civilian and military leadership that oppresses them and has militaristic designs on others.
I urge you to read all of my comments, including those about Mao Tse-tung’s reign of terror.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin%E2%80%99s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao%E2%80%99s-chinese-holocaust/ (“The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust”)
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China’s Hard Landing
The UK Telegraph‘s International Business Editor in London, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, has written another article that is worth reading, this time about China:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9465651/Hard-landing-for-China-as-factory-prices-fall-and-deflation-looms.html; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-2220 and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-2160 and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9491069/China-bubble-in-danger-zone-warns-Bank-of-Japan.html (“China bubble in ‘danger zone’ warns Bank of Japan”)
Clearly, the worst is yet to come!
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Because China is addicted to top down/managed solutions it is unlikely to find adequate responses to the problems arising from its earlier decisions to break from its bottom up economic driven growth strategy when the downturn among its major customers hit and to use Keynesian top down ‘stimulus’ measures. It also has not been able to reign in ‘crony’ elements which are able to seize economic value more easily in a top down system than one allowing individuals freer reign, and which therefore are motivated to prevent needed reforms from taking place. My guess is that China will revert reflexively to its top down autocratic style of managing stifling reforms for the near term. In other words this is not the time to invest in China.
This opinion piece by Pei is well worth the time:
http://thediplomat.com/2012/08/09/superpower-denied-why-chinas-rise-may-have-already-peaked/2/?all=true
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Thank you, Otiose, for your comments and for the piece by Minxin Pei.
I agree with the following observation by him:
Of greatest concern, or so I believe, is the aggressive, militaristic hatred of the United States by young Chinese officers, which is discussed in the article above. Indeed, as I have written:
Citing the New York Times, I added:
As the Chinese economic “miracle” implodes, they may seize more and more power. Gone from the scene might be those who would seek to exercise restraint.
Only time will tell, but it is likely that the worst is yet to come for China, and it may get very ugly.
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War With Japan?
In a UK Telegraph article entitled, “Military conflict ‘looms’ between China and Japan”—and subtitled, “War between China and Japan looms, with neither power willing to back down over a disputed chain of islands, expert warns”—it is stated:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9571032/Military-conflict-looms-between-China-and-Japan.html
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U.S. Lambasts China For Breaches Of Trade Rules
This is the title of an article in the UK’s Telegraph by its International Business Editor, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard—and subtitled, “Washington has issued a blistering attack on China for persistent breaches of world trade rules and abuse of industrial secrets, accusing Beijing of failing to abide by treaty obligations”—which states:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/globalbusiness/9765348/US-lambasts-China-for-breaches-of-trade-rules.html
As my article above and the comments beneath it state clearly:
One must never forget that China is America’s enemy: make no mistake about that.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/
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North Korea Says It Will Launch Nuclear Attack On America
In an article subtitled, “NORTH Korea led by tyrant Kim Jong-un has sensationally vowed to launch a NUCLEAR attack on the USA,” the UK’s Sun has reported:
See http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4829035/north-korea-says-it-will-launch-nuclear-attack-on-america.html (emphasis added); see also http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2288445/Kim-Jong-Un-North-Korea-vows-end-ceasefire-South-Korea-revenge-nuclear-test-punishments.html (“North Korea threatens U.S. with ‘thermonuclear war’: Rogue nation vows to launch attacks ‘at any time’ in revenge for sanctions”) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2290052/North-Korea-cancels-peace-pact-South-revenge-tough-UN-sanctions-threatens-thermonuclear-war-US.html (“‘Prepare for all-out war’: Kim Jong Un vows to attack South Korea as he cancels peace pact in revenge for tough UN sanctions“) and http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323826704578353710011020122.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird (“North Korea Declares War Truce ‘Invalid’“) and http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/15/17327806-us-to-deploy-more-ground-based-missile-interceptors-as-north-korea-steps-up-threats?lite (“US to deploy more ground-based missiles as North Korea steps up threats“)
To some in this world, the destruction of San Francisco (e.g., the Gay capital of the United States) and LA (e.g., the global center of far-Left, immoral “entertainment”) would be the 21st Century equivalent of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah—which were completely consumed by fire and brimstone.
See also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/earthquakes-the-big-one-is-coming-to-at-least-los-angeles/ (“Earthquakes: The Big One Is Coming To At Least Los Angeles”)
. . .
As reported by the UK’s Sun, North Korea has released a video that depicts 150,000 U.S. prisoners taken in a Blitzkrieg or lightning war that would overrun South Korea:
See http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4854885/nightmare-of-150000-us-prisoners-in-new-north-korean-propaganda-video.html; see also http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2297677/North-Korea-propaganda-video-shows-troops-taking-150-000-US-hostages-destroying-South-Korea.html and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2300964/North-Korea-revealed-Inside-Kim-Jong-Uns-war-room-signs-plan-attack-US-mainland.html (“Kim Jong Un reveals his ‘U.S. mainland strike plan’: Pictures inside North Korean leader’s war room show him plotting to attack America (with a map of target cities on the wall behind him)“) and http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2013/0329/North-Korea-What-happens-if-Kim-Jong-un-acts-on-his-threats (“In the event that the ‘bellicose rhetoric’ of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un turns into something more serious, the opening hours of conflict could be ‘pretty ugly,’ defense analysts warn“) and http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/31/17543980-us-navy-shifts-destroyer-in-wake-of-north-korea-missile-threats?lite (“South Korean President Park Geun-hye appeared to give her country’s military permission to strike back at any attack from the North without further word from Seoul”—”‘As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I will trust the military’s judgment on abrupt and surprise provocations by North Korea,’ she said“)
. . .
ABC News has reported:
See http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-general-north-korea-situation-volatile-dangerous/story?id=18863864&singlePage=true#.UVtV27vLjZ- (emphasis added); see also http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-north-korea-danger-20130402,0,7973635.story (North Korea analyst: “[T]his is one of the most dangerous moments since 1953”“) and http://thehill.com/video/house/291579-rep-king-us-could-make-preemptive-strike-on-north-korea (“Rep. Peter King: US could make preemptive strike on North Korea“) and http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gpuimXzka5inwGnL0c9vZsbQ54fw?docId=CNG.4eb43e27607cb9d4be6b952b88ddefeb.01 (NORTH KOREA APPROVES ‘MERCILESS’ NUKE ATTACK ON US) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2303227/North-Korea-says-approval-use-cutting-edge-nuclear-weapons-United-States-merciless-attack-just-hours-Chuck-Hagel-calls-clear-present-danger.html (“North Korea says it has approval to use its ‘cutting edge’ nuclear weapons against the United States in a ‘merciless’ attack just hours after Chuck Hagel calls them a ‘clear and present danger’“) and http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4874435/north-korea-moves-second-missile-to-east-coast.html (“North Korea tells Brit diplomats to get out—then sets chilling April 10 deadline“) and http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/391376/North-Korea-states-nuclear-war-is-unavoidable-as-it-declares-first-target-will-be-Japan (“North Korea states ‘nuclear war is unavoidable’ as it declares first target will be Japan“)
. . .
It is only possible to deal with rash actors and actions if one’s opponent is rational if not sane.
We learned from Pearl Harbor and 9/11 that there are enemies in this world who want to destroy the United States, and are willing to defy conventional norms. One such actor is North Korea under Kim Jong-un.
He could launch an invasion of the south that would be tantamount to a Blitzkrieg, killing or taking American military personnel as prisoners, and overrunning our South Korean ally. He could launch missiles against Japan and American forces in the Pacific that would be devastating.
The U.S. would have to act quickly, and the only real deterrents are nuclear strikes against the command and control in North Korea, and against key military targets and forces massed against us and our ally.
No amount of talking would have prevented Pearl Harbor or 9/11, and the same may be true this time. Indeed, a massive strike against the North may prevent a “Pearl Harbor” that reaches American cities, including but not limited to a nation-ending EMP Attack.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/ (“EMP Attack: Only 30 Million Americans Survive“)
. . .
North Korea has always eclipsed Iran as a nuclear-arms threat to the United States, except in the mind of Benjamin Netanyahu—who has been the greatest threat to peace in the Middle East, and has continuously sought to provoke America into a third war in the region.
As I have written:
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/the-madness-of-benjamin-netanyahu/ (see also the comments beneath the article)
Barack Obama should leave Israel to sink or swim, alone; and turn his attention to where it really counts for Americans, which is not Iran.
Also, as I have written:
See also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-544
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Putin’s Macho Posturing Obscures Russia’s Continuing Decline, And Prevents Action To Avert It
This is the conclusion reached in a fascinating article by Richard Spencer, which appears in the UK’s Telegraph:
See http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/richardspencer/100237864/its-russia-not-america-that-has-most-to-fear-in-syria/ (“It’s Russia, not America, that has most to fear in Syria”); see also http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html (Putin: “A Plea for Caution From Russia”) and http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21586304-vast-region-chinas-economic-clout-more-match-russias-rising-china-sinking (“Rising China, sinking Russia”)
The article’s bottom line—”Vladimir Putin is driving Russia ever deeper into a mire in Syria”—is worth noting.
Down deep, Barack Obama is a pacifist. In his seminal book, “Dreams from My Father”—which discusses almost every aspect of his life, and sets forth his core beliefs—there is no hint of any militarism or global ambitions.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/is-barack-obama-a-racist/
Because Obama has hated Apartheid in South Africa and British imperialism with a passion—and he made this crystal clear in his book, and by getting rid of the bust of Winston Churchill as one of his first acts as president—one can understand why he has drawn back from any strikes against Syria or confrontation with Iran.
He will not “carry water” for Benjamin Netanyahu because, on some level, he views the Israeli leader with the same disdain that Putin enjoys. Also, Obama hates the Israeli Apartheid and oppression of the Palestinians.
It is doubtful that Obama will ever intervene militarily in Syria, or Iran, because the American people do not want to be involved in any more wars in the Middle East. Obama understands this, which is consistent with his own innate pacifism.
Most Americans are “America-centric,” and only care about what is in the best interests of the United States. They do not have any allegiance to another country—especially Israel.
Next, Spencer’s observation is worth repeating:
Amen!
Lastly, America’s attention has shifted to the Pacific, and rightly so. China is our greatest threat in the future, with Russia and North Korea behind it—not the Middle East.
See, e.g., http://freebeacon.com/russia-china-hold-large-scale-war-games/ (“Russia, China Hold Large-Scale War Games”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (“China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/ (“Russia’s Putin Is A Killer”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/the-next-major-war-korea-again/ (“The Next Major War: Korea Again?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/ (“EMP Attack: Only 30 Million Americans Survive”)
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China’s Impossible Contradiction
This is the title of an article by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, the UK Telegraph‘s International Business Editor, which observes:
See http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100025957/chinas-impossible-contradiction/ (emphasis added); see also http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1341444/xi-jinping-appears-poised-unveil-sweeping-economic-changes?%20utm_source (“Xi Jinping appears poised to unveil sweeping economic changes”)
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Chinese Nuclear Submarines Capable Of Widespread Attack On U.S.
The Washington Times has reported:
See http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/31/inside-china-nuclear-submarines-capable-of-widespr/ (emphasis added); see also http://www.infowars.com/china-moves-spy-ship-to-hawaiian-waters-in-retaliation-against-u-s/ (“China Moves Spy Ship to Hawaiian Waters in ‘Retaliation’ Against U.S.“)
As the article above states emphatically, as well as my comments beneath it:
China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That!
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Woe To U.S. Allies
This is the title of an article by the Washington Post‘s Charles Krauthammer, which states:
See http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-woe-to-us-allies/2013/12/05/cdf511ca-5de1-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html (emphasis added)
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Barack Obama Is Gutting Our Military Forces, Which Will Affect Our National Security For Decades To Come
As I wrote more than four years ago:
See http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/tms/politics/2009/Apr/08/euphoria_or_the_obama_depression_.html (“Euphoria or the Obama Depression?”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/is-obama-the-new-nixon/#comment-3125 (“Obama Accused Of Military Purge”)
John Lehman, who was secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration and a member of the 9/11 Commission, has written in the Wall Street Journal:
See http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303562904579227842506498188 (“More Bureaucrats, Fewer Jets and Ships”) (emphasis added)
I respectfully disagree with Lehman. Obama and Hagel seek to gut our military, not make it more efficient. The Pentagon has always been bureaucratic. In fact, it is the only portion of American government that functions effectively and relatively efficiently. It must be strengthened; and we must stop Obama’s unilateral disarmament.
Obamacare is destroying our national health care system—or one-sixth of the American economy. Obama must not be allowed to destroy the U.S. military. Our very survival depends on it!
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/is-obama-the-new-nixon/#comment-3156 (“Why Liberals Are Panicked About Obamacare”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/ (“EMP Attack: Only 30 Million Americans Survive“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (“China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/ (“Russia’s Putin Is A Killer“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/the-next-major-war-korea-again/ (“The Next Major War: Korea Again?“) (see also the comments beneath the articles)
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Ominous Warning: Admiral Concedes U.S. Losing Dominance To China
The Washington Times has reported:
See http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/16/us-military-dominance-pacific-decline-says-top-adm/ (emphasis added)
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World Asleep As China Tightens Deflationary Vise
The UK Telegraph‘s International Business Editor in London, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, has written:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/10634339/World-asleep-as-China-tightens-deflationary-vice.html (emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-3303 (“The End Of Quantitative Easing“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-3651 (“US v China: Is This The New Cold War?“) and http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2014/04/is-china-the-next-lehman-brothers.html (“IS CHINA THE NEXT LEHMAN BROTHERS?“)
Hold on tight. Things may get very ugly, globally.
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US v China: Is This The New Cold War?
This is the question asked by Geoff Dyer, a former Beijing bureau chief for the UK’s Financial Times, in an article subtitled “The new era of military competition in the Pacific will become the defining geopolitical contest of the 21st century”:
See http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/78920b2e-99ba-11e3-91cd-00144feab7de.html#axzz2tzx4g1ZK (emphasis added)
The United States and its allies are facing similar tests with respect to (1) Russia’s brutal dictator-for-life, Putin, albeit Russia is facing severe economic problems ahead; (2) North Korea’s Kim Jong-un; (3) terrorists globally; and (4) Barack Obama’s incompetence and ineptitude.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-3627 (“Ukraine Is On the Verge Of War And Putin Is To Blame“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/the-next-major-war-korea-again/#comment-3225 (“Portrait Of A Butcher: Kim Jong-un Is North Korea’s Stalin“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/ (“EMP Attack: Only 30 Million Americans Survive“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/is-obama-the-new-nixon/#comment-3231 (“Americans Finally Wake Up To Who Barack Obama Really Is“) (see also each article and the comments beneath them)
Oil is the “Achilles’ heel” of China.
The United States is very close to being oil independent today, and will be a net oil exporter and the largest oil producer in the world again.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-3226 (“Exporting American Oil”)
By cutting off China’s oil, the country would be brought to its knees.
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American Leadership Is Missing
The New York Sun has an editorial that is worth reading, entitled “The American Option”:
See http://www.nysun.com/editorials/the-american-option/88603/ (emphasis added)
This is an excellent editorial. However, it flies in the face of everything that Barack Obama is and stands for.
He was raised in Hawaii and Indonesia, and only came to the American mainland when he attended Occidental College in Los Angeles. He does not believe in American exceptionalism. Rather, he believes in “global exceptionalism,” and the notion of a pan-global government, perhaps under the leadership of the United Nations.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/is-barack-obama-a-racist/
After World War II, the United States achieved what this editorial is suggesting . . . and much of the world flourished. Obama is going in the opposite direction. He is not the American leader to achieve this. Paul Ryan is not either. After all, he could not even carry his own State for Mitt Romney in 2012.
Ironically, Romney might be the American leader whose beliefs and accomplishments come closest to emulating what this editorial is suggesting.
According to the latest Gallup polling: “Forty-two percent of Americans, on average, identified as political independents in 2013, the highest Gallup has measured since it began conducting interviews by telephone 25 years ago.”
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/the-rise-of-independents/#comment-3244 (see also the article itself, as well as the other comments beneath it)
Americans are thirsty for the type of leadership that this editorial suggests, but they are not finding it. And there is no question that the revolution in Ukraine presents considerable opportunities; the United States has a dysfunctional system of justice; Obama and his Democrats are waging their campaign to weaken our military; the EU has severe problems; the brutal Putin’s Russia is teetering economically; and China is challenging American leadership globally.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-3627 (“Ukraine Is On the Verge Of War And Putin Is To Blame”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/justice-and-the-law-do-not-mix/ (“Justice And The Law Do Not Mix”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/is-obama-the-new-nixon/#comment-3207 (“Barack Obama Is Gutting Our Military Forces, Which Will Affect Our National Security For Decades To Come”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-3516 (“The Eurozone Crisis Is Just Getting Started”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-3541 (“How Long Can Killer Putin Figure Skate While The Ice Beneath Him Melts?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-3651 (“US v China: Is This The New Cold War?”)
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The Defining Hour For Barack Obama And His Presidency
As discussed in earlier comments: “Does Barack Obama Have Any Guts At All, Or Is He Nothing More Than An Empty Suit?”
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-3723
The Wall Street Journal has said essentially the same things, in an editorial entitled “Putin Declares War,” which should be read and reread:
See http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304026804579413900968932702 (emphasis added)
This is the defining hour for Barack Obama and his presidency. It is time for him to act . . . NOT slumber or wobble.
It is time for the United States and the West to quit fooling around with Russia’s pygmy Putin, and shut down his country economically.
Putin is presiding over a Russia in decline, which is why he is so desperate with respect to Ukraine. This process of decline must be hastened and “helped” along.
The world is watching . . .
Also, there are reports that China may be supporting Putin’s “adventures” in Ukraine. China has severe economic problems too, and is very vulnerable.
See http://news.sky.com/story/1219922/russia-and-china-in-agreement-over-ukraine (“Russia And China ‘In Agreement’ Over Ukraine”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-3651 (“US v China: Is This The New Cold War?”)
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RUSSIA AND CHINA PUSH FOR CONTROL OF INTERNET [UPDATED]
Our two major adversaries and/or enemies are trying to step into the breach of American weakness, created by Barack Obama, and control the Internet.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/ and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (see also the comments beneath both articles); but see http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-delays-giving-up-oversight-of-internet-administrator-icann-1439851721 (“U.S. Delays Giving Up Oversight of Internet Administrator Icann“)
Both countries have demonstrated their willingness and ability to manipulate the Internet in their own countries for political and strategic advantages. Imagine the damage they will do to the United States and the West if they control the Internet in any way.
Brendan Sasso has written for the National Journal:
See http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/when-u-s-steps-back-will-russia-and-china-control-the-internet-20140317 (emphasis added); see also http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/republicans-fear-obama-will-let-russia-seize-internet-power-20140402 (“Republicans Fear Obama Will Let Russia Seize Internet Power”)
We are on the verge of war with Russia’s dictator-for-life Putin; and China is challenging the United States and our allies in the Pacific. Is there any reason to trust either country?
At a bare minimum, freedom of speech is at stake. Equally at risk are our national security and Internet commerce.
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China’s Speculative Bubble [UPDATED]
In comments above entitled, “World Asleep As China Tightens Deflationary Vise,” what is happening to China’s economy was discussed in depth.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-3497; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-3111 (“China’s Impossible Contradiction”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-2251 (“China’s Hard Landing”)
A new article entitled, “Chinese anatomy of a property boom on its last legs,” by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard—International Business Editor in London of the UK’s Telegraph—sheds further light on this subject:
See http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100027199/chinese-anatomy-of-a-property-boom-on-its-last-legs/ (emphasis added); see also http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304811904579587703953556462 (“China’s Property Slump Worsens”) and http://theweek.com/article/index/264032/china-thinks-it-can-defeat-america-in-battle (“China thinks it can defeat America in battle”)
A sobering prognosis, to say the least.
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Did Edward Snowden’s Theft Of Classified Documents Constitute Espionage On Behalf of Russia And China?
The Wall Street Journal has a fine article on this subject by Edward Jay Epstein, which is worth reading:
See http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304831304579542402390653932 (emphasis added)
Both Putin’s Russia and China are America’s enemies. Putin must be crushed; and China must be handled very carefully.
Russia is weak and growing weaker. China may be on the brink of imploding too. Yet, both are dangerous.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-4661 (“The Pygmy Putin Rules Over A Third World Country, Russia”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-4623 (“China’s Speculative Bubble”) (see also each article, as well as the other comments beneath them)
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China’s Leaders Refuse To Blink As Economy Slows Drastically
This is the title of an article by the UK Telegraph‘s International Business Editor in London, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, which states:
See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/11098178/Chinas-leaders-refuse-to-blink-as-economy-slows-drastically.html (emphasis added); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-5264 (“Global Economic Conditions Worsen: Green Shoots Will Disappear“)
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The End of China’s Economic Miracle [UPDATED]
This is the title of a Wall Street Journal essay by Bob Davis, which states:
See http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-end-of-chinas-economic-miracle-1416592910?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories; see also http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11246733/China-blinks-as-economic-downturn-deepens.html (“China blinks as economic downturn deepens“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-5264 (“Global Economic Conditions Worsen: Green Shoots Will Disappear“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-4625 (“China’s Speculative Bubble“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11333928/Bank-of-America-warns-of-lethal-damage-to-Chinas-financial-system-as-deflation-deepens.html (“Bank of America warns of ‘lethal’ damage to China’s financial system as deflation deepens“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/11391211/Devaluation-by-China-is-the-next-great-risk-for-a-deflationary-world.html (“Devaluation by China is the next great risk for a deflationary world“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/11450691/Liquidity-evaporates-in-China-as-fiscal-cliff-nears.html (“Liquidity evaporates in China as ‘fiscal cliff’ nears“)
Hold on tight. Things will get very ugly and scary globally between now and the end of this decade!
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The Coming Chinese Crack-Up [UPDATED]
David Shambaugh, director of the China Policy Program at Washington, D.C.’s George Washington University, has written in the Wall Street Journal:
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-coming-chinese-crack-up-1425659198?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsForth (emphasis added); but see http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-25/with-21-trillion-china-s-savers-are-set-to-change-the-world (“With $21 Trillion, China’s Savers Are Set to Change the World“); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-6527 (“The End of China’s Economic Miracle“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/11701472/Rats-leaving-a-sinking-ship-as-Chinas-equity-bubble-implodes.html (“‘Rats leaving a sinking ship’ as China’s equity bubble implodes”) and http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bear-market-grips-chinese-stocks-as-investor-panic-grows-10354182.html (“Bear market grips Chinese stocks as investor panic grows“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-chinese-stocks-fell-to-earth-my-hairdresser-said-it-was-a-bull-market-1436165508 (“How Chinese Stocks Fell to Earth: ‘My Hairdresser Said It Was a Bull Market’”) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-stock-plunge-is-scarier-than-greecechinas-stock-plunge-is-scarier-than-greece-1436309780 (“China’s Stock Plunge Is Scarier Than Greece“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/11725236/The-really-worrying-financial-crisis-is-happening-in-China-not-Greece.html (“The really worrying financial crisis is happening in China, not Greece“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/lessons-of-chinas-crash-1436385994 (“Lessons of China’s Crash“) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11756858/Capital-exodus-from-China-reaches-800bn-as-crisis-deepens.html (“Capital exodus from China reaches $800bn as financial crisis deepens“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/beijings-crash-lessons-1438038797 (“Beijing’s Crash Lessons”—”Investors are . . . naturally reluctant to invest in markets where they might not be able to get their money out in a crisis”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/11766449/China-losing-control-as-stocks-crash-despite-emergency-measures.html (“China losing control as stocks crash despite emergency measures”—”‘One by one the dominoes are starting to fall,’ said Societe Generale”) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-china-a-plunge-and-a-reckoning-1440802412 (“For China, a Plunge and a Reckoning”—”China’s leaders have been laid low by their own venture, not Western gunboats. The debacle was nothing that could be convincingly blamed on the outside world; it was made in China”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/12036942/Chinas-war-chest-of-forex-reserves-drops-to-lowest-since-2013.html (“China’s war chest of forex reserves drops to lowest since 2013“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-workers-are-fighting-back-as-economic-dream-fades-1450145329 (“China’s Workers Are Fighting Back as Economic Dream Fades”—”[Plant] closings represent a failed promise, the fraying of a social compact in China under which migrants accepted grueling shift work and spartan living conditions far from home in exchange for prospects of a better future”—”[L]ayoffs are becoming more common and desperate workers are finding few new opportunities—a trend officials and labor experts say is gathering momentum”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/12116535/Chinas-banking-crisis-looms-like-Banquos-Ghost-in-Davos.html (“China’s banking stress looms like Banquo’s Ghost in Davos”—”China is trapped. The more it burns through foreign reserves to defend the currency, the more it tightens domestic credit”—”Bad debts in the Chinese banking system are four or five times higher than officially admitted and pose a mounting risk to the country’s financial stability”—”China is the last big domino to fall as the global ‘debt supercycle’ unwinds”—”Banks are disguising the damage by rolling over bad loans and pretending all is well, with the collusion of regulators, but this draws out the agony and ultimately furs up the financial arteries”—”A major Chinese devaluation would be a global earthquake, transmitting a wave of deflation through a world economy already uncomfortably close to a deflation-trap”—”[I]nvestors are not entirely convinced that Beijing can defend the exchange rate even if it wants to”) and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/12123602/Hysteria-over-China-has-become-ridiculous.html (“Forecaster Nouriel Roubini said in Davos that markets have swung from fawning adulation of the Chinese policy elites to near revulsion within a space of 12 months”—”Their entire strategy appears to be ‘paper things over and deal with it later'”—”‘The current leadership is acutely aware of its place in history and the comparisons to the USSR. They are absolutely determined to not suffer the same fate'”—”The Achilles Heel is capital flight”—”[T]he painful fact [is] that running down reserves at the current pace entails monetary tightening, compounding the internal credit crunch”—”This is the Impossible Trinity. A country cannot manage its exchange rate and keep control of monetary policy at the same time in a regime of free capital flows. . . . It is this that threatens to overwhelm the [People’s Bank of China] and ultimately force China to devalue – against its wishes – setting off a pan-Asian currency crisis to dwarf 1998, and transmitting a wave of deflation through the world economy”—”The Communist Party may have bought another year to 18 months. If so, the reckoning has been delayed again”)
As the author points out, the Soviet Union’s collapse came very fast; and the collapse of Putin and Russia, which are far weaker than the former USSR, is coming even faster.
Both the murderous Putin and Russia are in a death spiral that they will not survive. The economic sanctions imposed by Barack Obama, and the fall of oil prices, have been devastating Russia.
Ukraine may become “Afghanistan II”—the burial ground of Putin’s dreams of the USSR being resurrected. Russians have been leaving in body bags already, which may only increase; and the same thing is true of Putin’s “adventures” in Syria.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-7486 (“Putin Meets Economic Collapse With Purges, Broken Promises“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-7387 (“The Corruption And Criminality Of The Putin Regime“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-7157 (“Putin’s Culture Of Fear and Death“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/the-death-of-putin-and-russia-the-final-chapter-of-the-cold-war/ (“The Death Of Putin And Russia: The Final Chapter Of The Cold War“)
China has great potential; and the opportunities for shared economic and other progress with the United States are enormous. The Chinese leadership must not fritter away such a relationship. It can be win-win for both sides, stretching well into this century.
As the Middle East continues to implode, and as the United States becomes the dominant energy producer in the world once again—and energy independent—China may find that it needs American energy products desperately.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-economic-tsunami-continues-its-relentless-and-unforgiving-advance-globally/#comment-7283 (“US To Launch Blitz Of Gas Exports, Eyes Global Energy Dominance“); see also http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-slowdown-could-end-up-being-good-news-for-u-s-1441734057 (“China Slowdown Could End Up Being Good News for U.S.”) and http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/military/article45700044.html (“U.S. and Chinese troops connect in first-ever exchange at JBLM”)
Lastly, the world must never forget where China has come from. Vestiges of the past are difficult to shed, much less completely.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin’s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao’s-chinese-holocaust/ (“The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust“)
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Awesome article. I think the Chinese government will further enslave the people. The Chinese people inherently tolerate slavery. The Americans are becoming drastically less and less free each year and will be only steps behind the Chinese. In fact, few Americans today even know what freedom feels like! Its only if you go to a “3rd world” nation that you can see any real freedom. Today, in the USA the governments rule your daily life. In China, I see they rule not only your life in public but also in private.
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not quite true.
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Remaking China’s Military [UPDATED]
Jeremy Page has written in the Wall Street Journal:
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/president-xi-jinpings-most-dangerous-venture-yet-remaking-chinas-military-1461608795 (“President Xi Jinping’s Most Dangerous Venture Yet: Remaking China’s Military“) (emphasis added; graphs omitted); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-7169 (“The Coming Chinese Crack-Up“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-6527 (“The End of China’s Economic Miracle“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-5940 (“China’s Leaders Refuse To Blink As Economy Slows Drastically“)
The United States remains the only Superpower in the world.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump recognizes the importance of America’s relationship with China—while the protection of U.S. economic and military interests is paramount.
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China’s Economy Continues To Deteriorate
The Wall Street Journal has reported:
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/beneath-yuans-quiet-china-worries-rise-1472404535 (“Beneath Yuan’s Quiet, China Worries Rise“) (emphasis added; charts omitted)
Like the Soviet Union before it, the Chinese miracle is a fascade.
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The Dark Side To China’s Campaign Against Official Graft
The Wall Street Journal has reported:
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-anticorruption-drive-ensnares-the-lowly-and-rattles-families-1482248291 (“China’s Anticorruption Drive Ensnares the Lowly and Rattles Families“) (emphasis added; chart omitted)
Pursuing the “peasants” must send fear far and wide in China, since it is reminiscent of Mao Tse-tung’s “Great Leap Forward” between 1958 and 1960, when an estimated 30-40 million Chinese died.
Like Stalin in the USSR, Mao’s crimes involved Chinese peasants, many of whom died of hunger from man-made famines under collectivist orders that stripped them of all private possessions. The Communist Party forbade them even to cook food at home; private fires were outlawed; and their harvests were taken by the state.
Those who dared to question Mao’s agricultural policies—which sought to maximize food output by dispossessing the nation’s most productive farmers—were tortured, sent to labor camps, or executed.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin’s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao’s-chinese-holocaust/ (“The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust“); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (“China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That“)
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Which Way With Xi Jinping And China? [Updated]
The UK’s Economist has noted:
See https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21730144-do-not-expect-mr-xi-change-china-or-world-better-xi-jinping-has-more-clout (“Xi Jinping has more clout than Donald Trump. The world should be wary“) (emphasis added)
As with so many UK and European views of the world, this one is naïve and delusional. Russia’s depot Putin has been made into some colossal “superman” too, which he is not. Putinism will not survive Putin; that much is certain.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/the-death-of-putin-and-russia-the-final-chapter-of-the-cold-war/ (“The Death Of Putin And Russia: The Final Chapter Of The Cold War“)
Any notion that Xi Jinping has more clout than Donald Trump is ludicrous. China does not hold a candle to the United States in terms of military power. It is a relative pygmy state in that regard.
See, e.g., https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures#Chart_by_country_or_organization (“List of countries by military expenditures“)
As to whether the world should be wary of Xi Jinping, this is always true when the leader of a great nation attains enormous power, which can be used for good or evil. Hitler, Stalin and Mao were evil personified.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin%E2%80%99s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao%E2%80%99s-chinese-holocaust/ (“The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust“)
Both Xi Jinping and China need Donald Trump and the United States. China has many fissures, not the least of which are its economy and the menaces of Kim Jong-un and North Korea.
Lastly, Donald Trump is right: globalization and “free trade” must be in America’s best interests; and so-called man-made “global warming” is a hoax, and nothing more than a $34 trillion wealth transfer scheme.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/a-34-trillion-swindle-the-shame-of-global-warming/ (“A $34 Trillion Swindle: The Shame Of Global Warming“)
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China Reforms Military to WIN A WAR And Overtake USA [UPDATED]
The UK’s Daily Mail has reported:
See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5926793/China-plans-expand-military-WIN-WAR-overtake-US.html (emphasis added); see also https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/984716/World-War-3-China-military-Trump-Xi-Jinping-US-win-a-war-in-leaked-memo-militarisation (“China military reforms to ‘WIN A WAR’ and overtake Trump in leaked memo“) and http://www.dickmorris.com/trump-must-preserve-win-trade-war-with-china-lunch-alert/ (“Trump Must Preserve & Win Trade War With China“) and http://thehill.com/opinion/finance/396050-chinas-currency-depreciation-should-set-off-alarm-bells (“China’s currency depreciation should set off alarm bells“)
Like it or not, China is our greatest adversary in the world today, challenging us across the globe. Killer Putin’s Russia is a pygmy state, by comparison.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/the-death-of-putin-and-russia-the-final-chapter-of-the-cold-war/ (“The Death Of Putin And Russia: The Final Chapter Of The Cold War”) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures#Chart_by_country_or_organization (“List of countries by military expenditures“)
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Can America Fight Two Cold Wars At Once? [UPDATED]
This is the title of an article by Pat Buchanan—an adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, and a former GOP presidential aspirant himself—which echoes what I wrote in the article and comments above:
See http://buchanan.org/blog/can-america-fight-two-cold-wars-at-once-130813 (emphasis added); see also https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-military-preparing-for-a-full-withdrawal-of-its-forces-from-northeastern-syria-11545225641 (“U.S. Military Preparing for a Full Withdrawal of Its Forces From Syria“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/the-death-of-putin-and-russia-the-final-chapter-of-the-cold-war/ (“The Death Of Putin And Russia: The Final Chapter Of The Cold War“) and https://www.newsmax.com/patrickbuchanan/beltway-chinese-erdogan-graham/2018/12/21/id/895460/ (Patrick Buchanan: “US Mideast Policy Debate Assured With Trump’s Syria Move”—”Trump overruled his secretaries of state and defense, and jolted this city and capitals across NATO Europe and the Mideast. Yet, Trump is doing exactly what he promised to do in his campaign”—”Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria at least has assured us of a national debate on what it will mean to America to extricate our country from these Mideast wars, the kind of debate we have not had in the 15 years since we were first deceived [by Israel] into invading Iraq”)
Pat Buchanan and Newt Gingrich are two of the GOP’s best thinkers and visionaries.
Of course Pat is correct when he writes that America:
The Middle East is not our fight—”never again,” must be our mantra—certainly as the United States emerges again as the world’s dominant energy supplier. It is fully capable of crushing killer Putin’s Russia economically, and supplying China’s energy needs in the foreseeable future . . . as long as the communist state gives us what we want.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/a-34-trillion-swindle-the-shame-of-global-warming/#comment-15413 (“US Is Net Oil Exporter For First Time in 75 Years“)
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America’s War Warning To China [UPDATED]
Pat Buchanan—an adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, and a former GOP presidential aspirant himself—has written:
See https://buchanan.org/blog/mike-pompeos-war-warning-to-china-136609 (“Mike Pompeo’s War Warning to China“) (emphasis added)
The greatest leverage that we have vis-à-vis China is economic. Its economy is not in great shape; and its Achilles’ heel may be a reliable energy supply.
As the world’s largest energy producer again, the United States may be able to achieve positive results with China, which were only a pipe dream until now.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/#comment-15491 (“Can America Fight Two Cold Wars At Once?“); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/a-34-trillion-swindle-the-shame-of-global-warming/#comment-16288 (“22 of the top 30 most polluted cities are in India; and China is second. . . . China, alone, pollutes more than the US and the European Union combined“)
Also, an unmentioned and fascinating issue is whether North Korea might become a nuclear threat to China’s leadership, especially if the United States and Kim Jong-un achieve détente?
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Deadly Coronavirus Proves Immune To Political Correctness [UPDATED}
[A Chinese woman wears plastic wrap, bags and a protective mask as she walks in a residential neighbourhood in Beijing]
Betsy McCaughey—a former lieutenant governor of New York, and chairwoman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths—has written in the New York Sun:
See https://www.nysun.com/national/coronavirus-proves-immune-to-political-correctness/91009/ (“Coronavirus Proves Immune to Political Correctness“) (emphasis added)
The scope and longevity of this deadly virus are unknown with absolute certainty today. However, one doctor has predicted that it might “infect SIXTY PER CENT of the global population if it cannot be controlled.” And apparently any vaccines are at least two years away.
See https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7990511/Coronavirus-infect-60-cent-global-population-controlled.html (“Coronavirus could kill 45MILLION people and infect SIXTY PER CENT of the global population if it cannot be controlled, top Hong Kong medical official claims“); see also https://www.gingrich360.com/2020/02/newts-world-ep-56-chinas-coronavirus/ (Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich interviews Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance and a leader in the field of conservation medicine and a respected disease ecologist, about the Coronavirus crisis) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7994665/Killer-coronavirus-poses-greater-global-threat-terrorism-World-Health-Organisation-warns.html (“Killer coronavirus poses a greater global threat than terrorism, World Health Organisation warns“) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8009669/Did-coronavirus-originate-Chinese-government-laboratory.html (“Did coronavirus originate in Chinese government laboratory?“) and https://dnyuz.com/2020/02/15/to-tame-coronavirus-mao-style-social-control-blankets-china/ (“To Tame Coronavirus, Mao-Style Social Control Blankets China“) and https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/coronavirusepidemicwhocdc/2020/02/16/id/954315/ (“NIH’s Fauci: New Coronavirus On ‘Verge’ Of Pandemic If Not Contained“) and https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/cottonchinacoronavirus/2020/02/16/id/954321/ (“Sen. Cotton: China Covering Up Info On Coronavirus“)
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