Comments Posted By michael reynolds
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No one is suggesting we dismantle our defense establishment. But choices have to be made. We cannot buy everything.
China has nothing in the air, or on the drawing board that touches our air superiority. They have no capacity to challenge our naval power in the near or medium term. Their ability to project forces overseas is non-existent. Their defense budget is far smaller than ours, and even smaller when contrasted with us and our allies.
They share borders with a hostile India, a potentially unstable Russia, a hostile Vietnam, an unstable North Korea and various 'Stans. We have borders with Mexico and Canada. Right now, today, China cannot credibly threaten Taiwan, let alone Japan or us. And no one in his right mind would trade our geostrategic position for theirs.
It's true that some of our weapons systems are old. But that's often a misleading fact. Aging bombers carry some very up-to-date ordnance. Aging carriers launch state of the best fighters on earth and state-of-the-art cruise missiles.
There is not a power, or combination of powers, that could take the US on in a conventional war. There are, however, any number of forces that can take us on in asymmetric warfare. That's what we need to be ready to fight. And nothing Mr. Obama has proposed in any way diminishes those capabilities.
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 7.07.2008 @ 17:22
Rick:
He said he wanted to decluearize. Lots of pro-defense moderates -- Sam Nunn -- agree.
He talked about delaying new weapons systems. He didn't specify, but I'd guess air superiority (over whom?) fighters, nuclear attack subs and few other such expensive toys. You can round up a lot of generals who'd agree that new weapons systems are not what matters. I doubt Petraeus and Odierno are crying for new computerized mobile artillery systems (great for defending the Fulda gap) or anti-missile systems or the latest high-tech ASW sensor. They're fighting guys who's high-end weapon is a mortar or an RPG.
We are not in trouble in Iraq and Afghanistan because we lack combat aircraft or subs or carriers, we're in trouble because we lack soldiers/Marines. We lack airlift. We lack drones. We're having trouble because we don't have enough of the unglamorous things that careerist Pentagon generals don't care much about.
Unless I watched the wrong tape I didn't see Obama say he'd cut special forces, or armored personnel carriers or battlefield communications systems, or airlift, or additional training, or veteran's benefits. None of which mundane things do much to put a fourth star on anyone's shoulder or ensure a nice post-retirement position at Raytheon. Those things just happen to be what we need.
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 6.07.2008 @ 13:58
And they say time travel's not possible. Hah! I come here to Rick's comments and it's always 1968. Tired minds trapped in some imagined past.
I'm a Democrat. I am not remotely a socialist. There's not a single government department I want to create. Not a single government department that I want to keep that would not also carry 75% of the GOP members of Congress.
Like Mr. Obama, I favor a larger military, and have for a long time. (In fact, quite a bit longer than most of you Rumsfeld-ennabling GOP water carriers.) Like Mr. Obama, I am a great believer in individual responsibility. Like Mr. Obama, I love my country. Unlike Mr. Obama, but like Rick Moran, I am entirely secular.
There is this strange disconnect between Rick and the commenters here. He's clearly not a prisoner of tired 60's era cold war, Nixonian cliches, but most of you are. You want to know why the GOP is losing ground? You've stopped being the party of ideas, and started being the party of the past.
Is the idea that Obama wants a bigger military another one of his "pivots" toward the center? Follow the link to this video of Obama talking about how he wants to gut the defense department and you tell me?
ed.
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 6.07.2008 @ 06:02
HONESTLY, IS JOHN ARAVOSIS A PIECE OF EXCREMENT OR WHAT?
The answer to your rhetorical question is "yes."
I'm not going to vote for McCain. But McCain is a hero. A mensch. A man you'd want your son to grow up to be.
That having been said, there's nothing here that wasn't done to John Kerry. What goes around . . .
So, I'll amend my first line and say yes, Aravosis is as big a piece of sh*t as the Swift Boaters who went after Kerry.
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 30.06.2008 @ 15:49
So, is Obama a wild-eyed leftist radical crazy who hates America and wants to give our guns to poor people?
Or is he a money-grubbing, capitalist-loving hack politician who is indifferent to the suffering of the poor?
I get so confused. I mean, I want to be afraid, but I don't know which caricature is playing the lead.
Can't all of you right wing bloggers get together on a conference call and decide which boogey-man you're going with?
It's times like this when we need some clarity from Karl Rove. Only he can bring narrative unity to the GOP message of "Booga-booga-booga: Fear the Obama!"
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 27.06.2008 @ 16:34
TALES OF HORROR FROM THE HEARTLAND
This is a racist screed of the worst type. You never would have written this if it was a whitebird.
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 23.06.2008 @ 16:56
OBAMA STARTING TO CREEP ME OUT
As one of those polite, erudite trolls let me say I find this f---ing weird. (How's that for erudite?) Someone in the campaign needs a long vacation.
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 21.06.2008 @ 09:13
Surely there's an Eisenhower or a spare Johnson out there somewhere, just to break the monotony.
Spare Johnson. heh. heh heh.
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 18.06.2008 @ 10:54
TIM RUSSERT - A LION'S ROAR STILLED
Nice tribute, Rick. I happened to load up MSNBC.com and saw the news. Shocking. It bothered me more than it should, I guess. Maybe because (like you, I seem to recall) 58 is way too close to my own age. He seemed like too much of a force of nature to die.
Russert to Saint Peter: "Here's what you said in AD 1, let's just put it up there. Your own words, sir."
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 13.06.2008 @ 16:42
IT'S OBAMA IN A LANDSLIDE - OVERSEAS
I'm living in Italy this year. (Or for as long as I can stand the lack of air conditioning.) I occasionally wear an Obama button into Florence. It gets strange looks, not expressions of support. But then it may be that it looks so much like the artwork for some of Berlusconi's buttons.
Comment Posted By michael reynolds On 13.06.2008 @ 16:38
