The USS Makin Island and the USS Anchorage sail alongside Indonesian vessels during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training/Marine Exercise Indonesia 2022 in the Pacific Ocean, Dec. 18, 2022. The exercise promotes regional security cooperation, maintains and strengthens maritime partnerships and enhances maritime interoperability.
Politico: Why the U.S. isn’t ready for a fight in the Indo-Pacific
Pentagon’s promise to shore up its forces in the Pacific in 2023 is meeting skepticism.
The U.S. has pledged to deploy so much firepower to the Indo-Pacific in 2023 that China won’t even consider invading Taiwan.
Lawmakers and allies say it’s already too late. The promise is a big one: “2023 is likely to stand as the most transformative year in U.S. force posture in the region in a generation,” Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said in early December.
But GOP lawmakers say the Pentagon faces a stiff challenge in delivering on that pledge. That’s because Beijing now wields a navy large enough — backed by air power and “carrier killer” ballistic missiles — to challenge longtime U.S. naval dominance in the Indo-Pacific. And deliveries to Taiwan of billions of dollars in U.S. arms are backlogged, due to supply chain issues related to the pandemic and exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: After Nancy Pelosi's trip in the summer to Taiwan, China quickly adopted a plan to begin a massive arms buildup for what they perceived was a major US policy shift on Taiwan. And even though President Biden has assured Chinese President Xi repeatedly that there is no change when it comes to US policy on Taiwan, it appears to be not enough to convince Beijing.
As this blog and other China watchers have reported in the past few months, President Xi has made it known that he no longer trusts the White House. And even though US President Biden has made it very clear that the US will defend Taiwan if China invades (see video below), the question is .... will it be enough? Are there enough US assets in the region to dissuade China from making such a move. My gut says more has to be done. Much more.
Xi no longer trusts Washington.
ReplyDeleteWell, a 3rd of the US did not trust China in 2010 due to Chinese belligerence and trade practices.
Now the number among the general population is 90% or better.
So who gives a rat's ass if Xi's feeling are hurt.
Xi burned the bridges. The only question is how much is the general populace willing to pay.
Pelosi, Feinstein and the rest of them are still on the side of the BIG BUCKS. So they still want Chinese Investment and money.
Nobody trusts Biden, his team or the US national security bureaucracy. The world sees crystal clear the rot of corruption in DC and the democrats corruption of elections. Pax Americana is ending not with a long drawn out turnover, it will be with abrupt war and defeats. The USA is wasting money and material in Ukraine, its Europes fight. Japan, Taiwan, Guam, Australia is vital American interests. We need a concentration of bombers in Alaska, Midway, Wake, Hawaii, Australia, Guam to be mobile, unpredictable and armed for land and sea attack. Also a heavy concentration of subs out in the Pacific.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree
DeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteThe real question is, Is china ready for a war. come to think of it
ReplyDeleteWe have the Kremlin post of the day for this article at 11:23 AM
ReplyDeleteDa! Komrad!
DOJ has been handed Trump evidence that goes 'far beyond a call for heads to roll': legal experts
ReplyDelete^ 3 tells show that the above is a Fred Lapides post
ReplyDelete1) It does not matter to Fred that the bipartisan committee was lopsided.
2) It does not matter to Fred that all committee members were chosen by Nancy Pelosi. Not one member house chosen by a republican house leader.
Fred will not answer #1 or #2.
3) The manner in which data was collected and the the proceedings were not like other courts or congressional proceedings at all.
Fred will not answer #3.
TBF we need the last 15 years of tax returns for Hunter Biden, Frank Biden and James Biden to be made public.
Reason: To make his tax returns look clean Joe Biden was not the direct recipient of the corruption he promulgated. The ill gotten gains instead went to his brothers and his son.
What was really disappointing is that Joe's son, Beau, abused his office as Attorney General of Delaware. just learned that in the last week.
1. no evidence give abvout Briden and or any member of his family other than the usual statements that are unsubstantiated. tip: present something that would stand up in a court of law.
ReplyDelete2. The House report: it is of little consequence because what really matters is what the DOJ does on its own and with the evidence given from the House. The House can not indict. The DOJ can.
watch the chickens coming home in March.
If the House was not balanced then what will you mutter when your favs begin the Hunter Biden bullshit ...that by contrast is fair?
ReplyDeleteThe point: the House did what it was empowered to do; the GOP had a few members on the group but of course, you dismissed that since they were not Trump dick suckers. Now what they did got sent on to DOJ and you will dismiss that and then the courts, if they find a few folks guilty, will be dismissed by you too.
Poor Trump is now dissed by many Repubs, and if he is NOT the candidate, you can vote for him as a third party guy, the man who will them assure the Dems of an election victory. Tired of winning? we
ReplyDeleteThe Select Committee estimates that in the two months between the November election and the January 6th insurrection, President Trump or his inner circle engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either State legislators or State or local election administrators, seeking to overturn State election results. This included at least:
68 meetings, attempted or connected phone calls, or text messages, each aimed at one or more State or local officials;
18 instances of prominent public remarks, with language targeting one or more such officials; and
125 social media posts by President Trump or senior aides targeting one or more such officials, either explicitly or implicitly, and mostly from his own account.
Furthermore, these efforts by President Trump’s team also involved two other initiatives attempting to enlist support from large numbers of State legislators all at once:
The Trump Campaign contacted or attempted to contact, nearly 200 State legislators from battleground States between November 30, 2020 and December 3, 2020, to solicit backing for possible Statehouse resolutions to overturn the election. At least some messages said they were “on behalf of the president.”
Nearly 300 State legislators from battleground States reportedly participated in a private briefing with President Trump, Rudolph Giuliani, John Eastman, and others on January 2. The president reportedly urged them to exercise what he called “the real power” to choose electoral votes before January 6, because, as President Trump allegedly said on the call, “I don’t think the country is going to take it.”
Second attempt as the 1st post disappeared.
ReplyDelete$1.5B contract in Iraq for Biden’s little brother exposes Obama ahead of debate
So Biden's brother is lucky like Hunter. Never was a building contractor but get a huge score.
Never mind that companies like KBR and others could outbid the Bidens because they have economies of scale, the Bidens got the contract.
I have contracting experience. I doubt 2:41 has.
So a corrupt co0mittee (2:41 never denied it) s going to hand off something to a corrupt AG.
What I look forward to in march is that the FTX CEO gets a slap on the wrist and does not get Epsteined, because the Democrat Party wants the issue t go away.
More money was lost than the Bernie Madoff pyramid scheme, but the FTX CEO will get a lesser sentence than Madoff.
What needs to be released is the tax return going back 15 years for Hunter, James and Frank Biden. Joe does not get the graft. The rest of his immediate family does.
Now erase the post again.
I am a liberal. I voted for Biden et al. Now if Hunter or others connected to the Dems or the president have done something illegal, then by all means let us see that they are indicted. But accusing them and not providing any evidence whatsoever is NOT the legal system used in this nation.
ReplyDeleteYellow Belly Sapsucker said:
ReplyDelete"If the House was not balanced then what will you mutter when your favs begin the Hunter Biden bullshit"
That committee will have 5 Republicans and 4 Democrats. the Democrats will be picked by the Democrat party leader in the House. It will a fairly constituted committee unlike the one that went after Trump.
We all know that Hunter going from the class room to the boardroom at the Ukrainian Oil company was on the up and up. That shit actually happens to 105 out 100 college graduates.
We all know? No. Not all by any means. What did he do that was illegal and what proof have you? please post your evidence of what was illegally done.
ReplyDeleteOur Debate best summed up here
According to a report from The New York Times [1][2], Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump [3], received a $2 billion investment from a fund led by the Saudi crown prince just six months after leaving the White House [3][2]. Additionally, Ivanka Trump, the daughter of Donald Trump, received a $100 million donation from Saudi Arabia for a female entrepreneurship fund [4].
ReplyDelete1. Trump son-in-law Kushner given $2 billion by Saudi Arabia - The New Arab
https://www.newarab.com/news/trump-son-law-kushner-given-2-billion-saudi-arabia
2. Saudis Give $2 Billion To Jared Kushner's Fund After Cozy Trump Ties ...
Most everyone except bullshit people who would spit at the truth if it stared at them in the face.
ReplyDeleteIf I had legitimately got a 1.5 billion dollar contract and had delivered on it, I would be looking for the next 1.5 billion dollar contract (or something in that range) and delivering on it too. If the Frank or James Biden had the resources, contacts and smarts to land and deliver on a 1.5 billion dollar contract, they should be able to repeat it unless they were just the front men and their rainmaker was no longer in power.
I know contracting. I was in Iraq. I can tell you this stinks to high heaven.
You are one of two things. You are a hyperpartisan, dumb as rocks person or you are not who you say you are.
"Jared Kushner’s net worth, combined with the net worth of his wife Ivanka Trump, is estimated to be $800 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Money.com estimates their combined net worth to be closer to $1.1 billion as of 2018, with Ivanka Trump’s possibly being $300 million and Kushner’s being $800 million, based on the ranges found in ethics filings."
ReplyDeletehttps://heavy.com/money/2020/03/jared-kushner-net-worth/
If Jared does not deliver, he can be sued and the Saudis have the ability to recoup much if not all of their money.
Kushner was making large deals before he met Trump.
The used car salesmen in the Biden family not so much.
"Kushner’s firm Affinity Partners made the deal shortly after President Donald Trump left office" - NY Post
So Trump no longer has power and Kushner gets a deal. Kushner and his partners get 25 million for managing 2 billion. The Saudis are getting their money's worth.
On the other hand what is the quality of the housing built by the Bidens? By that I mean the subcontractors. I bet the cost of the housing provided was exorbitant.