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Topic: U.S. military might… (Read 17502 times)
  • OakdaleFTL
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U.S. military might…
I'm sure Howie and his ilk prefer the U.S. to be weak, except when they're threatened;  then they want us to be strong!

Here's something I read recently:
Quote
What else has to happen — how close does war, with all its horrors, have to come — before Congress closes the hatch on sequestration, before it eliminates the caps, whatever political compromises are necessary to eliminate them, and begins, in earnest, to rebuild the tools of power? (source)
The fellow who brought this to my attention is a submariner and a nuclear weapons tech…

Doesn't everyone think the U.S. spends too much on "defense"…?
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"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
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Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #25 –
Oddly they made statements the North Koreans about being willing to talk to the Americans when h Games in Seoul finished but the ex-colonists said they would not meet.
"Quit you like men:be strong"

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #26 –
Quote from: rjhowie – on
but the ex-colonists said they would not meet.
The only thing the White House has said is that it's committed to their denuclearization. There's been no refusal to talk.  

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #27 –
Sounds passingly reasonable to some routine minds but as a country well endowed with that item still think they should talk. Making threats is one thing but carrying out could lead to military conflict with another major world power. Let us also be reminded that South Korea is attached physically on the same  peninsular as the North and they want dialogue. I don't have much time for the northern dictatorship but America has to get away with a niggle with Seoul.
"Quit you like men:be strong"

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #28 –
Trump is not in office yet, but already declared war on Panama, Canada, and Greenland. And European politologists recommend pre-emptive surrender.

Quote from: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/statsvetaren-kan-inte-utesluta-att-usa-far-makt-over-gronland
– Nu har han [Trump] fyra år. USA köpte Alaska 1867, tänk om han blir den andre presidenten att utvidga USA:s territorium. Jag kan inte utesluta att han drömmer om detta.

Statsvetarprofessorn tror att Trumps uttalanden främst är en del i ett förhandlingsspel, för att exempelvis få fler militärbaser på ön eller större del av naturtillgångar i framtiden.

– Och hindra att kineserna gör det. Det kan vara ett par sådana eftergifter som jag tror att danskarna kan tänka sig att gå med på.
This entirely demolishes the purpose of Nato. Or any other alliances. It also demolishes any meaningful opposition to Russia. Putin can do whatever he wants because Trump does whatever he wants. Anybody who claims to be opposed to dictatorships would be opposed to Putin and Trump and equally, but this is not to be expected from Europe.

And here's an earlier historical attempt by USA to take over Greenland https://apnews.com/article/9d4a8021c3650800fdf6dd5903f68972

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #29 –
A negotiation game to get more military bases? From the guy who's obsessed with closing them?

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #30 –
Trump's only obsession is narcissistic attention-seeking. As to policy, he says whatever his latest big donor wants. Trump has already flip-flopped on a bunch of issues just to appease some tech moghul, e.g. for some time he wanted to ban TikTok, now he doesn't, same with crypto as soon as crypto bros started donating to him. Right now even his #1 campaign topic, immigration, is under debate and can go under, because obviously Musk and Bezos prefer disposable slave labour in their factories and warehouses, not salaried workers, and for this they need immigrants. If there's to be any deportation, it will be of abused depleted slaves.

Trump cannot stand up to Musk and Bezos. Trump is no Putin and USA is no Russia, even though evidently Trump's plan is to rule like Putin: He at the center as the dictator and oligarchs around him serving "at his pleasure". In Russia this works because it was the government who appointed the oligarchs to oversee pieces of national wealth after the demise of USSR and oligarchs understand that they are not true owners. Russian oligarchs are custodians of the wealth that was assigned to them and when the government demands it back, for example for the war effort, then the oligarchs either give it or they will accidentally fall out of the window.

In USA the moghuls see themselves as true legitimate owners and Trump cannot change this. What may have happened is that some military contractor saw opportunities for expansion and had a little chat with Trump about it. Trump of course thinks he met a smart person (because wealthier than him) and therefore it was a smart chat, so he weaves it into his speeches and press conferences for the public. The worst part of it is that it completely justifies Putin in that the same way as USA sees random places across the world to take over, of course Russia can take back what they see as historically theirs.

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #31 –
I can see I was mistaken in my previous post in this thread. I thought tech moghuls would moderate Trump's immigration policy. It turned out that every policy of Trump's is applied on first-person basis to such an extent that, okay, the top tech moghuls won't feel it, but still everybody who has not ingratiated oneself with Trump so that Trump would recognise them by name and face gets ripped off.

And there is a constant rotation of people rising into favour and falling out of favour. Elon Musk, after having successfully plundered some key agencies during the little episode that DOGE was, eventually left the White House with a literal black eye. How the world's richest dude let that happen instead of just buying Trump off, which he could easily do a hundred times over without losing any of his own life comforts, is beyond me.

Then there is Trump's official cabinet, say Pete Hegseth of Department of Defense or the Department of War for example. By now it is clear that he does not know what policy is or if there is any policy, so of course he has no clue how to administer any of it either.

Michelle Sherrill (D): "President told you to halt the military aid to Ukraine on January 30th?"

Pete Hegseth (R): "I'm saying that the reporting is inaccurate, Ma'am."

Michelle Sherrill (D): "I think we can see why you misunderstood the president. You're obviously misunderstanding my questions."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQfiTUI-FnQ

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #32 –
There has always been infighting, Trump likes that, Like a certain chancellor of inter-war Germany, he finds a Social Darwinian pleasure and utility in that. But unlike Trump 1.0, surrounded by "adults", and even beginning of Trump 2.0, he seems to be losing control. If that is the case, the wild ride in 2025 may become wilder in 2026.

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #33 –
Twitter provides a summary of a Danish newspaper article.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2034577290701492468.html
Quote
1/ Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland in January, with military support from France, Germany, and Nordic nations. Elite troops and F-35 jets with live ammunition were sent, and runways were to be blown up to prevent an invasion. ⬇️ Image
2/ The Danish public broadcaster DR reports that officials in Denmark, France and Germany say that Donald Trump's threats to seize Greenland were taken so seriously that wide-ranging preparations were made to forcibly resist a US invasion of the Danish island.
3/ The Danish and French governments worked together to create a northern European coalition to defend Greenland from the United States. Under the cover of a pre-planned defence exercise, Greenland's defences were bolstered to raise the costs of any US invasion attempt.
4/ This included sending blood to treat wounded soldiers; sending elite Danish troops and French alpine troops to Greenland; preparing Greenland's runways for demolition to prevent a Hostomel-style seizure; and sending armed F-35 jets to patrol the skies.

[…]

https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/groenland/danmark-forberedte-sig-paa-muligt-angreb-fra-usa-floej-poser-med-blod-til-groenland-og-gjorde-klar

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #34 –
Trump announces Strait of Hormuz blockade after Iran talks collapse
Quote from: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/12/trump-announces-strait-of-hormuz-blockade-after-iran-talks-collapse-00868375
In a pair of Truth Social posts, Trump said the U.S. military would begin blockading ships entering or leaving the strait, and would also intercept any vessel that has paid tolls to Iran to transit it safely. He also said that any Iranian who fires on the U.S. military or other, peaceful vessels will be “BLOWN TO HELL” while the Navy works to de-mine the strait.
Trump promised Iran's unconditional surrender, but his actual victory means instituting a "blockade" around Iran's stranglehold on the strait (i.e. blockade is yet another word whose meaning he does not understand). The foreseeable effect will be further increase of global oil prices, useful in the short term (and Trump only thinks in short term) to oil companies, and instigating more tensions worldwide.

Trump will not be able to deliver on the blockade. Will he really dare to hunt down e.g. Chinese tankers? Another TACO Tuesday will be next.
 

Re: U.S. military might…

Reply #35 –
Following similar news from Switzerland.

Estonia's HIMARS ammunition held up by US weapons deliveries delays
Quote from: https://news.err.ee/1610000377/estonia-s-himars-ammunition-held-up-by-us-weapons-deliveries-delays
The delay in U.S. defense deliveries mainly affects Estonia's ammunition for the HIMARS multiple rocket launcher system, some of which was supposed to arrive already this year.