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Re: Military Leadership

Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:48 pm
by Guest
Navigator wrote:
Mon Sep 13, 2021 2:58 pm
Trevor wrote:
Sat Sep 11, 2021 10:06 pm
You sure we're going to win this conflict, given who we've got in charge? The fiasco in Afghanistan makes apparent how incompetent our leaders are, with our Secretary of Defense more concerned about critical race theory than actually winning wars. Granted, Afghanistan wasn't likely to end well, but we did not have to leave thousands of civilians behind.

I'm reminded a little of what happened in the Soviet Union prior to Operation Barbarossa. Generals were chosen based on political loyalty, not competence. On a smaller scale, we're seeing the same thing happen. Kasserine Pass forced us to get our act together, but it only cost us around 3,000 people. Stalin's disaster cost the Soviets several million. Perhaps I'm being hyperbolic, but I sometimes suspect a lot of our strength exists only on paper.
A couple of months ago, I posted at length regarding the deficient military abilities of senior leadership of the US military. What happened in Kabul is verification of what I wrote. If not, at a bare minimum, the heads of the military and the SecDef should have threatened to resign once they were told what plan was going to be adopted. Then they should have resigned rather than have actually participated in the execution of the most shameful display of incompetence by the US since Vietnam (and in numerous ways, what happened was far far worse).

When the war starts, we are going to see incompetence on a scale not seen in the US since the start of the US Civil War. We are talking McDowell/McLellin/Burnside/Halleck bad (not to mention the subordinate Corps commanders of the Army of the Potomac).

But the Chinese are not exactly led by RE Lee and Stonewall Jackson. In fact, their commanders are probably just as bad as ours, theirs also being political appointees and those that excel at office politics rather than strategy and tactics.

Unfortunately, we will suffer losses far in excess of a Kasserine Pass long before the situation is sorted out.
https://thefederalist.com/2021/09/14/tr ... s-attacks/

I would like to hear Navigator take on this story. Lawlessness is now baked into the cake, so I personally expect nothing but lick spittle fawning over the music majors "courage".

Re: Generational Dynamics World View News

Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:52 pm
by DaKardii
Ghjdjd wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 3:15 am
DaKardii wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 1:42 am
Our own Presidents are doing what they're doing because people like MBS are twisting their arms through the petrodollar. So, people like MBS bear responsibility for all of it.
MBS is not twisting our arm. We are making money off of him.
You have no idea what you're talking about.

I said that MBS is twisting our politicians' arms through the petrodollar. If you knew what the petrodollar is about, which you clearly don't, then you would know that this isn't about "making money." This is about keeping our currency stable and avoiding hyperinflation.

Here are some examples of Saudi Arabia using the petrodollar system in order to twist our politician's arms:

https://investorintel.com/markets/gold- ... trodollar/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saud ... SKCN1NP26Y

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saud ... SKCN1RH008

The first article talks about how Saudi Arabia's threat to dump $750 billion in petrodollar holdings over a 9/11-related bill it didn't like would lead to the collapse of the petrodollar system.

The second article contains a Trump quote which alludes to the power of the petrodollar.

The third article talks about a much more explicit threat made by the Saudi regime in 2019.

Re: Military Leadership

Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 3:54 pm
by Xeraphim1
Navigator wrote:
Mon Sep 13, 2021 2:58 pm

A couple of months ago, I posted at length regarding the deficient military abilities of senior leadership of the US military. What happened in Kabul is verification of what I wrote. If not, at a bare minimum, the heads of the military and the SecDef should have threatened to resign once they were told what plan was going to be adopted. Then they should have resigned rather than have actually participated in the execution of the most shameful display of incompetence by the US since Vietnam (and in numerous ways, what happened was far far worse).

When the war starts, we are going to see incompetence on a scale not seen in the US since the start of the US Civil War. We are talking McDowell/McLellin/Burnside/Halleck bad (not to mention the subordinate Corps commanders of the Army of the Potomac).

But the Chinese are not exactly led by RE Lee and Stonewall Jackson. In fact, their commanders are probably just as bad as ours, theirs also being political appointees and those that excel at office politics rather than strategy and tactics.

Unfortunately, we will suffer losses far in excess of a Kasserine Pass long before the situation is sorted out.
You exaggerate. While our generals could always be better, there has been some 30 years of constant warfare to provide experience up and down the ladder. Our lamest generals are cowardly responding to political pressures but that do not necessarily mean that they are bad at their job.

China is in much worse shape with very few leaders having any combat experience. The PLAN is even worse since there are political officers who can and do countermand the actual leader's orders while reporting up is frequently falsified.

Re: Generational Dynamics World View News

Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:34 pm
by tim
America will be caught completely off guard by the Chinese attack.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021 ... itol-riot/
The book also revealed that Milley had two back-channel phone calls with China’s top general to reassure him that the U.S. would not attack, even promising to give him a heads up if it did.

According to a write-up by the Washington Post, Milley — four days before the 2020 presidential election — assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the U.S. would not strike.

The book said Milley’s first call was prompted by intelligence that suggested the Chinese believed the U.S. was preparing to attack.

“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley allegedly said. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”

Milley even pledged to alert Li in the event of a U.S. attack.

“General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise,” he said, according to the book.

Re: Generational Dynamics World View News

Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:41 pm
by Cool Breeze
John, what do you think of this Milley story?

Re: Generational Dynamics World View News

Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:46 pm
by John
** 14-Sep-2021 World View: Milley story
Cool Breeze wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:41 pm
> John, what do you think of this Milley story?
From Trump ultra-haters like Woodward and Costa, based on reports from
ultra-Trump-hating CNN? I'll wait for more evidence.

Re: Generational Dynamics World View News

Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 10:15 pm
by Cool Breeze
John wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:46 pm
** 14-Sep-2021 World View: Milley story
Cool Breeze wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:41 pm
> John, what do you think of this Milley story?
From Trump ultra-haters like Woodward and Costa, based on reports from
ultra-Trump-hating CNN? I'll wait for more evidence.
I agree with that.

Re: Generational Dynamics World View News

Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:47 am
by Guest
Evergrande.

How strong is the Chinese economy, really? I don't know what to believe anymore.

Would a disorderly collapse of Evergrande slow or spur a war?

Re: Generational Dynamics World View News

Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:54 am
by FullMoon
Guest wrote:
Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:47 am
Evergrande.

How strong is the Chinese economy, really? I don't know what to believe anymore.

Would a disorderly collapse of Evergrande slow or spur a war?
Financial/economic collapse leading to war. Probably going to happen quickly once it starts falling apart.

Re: Generational Dynamics World View News

Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2021 10:27 am
by thomasglee
Cool Breeze wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 10:15 pm
John wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:46 pm
** 14-Sep-2021 World View: Milley story
Cool Breeze wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:41 pm
> John, what do you think of this Milley story?
From Trump ultra-haters like Woodward and Costa, based on reports from
ultra-Trump-hating CNN? I'll wait for more evidence.
I agree with that.
I believe the story. Rational actions cannot be expected from the motley cru currently playing their roles as governmental leaders.