Category: Foreign policy

Out Of Babylon

We have finally decided to end our endless war in Afghanistan and now it is time to end the second longest war, Iraq…..

There have been attempts to drawn down…..and now the Biden has made a decision (for now) to pull combat troops from the sands of Iraq….

The US and Iraq expect to announce next week that American combat troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year. The countries are working on a plan that would keep Americans there in an advisory role, to help with the fight against ISIS. “We don’t need any more fighters because we have those,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said, the Wall Street Journalreports. “What do we need? We need cooperation in the field of intelligence. We need help with training. We need troops to help us in the air.” The details are still being worked out, but the change will be announced Monday after President Biden and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi meet at the White House, per Politico.

The number of Americans in Iraq might stay about the same—2,500—but the combat troops would be changed out, replaced by those who do other jobs. The idea is for them to help Iraq with tasks including logistical support, intelligence, and surveillance. The change could help Kadhimi politically in time for October’s parliamentary elections. While the US is completing a total withdrawal from Afghanistan, it’s still making long-term military plans with Iraq. The US has more faith in Iraq’s troops than in Afghanistan’s, who are losing ground rapidly to the Taliban. US troops first arrived in Iraq on 2004. The transition from combat began last summer, though no end date had been announced. A joint statement in April credited the change to the Iraqi forces being better able to handle the job now.

This is a good move….there will be those that disagree….but for me any time when can bring our troops home to their families then it is a good plan.

Now we need to work on our intervention foreign policy….we need a fresh approach to the problems other than armed conflict and adventurism.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Is ‘Star Wars’ Real?

I am one of the few bloggers that keeps warning the readers about the new arms race…into space….China has launched their own space station in competition with the other station out there, the ISS….the race is on!

We all know about the saga of the Skywalker family and the galaxy far far away…..but with our newest military branch, the Space Force, could the idea of a galactic war be in the making?

Russia and China have a joint plan to build a Lunar research station, a base that they intend to have ready for crewed visits by 2036. This would be the the only manned presence on the Moon, at least as is currently planned.

The Pentagon has other ideas, however, envisioning the US Space Force needing to treat the Moon as a “militarized front,” and that they need to prepare to fight an entire war on the Moon. They don’t single out the Russo-China base, but nothing else is on the Moon to fight right now.

The US proposal is plainly self-serving, coming from the Space Vehicles Directorate, and boiling down to needing space vehicles, since the US has yet to actually manufacture any costly space vehicles for warfare.

These sort of initiatives are a big part of what is likely to result of the Space Force, a continued litany of excuses to spend vast sums of money gearing up for nonsensical sci-fi wars across the solar system.

Terrestrial weapons projects often reach into the many billions of dollars, and investing in speculative technology to fight on other celestial bodies seem bound to quickly find themselves over-budget, with the only reassurance being that these wars are so unlikely.

(antiwar.com)

I have covered many times my thoughts on this whole damn idea of a space force…..https://lobotero.com/2020/12/20/old-profs-look-at-space-law-again/

There is a treaty that all this space jockeying violates a treaty signed back in the 1960s….

All this back and forth is getting closer and closer to an armed spacial conflict…..

Star Wars Lives!

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Closing Thought–15Jul21

Do you serve in the National Guard?

You already serve overseas in our many many conflicts……(something I do not think is a good idea in this time of crises at home….you are needed here not in some far off country that few can find on a map)….

If you do serve with the NG then if I were you I would start to worry….it seems the plan is to use the NG more and more overseas…..

The top general of the US National Guard said the reserve force will be used “more, not less” in the coming years as the Pentagon shifts its focus and budget priorities.

“Given the uncertain future and budget priorities, we expect the Department of Defense to rely on the National Guard more, not less,” said Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, in a statement published earlier this year. “Therefore, we must be ready to execute our three core missions; fighting America’s wars, securing the homeland, and building enduring partnerships.”

Since last year, the National Guard has been deployed to deal with a number of domestic issues, including the occupation of Washington DC in the wake of the January 6th incident at the Capitol building. On top of the domestic missions, the National Guard is still deployed across the world.

According to Military.com, there are currently 20,000 National Guard troops deployed across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. The Pentagon’s over-reliance on the National Guard to fight wars overseas prompted activists to push state legislation that would give the federal government less power to deploy National Guard to combat zones.

The Defend the Guard Act would prevent a state’s National Guard from being deployed to combat zones unless Congress had declared war. The legislation could give the power to states to block the use of their National Guard and has been introduced to multiple state legislatures.

As the Pentagon is shifting its focus to contain China, priority is being put on new technology research and advanced warfighting capabilities in the space and cyber realms. Reflecting this, the National Guard is looking to establish a reserve group that would focus on space, known as a Space Guard. In May, Gen. Hokanson told Congress that establishing a Space Guard is one of his most “pressing concerns.”

(antiwar.com)

Not great news but hopefully ALL states will move to protect their citizen soldiers….from the obscenities of war on foreign shores.

But will they?

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AUMF In The Crosshairs

AUMF?

Authorization for the Use of Military Force.

You know that piece of crap that allows the US to attack and destroy anybody that we see fit.

In case you bare still confused then here is the Act in 60 words….

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/sjres23/text

(Another link that will go unused)

All I can say right now about this attempt…..it is about damn time!

Well after many years of my bitching and moaning it looks like there is a chance that the repel of this manure could be in the making.

The House has voted to end this abortion…… House voted to repeal the 2002 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) that was used for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The bill passed in a vote of 268 to 161, with 49 Republicans voting in favor of the repeal and only one Democrat voting against it.

Now it is time for the Senate is tackling the AUMF…..

In 2002, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden were among the 29 Democratic senators who voted to authorize the use of military force in Iraq. Almost 20 years later, they support repealing the authorization. Schumer said Wednesday that he supports repealing the measure and the Senate will hold a vote on it this year, Politico reports. “The Iraq War has been over for nearly a decade,” the Senate majority leader said. “The authorization passed in 2002 is no longer necessary in 2021.” The House is expected to pass a bill to revoke the authorization Thursday, reports CNBC. President Biden has said he supports the House bill, which was sponsored by Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee.

The White House said in a statement that the US “has no ongoing military activities that rely solely on the 2002 AUMF as a domestic legal basis” and revoking the law would have “minimal impact” on operations. Schumer said Wednesday that revoking the authorization would not mean the US is turning its back on Iraq, but it would prevent future presidents “reaching back into the legal dustbin to use it as a justification for military adventurism,” the AP reports. He cited the Trump administration’s Jan. 2020 strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani in Baghdad as an example. Some lawmakers say it’s also time to consider replacing the 2001 authorization of military force against terrorists with a more targeted resolution, CNN reports. Lee was the only House lawmaker to vote against the 2001 bill, which was passed three days after the 9/11 attacks.

This repeal could cease some of the willy-nilly use of force around the world by the US….

Not to worry….this repeal will not stop US intervention…..they always can invoke the UN charter….President Joe Biden also has other tools that allow him to take “defensive” actions, including Article II of the Constitution and Article 51 of the United Nations Charter 

Will this lessen our involvement in situations we need to avoid…..probably not…if the M-IC wants an invasion then they will most likely get their money maker of an invasion.

Personally I think this is nothing more than a fart in a hurricane.

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Biden-Putin Gab Fest

Yesterday the leaders of Russia and the US had a couple of talks….and they went something like this…..

President Biden spoke to the media after meeting Vladimir Putin in Geneva Wednesday—and he said he had assured the Russian leader that his agenda “is not against Russia or anybody else. It’s for the American people.” Putin, who held the first press conference, said Biden was “very different from Trump.” Highlights from Biden’s conference:

  • “Human rights will always be on the table.” Biden said he had raised human rights issues including Alexei Navalny and the cases of Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan, two former Marines now in Russian prisons, the Guardian reports. “Human rights will always be on the table,” Biden said.
  • Action on cyberattacks. Biden said he agreed with Putin to have more discussions on cyberattacks, including ransomware attacks, the AP reports. He said 16 kinds of critical infrastructure, including energy and water systems, should be considered off-limits to cyberattacks “period.” “I pointed out, if they violate basic norms, we will respond,” Biden said.
  • “I did what I came to do.” Biden described the overall tone of the summit as “positive” and said much was achieved, the Guardian reports. “I did what I came to do,” he said.
  • “Devastating” consequences if Navalny dies. Biden told reporters that Russia is “desperately trying to maintain its standing” as a major world power and losing this status would be among the consequences Moscow could face it if continues to interfere in elections—or if Navalny dies in prison. “I made it clear to him the consequences would be devastating,” Biden said.
  • “There were no threats.” Biden said no “threats” were made during the summit, “just simple assertions made.” He said the coming months will be a test of whether progress can be made. “It was … somewhat colloquial, and we talked about basic, basic fundamental things,” he said, per CNN. “I think the last thing he wants now is a cold war,” he said of Putin.
  • Capitol comparison “ridiculous.” Biden said Putin’s comparison of Russia’s jailing—or worse—of political opponents to charges against Capitol rioters was “ridiculous.”
  • “This isn’t about trust.” ABC reports that when Biden was asked if he thought he could now trust Putin, he said the summit wasn’t about trust. “This is about self-interest and verification of self-interest,” he said. Biden put his sunglasses on and started walking away from the podium after a reporter asked he if had reconsidered his 2011 remarks that Putin has no soul, the Guardian reports.
  • One last exchange. Biden had a testy exchange with reporters after walking away from the podium, the BBC notes. He told a reporter that his remarks did not mean that he was confident Putin would change his behavior. “If you don’t understand that, you’re in the wrong business,” he said when asked by CNN’s Kaitlin Collins how he could consider the summit a success when Putin came out of it still denying responsibility for cyberattacks and other actions.
  • An apology. The AP reports that Biden tried to make peace with reporters before boarding Air Force One. “I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy with the last answer I gave,” he said, expressing regret for being “short” with Collins.

And Putin rattled on…..this is the short version of his ramblings…..

Vladimir Putin gave the first press conference following his talks with President Biden, and it stretched nearly an hour. Highlights:

  • He was asked about which topics were discussed in detail, and he said Ukraine was not one of them.
  • The Guardian reports Putin said he and Biden agreed their ambassadors—the Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, and the US ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan—will resume their posts and diplomatic duties. The two have for months been at home in their respective countries over friction.
  • CNN asked if the tone of the meeting was hostile or friendly, and whether Russia committed to stopping cyberattacks on US. Per CNN’s translation, Putin said, “I don’t think there was any kind of hostility … I think many of our positions are divergent but … I think it was very constructive.”
  • On the cybersecurity front, he said both sides agreed to begin negotiations on the issue. The BBC reports Putin said Russia has “provided exhaustive information” to the US regarding alleged cyber attacks and has received no response.

When asked about Alexei Navalny, Putin declined to speak his name, but said, “This person knew that he violated the law that exists in Russia and he is a repeated offender. He knew full well that he was wanted but nevertheless he came back to Russia and he deliberately wanted to be arrested. He did what he wanted to do.”

  • Putin characterized the talks as “efficient, substantive, specific, and aimed at achieving results.”
  • Putin issued what the BBC terms “a rare compliment,” calling Biden an “experienced statesman” and saying that they had detailed discussions for two hours, which he would not be able to do with most politicians. “He is very different from President Trump,” Putin said.
  • He said he was offered no invitation to the White House and extended no invite to Biden, and that the “right conditions” would be needed to get to that stage.

My biggest problem was with Biden’s piece of fecal matter on human rights…..those rights are violated by our so-called allies and we praise their democracy….this is my biggest problem with Biden and his gang of slugs.

The only thing this chin wag did was provide a photo op for the two leaders…..chest thumping at its best.

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Those Iranian Sanctions

Since 1979 there has been sanctions imposed on Iran by the US…..those and more continue until today…..some say there are “hundreds” of sanctions in place to punish Iran for various transgressions…..

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said even if the US rejoins the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, “hundreds” of sanctions would still remain on Iran, including Trump-era measures.

“I would anticipate that, even in the event of a return to compliance with the JCPOA, hundreds of sanctions remain in place, including sanctions imposed by the Trump administration,” Blinken told a Senate hearing.

Blinken’s remarks are just his latest bad faith comment about the indirect negotiations between the US and Iran that have been ongoing since April. Because the Biden administration refuses to lift all Trump-era sanctions, the talks are being dragged out.

Blinken and other Biden officials justify their refusal to lift all of Trump’s sanctions by claiming they will only lift measures that are “consistent” with the economic relief Iran expects from the JCPOA. “If they are not inconsistent with the JCPOA, they will remain unless and until Iran’s behavior changes,” Blinken said.

The Trump administration imposed an enormous number of sanctions on Iran. Some were implemented over Tehran’s nuclear program, while others were put in place over claims of “terrorism” and alleged human rights violations. From the start of negotiations, the Biden administration has been clear that it is not going to lift all human rights and terror sanctions.

Since the US is the party that violated the JCPOA in the first place, and Iran is still technically in compliance, Tehran is calling on Biden to lift all of Trump’s sanctions if he is serious about reviving the deal. The fact that Iran is negotiating at all is a major concession. But if the talks don’t go anywhere due to the US’s refusal to lift enough sanctions, the Biden administration will undoubtedly blame it on Iran.

(antiwar.com)

Forty plus years of sanctions and what has it accomplished?

Very little to be honest.

I do not believe that sanctions are an effective tool in most cases….my thoughts here…..https://lobotero.com/2019/10/03/sanctions-and-tariffs/ and here……https://lobotero.com/2020/10/14/sanctions-what-are-they-good-for/

Sanctions hurt people that they say would help their lives get better…..instead it punishes civilians for the stuff their leaders do…..

Not the best way to win friends and influence people while they are struggling under the weight of sanctions.

So yes our Iran policy is seriously flawed…..

U.S. Iran policy is marred by many flaws, and some of the worst are threat inflation, imperial arrogance, and hypocrisy. Alarmist media reporting routinely overstates the threat that Iran poses to the US and the world, and hawkish politicians and pundits are only too eager to use this alarmism to agitate for more aggressive policies and to scuttle ongoing diplomacy. Even when Iran behaves like a normal state and abides by international law, their actions are spun as being somehow menacing and challenging to the United States. At the same time, the US tramples on the rules of the system that it claims to uphold so that it can pursue its economic war against Iran. The economic war itself is an illegitimate policy of collective punishment that the US has been waging for the last three years in a vain bid to compel deeper concessions from their government, and after almost half a year Biden has done nothing to change that policy. If we are ever going to have a peaceful and sane policy towards Iran, all of these flaws need to be rooted out.

Flaws in US Iran Policy

Flaws that NO one is willing to change or even review.

After 40+ years and nothing has changed in Iran….so what part of those sanctions are successful?

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“lego ergo scribo”

NATO Vs Russia

For several years now the rhetoric around Russia and their attempts to re-establish the empire have been all the rage……to the point of the drums of war are beating with increased intensity.

The tool being used to beat those drums is NATO and Article 5 of the treaty …..

Article 5 of its North Atlantic Treaty of 1949, which in part reads:

“The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all….[If] if such an armed attack occurs, each of them… will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force….” That is, the bloc will collectively go to war against the alleged aggressor.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on June 7, a week ahead of the military bloc’s summit in Brussels. The trip that brings Biden to NATO headquarters will be his first one outside the U.S.

The Pentagon’s transcript of his meet with Austin provides a clear indication of what the impending summit will dwell on and which actions – and against which nation – the meeting will chart for the upcoming years. Stoltenberg’s comments included:

“The global balance of power is shifting. We see the rise of China, we see Russia continue to be responsible for aggressive actions against NATO Allies, and our neighbors, in cyberspace, through hybrid means, and also the way they have used military force against the Ukraine, Georgia and other countries in that region.”

(antiwar.com)

Right on cue…..warmongers like Biden will build-up forces to counter Russia…..

The U.S. is funding a $152-million construction project in Romania to transform the air base in Câmpia Turzii into a “new major hub for NATO aircraft in the Black Sea region,” in the words of a report from Balkan Insight of last month. The U.S. has deployed warplanes to the base since Romania became a NATO member in 2004. In fact, the following year the U.S. acquired access to several military bases in the country, including the Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport (and several more in neighboring Bulgaria the next year).

In 2016 the U.S. installed a missile shield land-based Aegis SPY-1 radar and twelve missile tubes for the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB interceptor missile in Deveselu .

In 2019 the Pentagon began upgrading the Mihail Kogălniceanu base.

U.S. European Command maintains Black Sea Area Support Group (formerly Joint Task Force-East) troop deployments in Romania as well.

(antiwar.com)

And the M-IC dances with joy…..(cha-ching)

Finally Sec Austin is right there with the pro-war rhetoric…..

Two days ago President Joe Biden, a staunch war hawk and NATO champion for half a century (no one before has become head of state in any nation with a résumé remotely approximating his in those regards) and Raytheon’s favorite defense chief Lloyd Austin III met with Jens Stoltenberg, head of a global military alliance with thirty members and forty partners on six continents – NATO – to discuss the military bloc’s summit on June 14; one both Biden and Austin will attend. They’re not, say, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the defense minister of Montenegro. Their presence is indispensable to the gathering of history’s largest military organization. Or as the Pentagon article much of the following is extracted from phrases it, “the most successful alliance in history.” If waging war in three continents and spending $1 trillion a year on military outlays for global missions are the criteria, then indeed it is.

The Defense Department began its account of the above meeting and the impending summit by reminding readers of “the core of the Biden administration’s push to repair America’s greatest asymmetric advantage – its unparalleled network of allies and partners around the world.” Translated from Pentagonese to English, that means solidifying, through NATO overwhelmingly, a global military network – and more than global, reaching into space – to contain, confront and defeat any nations remaining outside that network; currently, in ranking order of being targeted first, Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

Pentagon Chief: NATO Ready To Fight and Win if Deterrence Fails

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The League Of Democracies

This is a brilliant idea (sarcasm) of the Biden admin….bringing together all the democracies in a summit atmosphere…..I comment on the idea when it was first announced…..https://lobotero.com/2021/02/03/a-summit-for-democracy/

This sounds like a con job as usual….it will be nothing more than rhetoric from the Cold War….and will not really be about ‘democracy’ at all…..

Reliable reports continue to circulate that President Biden intends to call for a “summit of democracies” to convene this summer, although concerns that such a large gathering might become a super-spreader of the coronavirus may delay those plans. The implicit goal is to create a political, diplomatic (and eventually a military) bloc of democratic countries to contain the power and influence of the two leading authoritarian states, Russia and China, and to counter the supposedly surging appeal of authoritarianism globally. It is a concept that is deeply flawed both conceptually and in terms of execution. Indeed, the pursuit of this pernicious chimera has the potential to poison America’s already fragile relations with several important countries and to heighten risks to the security and well-being of the American people.

Biden and key advisers highlighted their wish to create a league of democracies (under Washington’s benevolent leadership, of course) even before the administration took office. Biden himself gave the proposal considerable prominence during the 2020 presidential election campaign. He and other officials also have exhorted Washington’s existing democratic alliance partners to create a common front against both Moscow and Beijing.

In remarks delivered on December 28, the president-elect stated that “as we compete with China and hold China’s government accountable for its abuses on trade, technology, human rights, and other fronts, our position will be much stronger when we build coalitions of like-minded partners and allies to make common cause with us in defense of our shared interests and values.” Biden added that “on any issue that matters to the U.S.-China relationship,… we [the United States] “are stronger and more effective when we are flanked by nations that share our vision for the future of our world.”

The Fraudulent ‘League of Democracies’ Scheme

This is a waste of time and energy……for the US turns a blind eye to nations that pretend to be a democracy while committing heinous crimes against people.

US needs to cease being a huge hypocrite on the world stage…..how can we truly be a world leader when the word ‘democracy’ means NOTHING to us?

This is a pathetic attempt to bolster the station of the M-IC…..not about the people of any given country.

It is about profit over people…..the usual crap we pretend is democracy.

A League of Democracies is a huge con job.

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That “Iron Dome”

Opening—I apologize for the late responses to comments from yesterday but my granddaughter was graduating high school and the day was about her.

Again I apologize.

WE all have an opinion about the recent conflict in Gaza…we know that Hamas fired a multitude of rockets into Israel and we are told the their defense system, the Iron Dome, destroyed about 80% of those rockets.

The Iron Dome?

It is a mobile all-weather air defense system[8] developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries.[7] The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to 70 kilometres (43 mi) away and whose trajectory would take them to an Israeli populated area.

Manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries
Unit cost

$50 million per battery $40,000 per missile

The reason I gave you that boring background on the Iron Dome is because Biden has promised to send cash to replenish the rockets used…..

Under the current military assistance agreement with Israel, Washington will provide Israel with $38 billion in aid from the 2019 fiscal year to the 2029 fiscal year. Of that $38 billion, $5 billion is allocated for missile defense systems, including the Iron Dome.

Biden Promises to ‘Replenish’ Israel’s Iron Dome After Gaza Ceasefire Reached

Seriously?

After all the cash that flies into Israel from Washington and a system that they make and the taxpayer must pay them for using their own system…..why?

They already get about $3+ billion in aid and yet we still have to pay for their wars of destruction…..again…..why?

The US will replenish the missiles used in the latest conflict…..more waste of taxpayer money….time for this waste to end.

Here is an idea….since the threat of Iron Dome does not deter conflict…..why not give both sides the same weapons after a holding ceasefire….kinda of like the idea of “Mutual Assured Destruction”.

MAD was/is a holdover from the Cold War and was meant to mean nukes…..but it could be expanded….

For those scratching their heads….

Mutually Assured Destruction, or mutually assured deterrence (MAD), is a military theory that was developed to deter the use of nuclear weapons. The theory is based on the fact that nuclear weaponry is so devastating that no government wants to use them. Neither side will attack the other with their nuclear weapons because both sides are guaranteed to be totally destroyed in the conflict. No one will go to all-out nuclear war because no side can win and no side can survive.

To many, mutually assured destruction helped prevent the Cold War from turning hot; to others, it is the most ludicrous theory humanity ever put into full-scale practice. The name and acronym of MAD come from physicist and polymath John von Neumann, a key member of the Atomic Energy Commission and a man who helped the US develop nuclear devices. A game theorist, von Neumann is credited with developing the equilibrium strategy and named it as he saw fit.

https://www.thoughtco.com/mutually-assured-destruction-1221190

Why not?

I mean all other attempts to bring a cessation of hostilities in the Middle East have been dismal failures….why not try another approach?

Just A Thought.

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Closing Thought–26May21

We are bombarded with the problems we are having with China….in economics, protests, the South China Sea and Taiwan…..it is so pervasive that we let the Pentagon spend money like a drunken sailor to prevent China ascension.

And now we have space and China that we will throw money at in the near future….

Say what?

You may not know it but China has decided to launch their own version of the space station….it is called the Tiangong Space Station…..

There has been a development that the US fines disturbing…..the station has a large robotic arm….

China’s deployment of a powerful robotic arm attached to the core module of its has sparked concerns in the United States over its possible military applications.
Chinese scientists say the 10-metre-long device, which is capable of lifting objects weighing up to 20 tonnes and can move around on the outside of the station, will be used to grab incoming spacecraft as they approach and help them to dock.
While the concept is not new – China has launched several scavenger satellites fitted with robotic arms to gather and steer space debris so it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere – not everyone in the US is convinced its purpose is wholly benign.
 
Now we have yet another worry with China.
 
Will they deploy this ‘arm’ to destroy American and international satellites?
 
We will need more money to meet this challenge no doubt….so the price tag rises yet again….more taxpayer money wasted on a ‘maybe’…….
 
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“lego ergo scribo”