Hopefully everyone had a great T’givings and all have had enough of the food, the napping and the burping!  I decided to hold off writing this post until all the festivities of the holiday have past…..

While you were chuckling your ass off at the antics of Uncle Lenny……..the world moved closer to another unfortunate situation…..what you ask?  Chinese air space, that’s what!

Chinese air space?  WTF?

AP) – China acknowledged today that it let two American B-52 bombers fly unhindered through its newly declared air defense zone in the East China Sea despite its earlier threat to take defensive measures against unidentified foreign aircraft. The US flights, which tested the Chinese zone for the first time since it was declared over the weekend, raised questions about Beijing’s determination to enforce its requirement that foreign aircraft identify themselves and accept Chinese instructions.

A Chinese Defense Ministry statement says the US planes were detected and monitored as they flew through the area for two hours and 22 minutes. It said all aircraft flying through the zone would be monitored and that “China has the capability to exercise effective control over the relevant airspace.” But China’s lack of any action suggests that it was merely playing out a diplomatic game to establish ownership over the area rather than provoke an international incident.

Now this may sound like a minor thingy….but keep inmind we have gone to war over minor BS……think not?

I am an old fart and I am a Viet vet….and my little war, that killed 50,000+ troops, began over an incursion by a US Navy destroyer, the USS Maddox……it slipped into North Vietnam’s waters and was challenged by 3 NVN patrol boats and because of this challenge the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by Congress that allowed the troops to be sent to South Vietnam and……as they say it is now history.  And we seem to be playing that game yet again.

And now we are at it again….challenging another country over a seemingly minor situation…….and we have our “allies” playing this dangerous game….

Newser) – The US may not be the only country to have dipped a toe in China’s newly declared air defense zone: Japan and South Korea now say they’ve both flown planes through it, unannounced, as well. A rep for the Japan government describes its activity as routine “surveillance” over the the East China Sea, though he did not specify when the flight occurred. Since Saturday, “we have continued our surveillance activities as before in the East China Sea, including in the zone,” he said. South Korea says it entered the zone the same day the US did: Tuesday.

Per China’s Saturday declaration of the zone, any planes entering the airspace must convey a flight plan to China and accept its instructions, or else be subject to emergency military measures, reports the BBC (which has a great graphic outlining the area’s air zones). Japan and South Korea did no such thing, seemingly without response. The countries are embroiled in a battle with China over bits of land contained in the zone: islands alternately known as the Senkaku and Diaoyu that Japan claims, as well as a submerged rock that South Korea considers part of its land. Meanwhile, the AP reports that the Philippines today joined the clamor against the zone, with a government rep saying the zone infringes on the freedom to fly in international airspace and compromises the safety of civil aviation.

The US did not just fly through the air space once to check their response….nope….we have to keep scratching that scab…….

Newser) – After the US, Japan, and South Korea all managed to fly through China’s newly declared air defense zone over the East China Sea issue-free, China has been left embarrassed, reports the AP—and, it seems, finally ready to respond. It sent warplanes of its own, as well as an early warning aircraft, into the zone yesterday, per a rep for China’s air force. He described the flights as “a defensive measure and in line with international common practices.”

Reuters adds that he emphasized that the air force is prepared to “take measures to deal with diverse air threats to firmly protect the security of the country’s airspace.” But a rep for the Defense Ministry says the suggestion that China is prepared to shoot down aircraft that don’t follow its rules is “incorrect.”

As I have stated…we are playing a dangerous game…..and if history is any indication….it could not end well for the nation……..the possibility is there!

Thoughts?