nonalien1 Loc: Mojave Desert

[quote=manning5l

Currently. The US has a No First Use policy for nuclear weapons. So under that rule, we cannot threaten China with a nuclear response to their invasion of Taiwan, while they are free to threaten us with a nuclear response if we come to the aid of Taiwan

If history teaches us anything it's don't count on America to keep a treaty .It's one of the reasons Ukraine is suffering Putin's invasion. I h**e to say that about my country but facts are facts and history should be told accurately. We suck when it comes to making agreements. That said I also think we are spreading ourselves a little thin. We have a few things going on .Not a lot of it is brought up regularly. China would require ALL of our military might and a long term commitment. I was hoping humans would outgrow a need for Territorial disputes involving large explosives . I personally would like to see all nuclear weapons banned world wide. Heck war should be banned and any aggressor should be shot or imprisoned for life. We will never evolve as a species until we resolve our murderous instincts Pray for Peace

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

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My guess is that the West sees the massive buildup of the military, the fights with India, the annexation of Tibet, the arguments with Japan over islands, the buildup of islands in the South China Sea for military bases, the insistence that Taiwan is a province despite its 80 years of independence, the spying to obtain US military secrets, the corruption they foster with their money, their nuclear program, their actions in Hong Kong, and their c*******m, all to be signs of excessive use of their power to obtain what they want. This adds up to the opinion that they are aggressive. this is the "What" of the issue, not the "Why", so the why can rationalize many of these steps to power and annexation...and aggression!

This reminds me of the old saw: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

If the young men in the US refuse to heed the draft, given that we institute one for war purposes, the government takes steps to punish them, just as it happened in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. During Vietnam, quite a few draft dodgers fled to Canada. A personal friend did that to my disgust: I was a Korean Conflict veteran (but saw no combat).

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

There is another problem that I am puzzling over in my mind. The Question is, does historical ownership of land dating back many years convey forward in time, despite intervening changes in ownership or simple possession? Examples of this problem abound around the world, notably in the US, China, and Russia. The US has stabilized itself after driving the original possessors of the land into reservations, but it was an act of conquest.
China appears to be doing the same thing, trying to recover lands that they once held ownership of, and Russia today is trying to conquer the Ukraine that they consider a province. There are tons of other examples throughout history. It is apparent that such moves are not considering either population's desires or needs, that of the aggressor, nor the target nation's people, but solely the desires of the ruling classes it seems.

In the spirit of peace-keeping, why can't we simply call a halt to such aggressions against the desires of the existing peoples and accept the status quo today as fixed? Thus, any attempt to pursue such an aggression would (or should) bring down on the aggressor the might of the rest of the world.

The answer is, of course, that the ruling classes would not adhere to any such thing, and many of them would possess nuclear capabilities to back them up in their int***sience. So peace is held hostage to the nuclear threat and the ambitions of rulers.

Many rulers want the nuclear capability for just this reason, plus the obvious self-defense it conveys.

nonalien1 Loc: Mojave Desert

Yup it's time to take out the elite

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

I sympathize with your idea, but it might result in a k*****g or two! That is a No-No!

Tom Sowell pointed out in his book, Intellectuals and Society, how many public intellectuals (Elites) were at the heart of many of our disasters, and how they use their verbal verbosity to do it! They are not punished for their contributions to disasters either. So they remain a thorn in the side of our society.

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

We agree

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

The Chinese military has scaled down in recent years...Not built up... Or are you referring to capabilities??? Of course they are advancing their capabilities... So is the US and most other nations...

The border scuffle with India last year didn't even involve firearms... Yet you see that bad concerning???

Tibet has been a part of China for several dynasties... Yes, they used the Chinese civil war and the Japanese invasion to attempt to break away...They failed...

Japan and Taiwan are also arguing over those islands.... I guess Taiwan is aggressive as well??? Japan's also arguing with Korea and Russia over some islands.... Canada is arguing with Greenland over an island... In fact, numerous nations are arguing over islands... All aggressive???

The South China sea islands was a rather brilliant move by China... As was stationing bases there to protect their claim...

China insists Taiwan is a province because that's how the US set it up... Insisting that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China... I'm sure it felt like a great idea at the time... Waiting for the c*******ts to fall...Then backing the Kuomintang... But it didn't work...

Nations spy on each other???!!!!
Not the US, right???
Screw Snowden!!!

I'm unsure about the corruption you're talking about... Do you mean they use money to buy support??? Because that would just be evil...Right??n

Scary nuclear program... They really shouldn't be allowed to have those...Only the US should have nuclear weapons... All other nations are too aggressive..

What happened in Hong Kong??? Every time I ask people just ignore the question...

Yeah..They're not really c*******t, you know that, right??? Haven't been for a long time...



Those young men outnumber you old timer... What makes you think they'll v**e for war??? Especially over Taiwan???
Nope, they're too busy drinking their iced lattes and b***hing about student loans...


I agree with you concerning draft dodgers.. But I'd also like to see the children of the politicians who v**ed for war placed in the front lines...

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

What about places/peoples that are seeking freedom???

Should the Kurds simply accept that they'll never have their own nation???
Or the Catalonians???
Both Africa and the ME have borders that were largely drawn up by European colonial powers...Should they simply learn to live with it???

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

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Oh no!! The injustice of it all! That would be really bad for those who want to bomb, and rocket and shoot to have their way and gain territory and resources. The rabble rousers couldn't rouse anyone to do those things anymore, and war industries would have to think about plows and tractors. The elites would have to return to arguing about how many angels you can place on the head of a pin or who shot John a hundred years ago. The war leaders would have to go back to lawyering or teaching, and that just isn't their desired cup of tea. Joe Average could calm down and get married and find a good job without worrying about the draft. Why, people would have to try to settle disputes together peacefully! What a really terrible suggestion:

Peace!

RascalRiley Loc: Somewhere south of Detroit

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Cool... So screw all the people who's nations were conquered and redistributed...

The West is tired of war... So peace now guys...

Hi Kurds...You're just going to have to learn to live under the government of people who h**e you..Cool???
Because the alternative is fighting... And now that's bad...
Yes, yes, the West helped Kosovo become a nation, it's true...But that was when fighting is ok... You need to stop fighting now...
What??? You aided us numerous times in our wars against Iraq and Syria??? Ok, true... But that was when fighting was good... Now it's bad...
Don't worry...I'm sure the government's of Iraq and Syria will treat you fairly... We're a peaceful world now...

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

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So we freeze the proclivity to fight wars. Aad we try to settle things peacefully. We use lots of the world's forces to effect the peace. We even convene an international court to address the grievances of complainants, and their decisions would be final. If that didn't solve the problem, then force might be the answer, to enforce the decision.

What stands in the way are nuclear capabilities of nations that are expansionists. They will not give them up. So we are back to the start line again. We cannot enforce them to do the right thing or we risk a nuclear event or two...or more! And, it doesn't have to be nuclear, it could be biological, chemical or other weapons of mass destruction any small nation can gin up!

We are h*****g by a thread! The thread of belief in the sanctity of life, and the Golden Rule, plus the possibility that B/C weapons cannot be controlled. Any nation that does not believe in this is an imminent threat to mankind. Don't you agree?

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

I agree that nations won't give up their autonomy... Or their ability to defend themselves...

Your earlier example can be found in the UN... Which has prevented the US from going to war how many times??? Or sanctioned it??? No???

A global organization that could prevent war would by definition be a one world government....

I'm vehemently against that....

RascalRiley Loc: Somewhere south of Detroit

Not in our life times but is not a one world government inevitable.

Or will we continue to squabble over territory?

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

No...

A global empire, perhaps...

But never a single government....