Originally posted by: gutharius
Originally posted by: AndrewR
It's unlikely that Japan will sit idly by while that happens also.
Japan's Constitution forbids offensive action. This was a condition of the World War II armistace. Because of this Japan will not be intervening on any front as far as I am concerned. Any suggestion is foolish and short minded.
Japan's Constitution technically forbids any military whatsoever, but a reinterpretation allowed them to create their self-defense forces. Are you familiar with Japanese domestic politics currently? I live here and follow them -- the debate over Japanese OFFENSIVE military capability is far from being settled, particularly after North Korea fired a missile over Japan in 1998. The foolish and "short minded" [sic] is the one who speaks from ignorance.
As to whether the US will intervene... Think about this... Everytime the US government overspends where do you think they get the money from??? Or rather, WHO do you think they get the money from??? They get the money from the Japanese and the Chinese buying and financing US government bonds i.e. debt.
BS. The majority of US government debt is in the hands of Americans, not foreigners. The reason why there are always buyers for T-bills is that they are among the safest investments in the world. There's no world conspiracy to "own" the US government.
So, since the Bushies in the White House have been driving our government into debt guess WHO has been buying up all our debt and financing our ailing economy... You guessed it! In large part the Chinese have been providing the money for our military, social programs, and day to day government operations by loaning money to our US government to cover our short falls, debts, and deficits.
The US government has ALWAYS been in debt, except for a brief period in the 19th century, I believe it was. I won't bother going into a fiscal discourse to dispute your other points because it's likely a waste of effort anyway.
So when ever you see on the news there is a deficit in the budget or they are talking about debt just remember:
This is the reason our Government is powerless to take affirmative diplomatic or militaristic action against North Korea to deter their nuclear weapons program.
"Affirmative diplomatic action" -- now, THAT'S a hilarious statement if I've ever seen one. What does that mean? A STRONGLY worded demarche? As for "militaristic" action, the US cannot launch any definitive action against North Korea without the full consent of South Korea. Did you notice that KOREA is competing at the Olympics?
This is the reason Taiwan is not able to declare independence because we don't want daddy China money bags coming over and saying "We OWN YOU now STOP military intervention or we kill your economy and your puny nation with it!"
If China invades Taiwan, they kill their own economy. Taiwan businessmen OWN Chinese high tech industry -- it's a symbiotic relationship. THAT'S the biggest deterrent to an invasion. The public statements of the US President merely add to the equation in favor of the status quo.
This is the reason we cannot force China to stop illegal trade practices which give our nation and our people a HUGE disadvantage when it comes to being competitive in the world wide labor market.
No, it's because we have our own little dirty tricks in international trade and can't throw too many stones. Ask the Europeans.
...For all you who think we could win militarily, I can see it happening but not without the United States being ruined financially, economically, and having millions of our sons and daughters sent to their deaths. Cause I can tell you this, it wont stop at Taiwan, we will have to take the WHOLE OF CHINA before this issue is to be resolved by going to war. If you think Iraq is a mess, China would be hell on earth to rebuild after a full scale war.
The US doesn't have to invade and occupy China to stop aggression against Taiwan. No boats, no invasion. Quite simple.
You also have to think about alliances:
Russia, will side with China because of their close relations...
Those close relations like the border war they fought years ago? Those close relations which keep Russian troops near the Chinese border? You need to learn some history. Sino-Russian "closeness" was a farce at best.
France and Germany...[and stuff about NATO]
Who cares about Europe? Germans can barely muster a brigade for Afghanistan, and the French aren't part of NATO's military command structure. It would be more appropriate to talk about the EU than NATO in this instance. Regardless, pointless in the context of US involvement in the defense of Taiwan.
I have heard talk of the UN. As far as I am concerned the UN is about as effective at stopping a war as taking the welcome mat away from your front door to stop people from coming into or visiting your house. I cite Sudan and our own invasion of Iraq as proof of this.
We agree on something. Scary.
So there you have it my perspective.
And my unsolicited comments.