ClearedHot

Not saying you did, saying do we...as in the U.S. government, view it as an attack on the U.S. What I am trying to say is what qualifies as an attack on "us"? Reacquiring Taiwan requires a lot of moving pieces that will happen VERY quickly. If they believe we will respond (our official policy was ambiguous until Uncle Joe said we would defend Taiwan), then do you think they wait to go all in? The longer they wait the more risk they accept. We have shooters in place under the water tonight, will they go after our subs at the start, will they target Guam at the start, will they go after space from the start, will they use cyber against our bases AND ALLIES forward at the start and will they use cyber against the U.S. home land? Any one of those could be considered an attack on "us." Elections have consequences, Bill Clinton set the tone and had the chance to steer the ship, instead he let is run with the tide, even though he knew there was danger. “One of the biggest question marks of the 21st century is the path China will take. Will China emerge as a partner — or an adversary?” (Bill Clinton May 2000). It doesn't help that the Friedman's of the world came into vogue in U.S. power circles (I debated the guy once, he is an ARROGANT ASS). Regardless, there is a HUGE difference between policies that balance U.S. economic development and folks outright sharing military tactics. Me either brother....me either. I have been ringing the warning bell for a long time. During both tours in the five sided funny farm I was a zealot for funding and preparation for China. I actually have a picture of me and SECDEF Gates shaking hands on my wall, I wanted to punch him when we took the picture. I understood his desire to fix the horrible issues we were having in Iraq, but he did it buy gutting the Air Force and at the expense of preparing for the fight with China, a fight that will take MANY more lives and treasure. The picture hangs on my wall not as a prize but as a reminder that I failed to make more of a difference on that topic. We all have our flaws...

Have you look at their economy lately? They have SERIOUS issues the are already causing a lot of internal turmoil and it will only get worse. Yes we helped their economy grow but they tried to help themselves through artificial means to sustain that grown and adopted an economic model what was actually just not unsustainable. Holding GDP growth north of 9% was a function of currency manipulation and artificially stimulated domestic demand (google "China Ghost Cities" or watch the 60 minute special on that topic below. They are in a serious economic situation that will likely impact the whole world. Their one child policy didn't help the situation and long held societal preference for male versus female heirs has led to an uncomfortable balance. It is a long held worry that a couple hundred million angry and unemployed young men is difficult to control and the only way to maintain power is to focus them on an external threat. The big question is do we view an attack on Taiwan as an attack on us (under your theory), or do we honor our treaty promise? Bigger than that if they do decided to attack Taiwan (they already have) and they hit us at Guam kinetically and use Cyber on the homeland, how will we respond. For me as a knuckle dragger I have a far simpler view shared by the great Lt Col Andrew Tanner who said "Two toughest kids on the block, I guess. Sooner or later, they're gonna fight."

I was chalking it up to ice cream induced brain freeze.

The Russian pilots who ejected from a military plane moments before it crashed into an apartment building and killed 13 people could face charges, Russia says

In the midst of a horrible war and chaos caused by Putin it is refreshing to see the spirit and compassion of the Ukrainian people endures. There are some incredible people trying to help in the smallest of ways.

Dude maybe be the GOAT QB but he is still a complete douche.

Indeed Heritage leans and is funded by conservatives but they do very good research and reports. I am seeing calls from members across Congress to replenish stocks we've sent to Ukraine. I know there is one contract recently awarded to produce more Javelins, but there is a of other things that will be need to be replaced. As you will see in the Ukraine thread we have even sent them HARMS from the late 90s.

A stark warning from one of the lead commodities columnist/analyst at Bloomberg.

Indeed... Interesting huh. Not as hard as one would think. I think a little more may come out, especially on the intercepted comms side, but Germany appears reluctant to publicly release what they have. That being said, as I said before we know exactly who and how they did it.

First images released to the public showing the blast came from INSIDE the pipeline.

Still an air to air kill right? Whatever hit it was moving fast, at first I thought it might have been something from the gorund but it looks like a flat trajectory.

Drone V Drone Air to Air.

Of course the mainstream media and the Dem controlled House and Senate will ignore everything that is happening and the potential crime the Joe Biden committed. Reports from Saudi indicate he asked them to delay the announcement of the decrease in production until AFTER the Mid-Terms, if true isn't that a crime? Regardless, the real crime is what he is doing to the SPR: The oil market is worried Biden could release another 100 million barrels of crude from strategic reserves, analyst says A quick caveat, Trump falsely claims to have filled to the SPR to 100%, while he asked for funding to add 77 Million Barrels, that funding was not approved. Regardless, Biden is destroying our national security in a short-sighted attempt to keep oil prices low for an election. There are other ways to do this AND make us energy independent without draining the SPR. For the record, as of today Biden has drained nearly a third of the SPR, if the reports are true he will take it well below half what is was when he took office, a 40 year low and to the point it was when first established.

For years folks have warned about the spread of VEOs to Africa, a historically under-resourced AOR. Our haphazard withdrawal from Afghanistan appears to have emboldened these folks to grow their influence. We have added forces but the administration promised us they would be able to handle this with an "over the horizon" strategy which appears to be failing miserably. The U.S. Is Losing Yet Another ‘War on Terror’ It is the Rolling Stone so as usual take with a grain of salt. However, those of us who deployed and operated there will see the indicators of a growing problem that WILL manifest itself in the near future.

Correct, typo on my part. *Hawaii* to top off points is 3300NM. Guam to center point of Taiwan is 1700 miles, to the center of the straights is another 100 miles.

Research team pisses people off by creating new COVID-19 variant with 80% kill rate The Boston University lab that did this has changed the narrative (like Fauci) and said this is not gain of function. Apparently another lab in NC is doing the same thing. Yes, this was done at a level 4 lab but there have been over 1,000 known lab leaks in the past few years. Yes, we need to understand the virus in order to develop more therapeutics and vaccines but dear got with an 80% kill rate and being five times more transmissible one would think there should be some SERIOUS oversight and public discussion.

Video appears to show one of them shortly after ejecting with his student.

One of the biggest flaws with the current plan (aside from trying to protect MOBs from a swarm of TBMs), is the way the employment of Big Wing Tankers from Guam and other distances will limit our asymmetric 5th gen advantage. If you think we can operate Big Wing Tankers outside the island chain and they won't be detected, then again lets go bridge shopping. A quick google search and you will see China has been working on Bi Static Detection for some time. They will be able to track the tankers and know exactly where the B-2/B-21/F-22/F-35s are marshaling, creating a single point of failure in our attack plan. There is a reason ACE has been a buzz concept for the past 10 years, \Agile Tanker finally opens that door. Also, it does not hurt that the Philippines recently announced that they Will Provide Military Base To US During China-Taiwan Conflict. Aside from allowing multiple booms at multiple points simultaneously opening multiple axis of attack it also minimizes the problem Big Wing Tankers face with the tyranny of distance. As a frame of reference, Guam to the likely top-off points is a 3300NM flight...ONE WAY!

Creepy Uncle Joe at it again.

I know you are arguing the other size but very dogmatic thinking. For 10+ years they have been asking for things that change the calculus, doubling down on big wing tankers and protected MOBs is pure insanity IMHO. Go look at how many TBMs the Chinese have built...and the accuracy. They will simply overwhelm and destroy Guam and Tinian. If Japan enables our ops they will pay a heavy price as well, although they have invested a LOT of $ and brain power in upgrades that will cost the Chicoms dearly. If you think we enabling ops from Alaska, Hawaii or northern Australia will work, I have some bridges I would like to sell you. The tyranny of distance is real and using those bases will not allow for the massing of airpower needed to counter the Chinese. If the defense of Taiwan is to be successful there must be an interdiction effort of vessels crossing the straights and that is going to require far more than a few B-2/B-21 sorties launching long-rang strike munitions.

Concur, Gavin Newsom is their boy and judging by the damage he has done in California and the agenda he will bring...its gonna be ugly.

The pure audacity... completely disconnected from reality and he has access to the nuke codes. Can't wait for our liberal forum members to roll in and defend this senile meatbag. Everything is fine, chew your cud citizen.