For years now we all have heard of the growing power that is China and then the South China Sea became part of that saga with the bull’s eye on Taiwan…and with all the chest thumping the War Department gets lots of cash…..and then as if on cue Russia invades Ukraine and BAM! we have new threat to American world domination…..and the War Department smiled a large grin.
And then the two also rans started working together…..on several levels and a new more potent adversaries emerges….one that should keep the War Department in cash for many years to come.
For decades, the military might of the US was unchallenged.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US was the world’s only military superpower, with its forces deployed all over the world to defend allies and deter aggression.
But as 2023 draws to a close, conflicts are flaring across the world, and Russia and China are growing increasingly aggressive in their shared ambition to topple the US as the world’s biggest power.
Their authoritarian leaders, Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia, are seeking to exploit global instability to damage the US and its allies, say analysts, and are drawing closer to forming a military alliance that poses the biggest threat the US has faced in decades.
“It is clear that the two states see themselves as military partners, and that this partnership is growing deeper and more experienced, even if it is not a formal alliance in the Western sense,” Jonathan Ward, CEO of the Atlas Group, told Business Insider.
Now there is a new ‘spot’ that will need an influx of American taxpayer money if China is to be stopped….the Philippines.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the country will maintain military pressure on the Philippines amid a dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea that could involve U.S. forces defending their treaty partner.
In a phone conversation Wednesday with his Philippine counterpart, Enrique A. Manalo, Wang “warned that if the Philippine side misjudges the situation, goes its own way, or even colludes with ill-intentioned external forces to continue to stir up troubles, China will defend its rights in accordance with law and respond resolutely,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Wang’s comments follow China’s mobilization of its coast guard and maritime militia to block Philippine supply missions to support its soldiers and fishermen. China claims sovereignty over virtually the entire South China Sea, one of the world’s most crucial waterways for shipping, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, who all maintain claims over islands, reefs and undersea resources in the region.
In particularly sharp comments, Wang was quoted as accusing the Philippines of having “changed its policy stance so far, reneged on the promises it has made, provoked troubles at sea, and undermined China’s legitimate and lawful rights.”
Not to worry the War Department will be there with cash in hand to make things ‘better’.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
This alliance was always active but interdependence elevated as Russia sells oil to China. Russia needs the revenue. China needs the oil. But the irony is that each wants to control the planet and if all the rest of us have been neutralized they will try to eliminate each other for global supremacy. Despite any alliance, they will always remain cautious and suspicious and untrustworthy of each other.
They could divide the planet and make nice with each other….chuq
OMG. That could also happen.
There will always be wars and rumors of wars and there will always be assholes in governments ready to profit from it all.
So war is good business…..the sign from the 70s is spot on. chuq
War is a good part of the economy that is for sure.
Unless you are a disabled vet chuq
My friends at the Vietnam Veterans Organization make their living by rehabilitating donated furniture and stuff to their shops…so they are making a living…
My point was the ‘good business’ is what gave them their disability. chuq
Disabled Vets get pretty good care if you ask me.
That is not my point…the business of war is what made them disabled. chuq
Most of the were fully aware of the risks when they chose to go to war…because for most of them there was no draft to force them to go to war….
Still not my point….the business of war is what put them where they are….most got more than they bargained for when they joined up….without the profit of war they would still be whole. chuq
Without the automobile, we would ever have had trucks and buses either–They knew the risks when they joined up, they got their pay every month for doing what they signed up to do… they suffered work-related injuries just like anybody else in any other business …they are receiving care after the fact …just a case of bad choices and bad luck…but I do agree that we can never do enough for them and that they deserve every little thing they can get…I do believe that.
Good words but war put them there….soldiers are tools used to turn a profit. PERIOD! chuq
The war did not “Put” them there. They made the choice to go there all by themselves.
No so…few asked to be there….they asked for a job to help pay for college….profiteers put them there. chuq
They obviously asked for a job in he wrong place.
Those new US bases down there make it look as if America is already getting prepared for potential conflict in the Philippines.
‘The four new sites are Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Island in Palawan; and Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan, said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, who briefed the media today.
3 Apr 2023’
Best wishes, Pete.
They just w3ant to be sure there is a short trip to the South China Sea….would not want to burn too much fuel. chuq