Re: China threatens to trigger US dollar collapse China would not come out and threaten the US first. Congress has threatened China with trade sanctions if they do not allow the yuan to rise in value faster than it has been. They are threatening this in an attempt to narrow the trade deficit. China is saying, if you move to impose trade sanctions on us, we will move away from the dollar as our reserve currency, and sell some of our trillion dollar stash of treasury bills. It is not a threat without provocation, which I agree would not make sense, it is a threat of retaliation if the US moves to harm China with trade sanctions.
SD, That reason that the 2 posts you showed from me and Red appear to be in contradiction is that our underlying asssumptions are different. Red is saying we don't have enough humvees, tanks, ships, etc (here's the assumption - to keep the troops we have in Germany, Japan, Guam, S. Korea, Saudi, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc) and fight the war in Iraq. If we spend 46% of the total world money spent each year on military spending , and we spend more than the next 14 countries combined, I think we can change some of those assumptions. Prior to the fall of the soviet union, the military position was we were to equip to fight a major two front war like in WW II. After 1989, that was deemed very unlikely that russia would invade europe. We are now planned to defend one major war in one theater. Why not shut down our base in Germany and send the men and equipment to Iraq? We should tell Ger. and let them get ready, but why is that base there today? Let them waste their GDP on unproductive projects. Same with Japan. Think they want to fight us again? I don't. Let them spend some of their GDP on defense against China. Their taxes would go up, and they'd be less competitive against us in the economic sphere. Where are Russia's foreign military bases, China's, England's, France's, or anybody else's? Why?
1. All three services are short of major equipment, they have said so. 2. The Air Force and the Navy are still the most powerful in the world, although China's air force is bigger and her navy is being increased drammatically. 3. Our army has been poorly used in Iraq. The Kuwait War demonstrated that in conventional mechanized warfare, it is still the finest in the world. But it has been allowed to become too small and worse . . . it has been squandered in attempting to babysit a civil war in Iraq, something that a modern army is not good at. The army is severely depleted in trucks, humvees, helicopters, and field equipment of every type. We have a giant store of tanks and APC's sitting idle in the US because their operators have been turned in to infantry and sent to Iraq to be fodder for the Iraqi insurgents.
Re: China threatens to trigger US dollar collapse all empires end someday. the question is will it be a soft or hard landing?
I have already suggested in closing bases in Germany and various places around the world. The way I see it neither congress or any president has made the right decisions in recent years. You are preaching to the choir on this one. Sounds like a new arms race to me. More reason why we should be building up our military with equipment and soldiers. Again you have to ask the question who responsible for this. Both parties of government has shrunk the military because they couldn't see the forest through the trees. I really don't want to believe in gloom and doom but the way politicians are today we are setting ourselves up for a disaster, maybe someone may declare war, invade us one of these days. That is what has always happened since the beginning of time. Governments and people fall asleep at the switch then are invaded or attacked.
Mexico. They have the most effective irregular infantry on earth and already occupy six states. :grin:
It's not just the tumbling dollar, but you can thank mis management in Washington by the republicans for much of that $3 per gallon you are paying at the pump. When Bush took office, it was about $1.20 for regular. Expect to pay $4 per gallon if oil holds at $90 for long. Bush cut taxes in 2001, most of the tax cuts went to the rich. The deficit went up because of the tax cut. The dollar has fallen 70% vs. the Euro, Oil is up 200%, gold is up 200%. A gallon of regular at $3 hurts the middle class a lot more than a rich guy. This is just a hidden regressive tax, that disproportionately hurts the poor and middle class a lot more than the rich.
