MarAzul
LongShip
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Amazing that we can go to war with Iran over WMDs that never existed and NOT go to war with NK when we know they DO!
Progress! Perhaps we can find a better way.
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Amazing that we can go to war with Iran over WMDs that never existed and NOT go to war with NK when we know they DO!
For some reason my laptop autocorrected that. I typed Iraq...... maybe she knows something we don't?Amazing that we can go to war with Iran over WMDs that never existed and NOT go to war with NK when we know they DO!
Siri is disseminating fake news.For some reason my laptop autocorrected that. I typed Iraq...... maybe she knows something we don't?
I'd like your post, but I'm so absolutely disgusted by that term, I just can't.Siri is disseminating fake news.
Thats fine for NK which although we call kim jong-un crazy he is more likely a sane actor. but what about religious zealots who get their hands on bio/chem agents? Isn't it perhaps better to not be at the top of their kill list from day one?Biological weaponry is generally off the table for nation-states b/c of the Geneva Protocol. Aside from that, it's hard to weaponize other than in a "terrorist"-type scenario (London and Tokyo subways, for instance). Missile delivery is pretty hard for bio (and even some chem) agents.
B/c it's against the Geneva Protocol, b/c we have reciprocity with nuclear weapons for any chem or bio or nuclear attack, and b/c we'd be fully justified, I don't expect that anyone should be surprised when someone is annihilated if bio agents are used against us.
Amazing that we can go to war with Iran over WMDs that never existed and NOT go to war with NK when we know they DO!
I'm by no means saying this is easy. You introspection and questions are welcome, which is why I'm trying to not give flip answers over them.Thats fine for NK which although we call kim jong-un crazy he is more likely a sane actor. but what about religious zealots who get their hands on bio/chem agents? Isn't it perhaps better to not be at the top of their kill list from day one?
By the way, I'm partially arguing with you because I think this way but partially its just trying to grow. It's a very complex topic and I have conflicting beliefs.
I was using it ironically, if that makes it better. I too find the constant utterance of the aforementioned phrase quite detestable.I'd like your post, but I'm so absolutely disgusted by that term, I just can't.
It very likely has spread fake news. Alexa reported that Jesus was a fictional character because someone edited a Wikipedia page. Or something like that.I'd like your post, but I'm so absolutely disgusted by that term, I just can't.
You are correct. There actually is a lot of "fake news" coming from every angle: every political party, every biased news source. But people are now deciding to use the term for anything they don't immediately agree with. It has gotten way out of hand and has lost most its intrinsic meaning.It very likely has spread fake news. Alexa reported that Jesus was a fictional character because someone edited a Wikipedia page. Or something like that.
Anyway it could happen.
Very likely not. There aren't a ton of example throughout history where "Future Tech" is cheaper (monetarily) than the incumbent. (Including here). Our policies may change, but at the moment (and with at least the last 2 presidents) our government is adamant that the trigger-puller at the end of the operational chain is a person. No attacking robot dogs, no "clone wars" robot shooters, drones need to be "piloted", etc. That may change, but until it does, you need shooters (infantry, pilots, artillerymen, etc). And when you need shooters you need mission support for them (communicators, mechanics, armorers, ordnancemen, submariners, fuel operators, intel analysts, etc). And when you have shooters and their mission support you need logistical support (gas, food, cooks, tents, supply) for them. And as you deploy them further from the US/the base, the more complex (read: $) that logistical support is. To say nothing of developing technology to stay ahead of our near-peer competitors so we don't take knives into a gunfight.OK, so a couple followups. What about the financial strain our defense spending puts on the US? Do you see that lowering in the future as tech allows us to require fewer soldiers in harms way?
Prognostication is generally horrible, but in my particular worldview people are generally bad unless reined in by some societal, religious or political pressure. Lord Acton's notion that "Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" is one I believe in as well. I think the US has, at multiple times in its history, tried to "de-escalate" things. Generally, those times happen to fall when there is a modern liberal (vice 'classically liberal') President who believes a) in the goodness of humans and b) that peace can reign because we want it to. From Wilson to FDR to Truman to JFK to LBJ (who is different from the others on this list b/c he's a hawk) to Obama, the last century is peppered with Presidents who were notionally doves who thought they could, through force of their intellect and idealism, make the world better. Each ended up either having to go to war in a bad spot (untrained troops going up against veterans in WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam) or losing the strategic initiative (if there ever was one: Iraq, Afg and the Cold War around the Bay of Pigs). I'm not saying D's suck and R's are better...I'm saying that if your worldview is idealistic, it's not realistic and history shows that that's how lots of people get killed.Do you think the US will constantly be fighting off small and mid sized attacks like USS Cole or 911, or do you think my fear of larger scale attacks either through conventional or unconventional warfare will become increasingly more likely? And, is there anything the US can do to deescalate these international threats long term or are there just too many Jong-Un's out there?
The single name most inextricably bound up with the Treaty of Versailles (ending WWI), and consequently its failure, is Thomas Woodrow Wilson. The dream of a world of happy peoples, each assembled into an entity of its own nationality and living in its own historical geographic location, were now seen to have been imbecilic wishes which could not and would not come true. - R. Watt, The Kings Depart,
I'm watching a completely biased news source on tv right now. Meet the Press.You are correct. There actually is a lot of "fake news" coming from every angle: every political party, every biased news source. But people are now deciding to use the term for anything they don't immediately agree with. It has gotten way out of hand and has lost most its intrinsic meaning.
I can offer examples of this phenomenon, if you really need it.
Iran is...So who is helping NK with their missile program? Seems too many recent developments to have done it without outside help.
drones need to be "piloted"
people are generally bad unless reined in by some societal, religious or political pressure.
I'm saying that if your worldview is idealistic, it's not realistic and history shows that that's how lots of people get killed.
Donald Trump was elected President. Population effect=View attachment 17942 WTF!

Were we not stunned with the results?Naw! Just the losers.![]()

Were we not stunned with the results?![]()
Like I said earlier, only because we've allowed them to be. If the twitter had come out saying "huge deadly blizzard headed for Honolulu" they would've laughed and gone back to sleep. There's almost no way a) NK has a missile that has the range to hit Hawaii, b) NK has the ability to properly mate said missile capability with a nuclear warhead, and c) be anything close to accurate enough to hit in island 30 miles in diameter from 5000 miles away...but since NK's abilities have been hyped, nothing has been done about it and our country and its military leadership has been denigrated, your friends had a rough morning.
This is from February's test...Wait... really? NK does not have a missile with range to hit Hawaii? That's very much not what has been reported widely. Since I know you aren't telling us classified information, could you provide some backup for this?
barfo
No. I think that his plans, if they come to fruition, would do wonders. Having 350 ships instead of 270 would be mammoth and would alleviate some of the root causes of the fuckups you talk about (optempo too high for skilled and trained sailors, leadership worried about saying "no" to civilians, etc.) by sheer sharing of responsibility.
This is from February's test...
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/0...be-launched-from-submarine-officials-say.html
From July's Hwasong-14 test, and November's Hwasong-15 test, if everything went perfectly they may be able to have long-range missiles, but they broke up on reentry. That's why I talk about "range to hit Hawaii" being an "almost no way" right now. I would've been more correct to say "they don't have a missile that has been shown to have the range to hit Hawaii that hasn't malfunctioned or otherwise broken up in flight." That's not to say that they'll stay dumb forever, and why I am more on the "eradicate their illegal and UN-sanctioned-against capability, whatever it is, before they get lucky" boat.
You're not wrong...the difference, though, is that a ship of war at sea is running basically at "wartime" watchstanding, even when doing a "peaceful" transit. (I know there's 'battle stations' and such, but optempo is still high). In fact, in "wartime" you can focus on the non-BS. When you see "The President has ordered Carrier X to Region Y to show the flag", that crew is obligated to run at wartime watchstanding, ready or not. And many times, the crew isn't ready.The thing that bothers me about this is, what responsibility? I don't see the Navy fighting a hot war right now. If you can't be trusted to sail 270 ships around in (relative) peacetime without crashing into things, maybe the solution, if the crews need more rest, is just to park some of those boats for awhile?
barfo
You're not wrong...the difference, though, is that a ship of war at sea is running basically at "wartime" watchstanding, even when doing a "peaceful" transit. (I know there's 'battle stations' and such, but optempo is still high). In fact, in "wartime" you can focus on the non-BS. When you see "The President has ordered Carrier X to Region Y to show the flag", that crew is obligated to run at wartime watchstanding, ready or not. And many times, the crew isn't ready.
I think that your idea of "parking the boats for awhile" isn't a bad one...it's what some leaders have internally been discussing. But when higher leaders say "send 4 ships to NK waters---while sending ships to Djibouti, while having ships in the Persian Gulf, while fighting piracy in Aden, while doing exercises with the Brits and Aussies, while in shipyards and overhauls, in addition to 'normal' operations", admirals have been loathe to say "can't do that, sir...that crew just got back from a deployment, got a bunch of noobs onboard and isn't proficient in their duties as a crew (as graded by standard inspections)." They say "Hey, Captain Q, get your ass to sea." And Captain Q doesn't say "Sorry, boss...my crew is tired and junior and unqualified" he says "Yes, sir." And proceeds to kill 17 sailors colliding with a big-ass ship.