Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Should The U.S. Avoid War Against China At All Cost?

‘There is no rational scenario in which the United States could end up in a better, more secure place after a war with China. ‘ Photograph: Taiwan Ministry Of National Defense

Lt Col Daniel L Davis (ret), The Guardian: The US must avoid war with China over Taiwan at all costs 

The prevailing mood among Washington insiders is to fight if China attempts to conquer Taiwan. That would be a mistake 

Since last Friday, the People’s Republic of China has launched a total of 155 warplanes – the most ever over four consecutive days – into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone; Ned Price said the state department was “very concerned”. There have been more than 500 such flights through nine months this year, as opposed to 300 all of last year. 

Before war comes to the Indo-Pacific and Washington faces pressure to fight a potentially existential war, American policymakers must face the cold, hard reality that fighting China over Taiwan risks an almost-certain military defeat – and gambles we won’t stumble into a nuclear war. 

Bluntly put, America should refuse to be drawn into a no-win war with Beijing. It needs to be said up front: there would be no palatable choice for Washington if China finally makes good on its decades-long threat to take Taiwan by force. Either choose a bad, bitter-tasting outcome or a self-destructive one in which our existence is put at risk.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: Appeasement rarely works. It only makes the aggressor want more. But Lt Col Daniel L Davis (ret) is not the only one questioning the value of the U.S. going to war against China over Taiwan. Patrick Buchanan has been questioning this U.S. foreign policy for years .... Are the US and China Stumbling Toward an ‘Islands War’? (Patrick Buchanan).

10 comments:

Anon said...

Appeasement rarely works. It only makes the aggressor want more. "

- I can see how audiences are taking place. Let us wait for the son.

Anonymous said...

If Biden wants to avoid a war over Taiwan and the entire Pacific, he had best show the Chinese he will bomb mainland Chinese cities for days on end.

Anonymous said...

"- I can see how audiences are taking place. Let us wait for the son"

Which means what?

Are you trying to be cryptic?

Anonymous said...

Patrick Buchanan is 3 trick pony. He put is hat in the ring and did not get anywhere. How would WW2 have ended, if the US did not get involved?

jimbrown said...

"At all cost" = what the Bidens have earned?

Anonymous said...

www.ltcoldavis.com/resume

The Lt Col. has more combat experience in the field than Milley or Austin. So there is that.

I find Lt. Col. Davis's view narrow minded. I assume Lt. Col was a 2nd Lt or 1st Lt. at the Battle of 73 Easting in 1991. I am sure it was intense, very intense. However it does not have the peculiar intensity where the enemy can significantly throw back at you and cause casualties or give as good as they got. It was the armor equivalent of the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

"The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot"
19–20 June 1944


The US had better imaging, range finding, and acquisition. They had better fire control. It was a one sided fight, which is they way I (and I think most people) like them, so long as they are not on the receiving end.

I wonder how Mr. Davis feels about liberating Kuwait. I wonder how Mr. Davis feels about "the free flow of oil?"

Since World War II, three main interests—ensuring the free flow of oil from the Gulf,...

I wonder how Mr. Davis feels about $6 a gallon gas or $9 a gallon gas.

I wonder how Mr. Davis feels about computers costing 200% or 300% increase in computer devices? I tend to keep my computing devices for 4 years or more. I keep them until they fall apart. What about him or people in general? Could the economy function well with with hardware costing a lot more?

Mr. Davis does not list what was his initial. Has he taken any course in economics.

Better yet, has Mr. Davis taken part in war games where economics and supply chains were involved?

I do not doubt that Lt Col. Davis is brave. He has been in an actual kinetic environment. I do doubt Austin's or Milley's physical courage. That is I have no knowledge that they have been in a kinetic environment.

I would rather trust Dunnigan's or Nofi's analysis than Mr. Davis, since as I have stated, I believe his analysis is rather narrow minded.

Anonymous said...

"As I have previously detailed, there is no rational scenario in which the United States could end up in a better, more secure place after a war with China. The best that could be hoped for would be a pyrrhic victory ... "

Prediction: Daniel. L Davis is not a trained mathematician

What if the US is in a worse, less secure place by letting China take Taiwan than if we fought them and ended up with his predicted Pyrrhic Victory? He has not stated or considered such a possibility in his opinion piece.


"... in which we are saddled with becoming the permanent defense force for Taiwan (costing us hundreds of billions a year and the equally permanent requirement to be ready ..."

I believe Afghanistan and/or Iraq costs us around an additi1onal $185 per year.

We cannot spend !85 billion on Taiwan? It would decrease over the years as Taiwan built up from is 28 regiments. Unlike Afghanistan or Iraq, Taiwan is a viable country which is Democratic. Taiwan has a functioning economy. Also, Taiwan could pay for a base. There would be no country building of Taiwan. It is built.

Stationing troops in Taiwan would lead to fewer suicides. Why? Because Taiwan is not a country where far too many locals hate us or where we are going to live in poor order. Being stationed in Taiwan would more similar to being station in South Korea than Afghanistan.

Anonymous said...

A proper war between USA and China could end the world

And this is happening while serious concerns about leadership in several countries arises and implies them to be part of eugenics cult trying to get rid of billions of people to heal the earth

Just think
Maybe we should clean house and veer rid of traitors to humanity and our nations ASAP

Just a reasonable thought that comes to mind

We cannot even think of fighting while we have such traitors in offices

Anonymous said...

I vote for WAR!!!

James F. Anderson said...

A war for Taiwan is easily winnable. Our generals and admirals will leak that its not. This is because they are more concerned in keeping their cushy posts and going to their cocktail parties. Trump is right, the pentagon is filled with losers. Generals and Admirals who no longer have the edge, the initiative or the imagination to plan and fight a war. There is a reason why we have lost every military conflict since the Gulf War. We have traitors like general Milley who is more concerned with chasing ghosts from the Civil War than fighting a modern conflict. Afghanistan is the best example of this. Face it until we clean out the pentagon. Get rid of all the career ass kissers and boot lickers, we will never win another fight. And that goes for cut and run Biden. He should be charged for treason right next to Milley.