Leader, you raise some good points. I am especially concerned about the inefficiency of our military spending. I think that efficiency may be more important than the amount of spending. I am worried about the military-industrial complex. Our companies (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc.) can build good weapons, but they charge the Government too much. There is far too much money wasted. If I can choose any political objection of mine, I hate waste!Originally Posted by Leader
Companies like Halliburton cannot be allowed to overcharge the Government as they have done in Iraq. The policy of bidding for contracts should be reinstated. By allowing Halliburton to have a no-bid contract in Iraq, both the U.S. Government and taxpayers lose out.
I think more caution is in order. We can brag about remaking the Middle East after we pacify Iraq and neutralize Iran's threat. The situation in the Middle East is still uncertain and highly dangerous. It does not help to give ourselves complements.
Unfortunately, securing the border is a difficult task. As to your minefield and/or concertina wire approach, I'm sure that will not be implemented any time soon. I am worried about Islamic terrorists infiltrating the border.
I also want to ask a question that is related to border security: Is Mexican immigration necessarily a bad thing? I don't think so. The basic complain against them is that they take American jobs. However, this is not a vaild complaint on several grounds.
1) Cheap labor is essential to the American economy. The might of China's economy attests to this fact. That country has been able to out-produce America for several years now because of its hordes of cheap workers.
2) Besides that cynical argument, we should remember that most job employers will still pick a White American for a job over a Mexican. The real reason Mexicans are getting so many jobs is because they work jobs White people don't want. It was the same situations with the Irish, Germans, Italians, and all kind of immigrants around the turn of the century.
3) For all the supposed damage Mexicans are doing to the economy, some major corporations are doing worse. After all, it is the major corporations that are outsourcing jobs to India and China. I think we should look within, not blame the Mexicans, who are generally hard-working people.
In the future, our descendants may look back at Mexican immigration as a beneficial thing.
Note that I typed "we are remaking", not "we have remade".
Early compliments are risky, but deliberate obfuscation or denial of the facts of the mission is dishonest and potentially harmful to the mission.
-dale
But after WWII, the US accounted for half of the global economy, the entire world was dependent on America for aid which further increased America's market share. And if you think Europe's economy is in the toilet now (which it is) compare it to post-war Europe. Their economy wasn't in the toilet, it was in a broken outhouse with no toilet paper. Immediately after the war, the Middle East was under Britain and France's control, and Britain and France were under American control...although okay, granted, in the 50s the British and French lost it all so the US didn't control the Middle East then. As for the Soviet Union, they were in ruins for a while after the war and their economy was miniscule even though their military was powerful. And until 49, the US had the nuclear monopoly. Since the 50s, the US share of global trade has been declining consistantly and US share of global GDP has also been declining. No, I'm not saying the world should have stayed broken after WWII or that China, India, and Japan shouldn't have become economic powers. In fact I'm not putting any moral qualifications on it at all, I'm just saying that the US' relative strength is less than it used to be. The collapse of the Soviet Union increased America's reach, but the USSR was decaying economically the whole time anyways, so it didn't really increase America's relative economic strength the way it would if, say, China's economy collapsed. I think maybe I am putting more emphasis on the economy and you on the military situation.We are the only superpower, Europe's economy is in the toilet, and we are remaking the Middle East.
What do you mean by "out-produce"? Do you take into account technological innovation in America, which is a far greater product then nine billion cheap t-shirts, 2 billion plastic toys, et al (which of course have value in their own right).
In order to transform a nation, the force opposing you must first be defeated. You must spill so much of their blood that they will no longer fight. We have several weapons which can accomplish this, but modern American culture no longer has the backbone to bring this kind of war to the enemy.I think more caution is in order. We can brag about remaking the Middle East after we pacify Iraq and neutralize Iran's threat. The situation in the Middle East is still uncertain and highly dangerous. It does not help to give ourselves complements
Last edited by Praxus; 29 Oct 05, at 00:51.
Right now, the American perfomance in Iraq is poor. We cannot control Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and his insurgency. The country's government is not strong, and much of Iraq is a war zone.
For these reasons and others I think that America's transformative power is easily overstated.
INCORRECT. About just about everything.
We are controlling the HELL out of AMZ and his insurgency. Much of Iraq is NOT a war zone; three out of 18 provinces are. This is 'MUCH'?
As for the government of Iraq being strong, it's getting stronger every dam' day. Its opponents are getting weaker every dam' day.
And as far as our performance goes, you're talking out your butt. Our performance has been spectacular, and what the hell are you using for a yardstick?
Your world must be darker than even I imagined.
"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell
I shall state several statistics to support my claim that China is outproducing the United States of America. That is, China is producing more raw materials and finished goods than the U.S. can at this time.
I will also state that China does have several important economic weaknesses, especially the concern that their development may be unsustainable. This post is not attempt to prove Chinese preponderance over the U.S, but instead I hope to show that China is able to produce a large amount of goods, often in excess of U.S. producers.
See the following:
From the U.S. Department of State file on China.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/18902.htm
Agriculture:
From a review of Chinese and American steel industries:China is the world’s most populous country and one of the largest producers and consumers of agricultural products. Roughly half of China's labor force is engaged in agriculture, even though only 10% of the land is suitable for cultivation. Its cropland area is only 75% of the U.S. total, but China still produces about 30% more crops and livestock than the U.S. because of intensive cultivation, China is among the world's largest producers of rice, potatoes, sorghum, millet, barley, peanuts, tea, and pork. Major non-food crops include cotton, other fibers, and oilseeds.
http://www.oycf.org/Perspectives/18_...hina_Steel.htm
As opposed to some American statistics:China is now the number one steel producing country with an output of 149m tons in 2001 versus 128m tons in 2000. Most Chinese steel mills are integrated as the development of mini-mills is constrained by the availability of scraps. The biggest mini-mill in China, Pearl River Steel, has to import some scraps to feed its electric arc furnaces.
I can cite more examples if you are unsatisfied.The United States produces approximately eighty per cent of its domestic steel demand and utilizes installed production capacity at around eighty per cent. In 2001, the United States produced ninety million tons of crude steel and imported twenty-seven million tons (Note: the measurement "ton" in the article refers only to "metric ton"; one metric ton equals to approximately 1.1 short ton) in steel products. Steel imports into the United States peaked in 1998 at 38 million tons and have since decreased by thirty per cent. Industrial globalization has made the steel market so international that around forty per cent of global steel production is shipped across borders each year. The United States is now the second largest net steel importer, after China.
I will address your point about American innovation and skill. Although America has an educated and skilled populace, this is no longer a unique advantage. In recent years, Chinese and Indian students have been rapidly gaining on, if not surpassing American students.
"He needs to be on national TV every week telling the American people what is going on in Iraq. He should read the names of the services men and women that died that week. Then he should look into the camera and tell the American people why their sacrifice was worth it and that he won't allow there sacrifice to be in vain"
This is a very good point, Bush sold himself as the local president, and down to earth, but this has hardly been the case.
as with the staged townhall meetings, troops talks and the Katrina response.
I can't feel any connection to him at all, and most of the country can't either.
The dead speak. I can't hear or read 'em, but I feel their presence.
Like wet underwear. Unpleasant and irritating.
"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell
I will try to answer your objections.
Zarqawi has not been captured, and this is certainly a criteria for 'controlling the HELL out of AMZ.'
The American list of dead continues to grow. There are sometimes as many as seventy attacks on American or Iraqi civilians every day. This is not the sign of a peaceful country.
As to your point about only three provinces being affected. Well, there are more than three affected. All of the provinces are important :Baghdad, Al-Anbar, and Babil, to name a few. These provinces contain the majority of the insurgent population and the capital, Baghdad. I contest your claim that this is insignificant.
The Sunni minority, the main source of the insurgency, has rejected the validity of the government. This seriously impairs the government's ability to curtail the violence. Additionally, the American/Shiite government has been forced to carry out its rulings deep behind the Green Zone, an island of barbed wire and roadblocks in the midst of embattled Baghdad.
Our performance has been only moderate. As a yardstick I use the absence of terrorists and insurgencies within Iraq. Right now, its essentially a training ground for terrorists.
Like always, speculations about my psychology are irrelevant. Such attempts at distraction will not succeed.
That's the spirit!
They're not OBJECTIONS, junior. They're objective truths.
But they don't square with what you've been told. sO...WHAT DO YOU THINK THE DISCONNECT IS? What I know, or what you've been told by people that have no interest in our success?
I think that if I advertised myself as the ever-so-logical and objective and dispassionate observer of the world as it really is, you'd be receptive to the idea that MAYBE you didn't have all that much on the ball, viz IRAQ.
"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell
Since you like to assert my insanity, just assume I don't know these objective truths. Support them with evidence. Without evidence, I'll brush them aside.
I have an intense interest in our success. Do not interpret my concerns as a lack of 'patriotism.' I strongly support a U.S. dominion in Iraq.
I don't worry about that.
Oh, I have considered the possibility that I am incorrect. However, I found insufficient evidence to make that conclusion. If you deem my arguments invalid, please find evidence to the contrary.
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