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How many American lives would you say it's worth?

• SllX 4y ago
  Hopefully none, but if we come to blows we won’t have a choice in how many to accomplish our objectives, now will we? That’s the risk of war; so the PRC needs to back down over Taiwan.
  • xtian 4y ago
    They aren't my objectives and they aren't yours either because we don't get a say in deciding them. China will never abandon the One China policy, so you should come up with a real number of how many American sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers you think it's reasonable to sacrifice for this doomed policy of hubris.
    • SllX 4y ago
      No, I don’t think I will. The goal is to avoid war, if possible, and defend Taiwan if we have to, and to make the PRC regret having chosen to invade Taiwan because they couldn’t relinquish their One China position. Deferring to the CCP’s chosen policy is not an option. War costs a lot of lives, but a hot war between adversaries means making the adversarial position suffer more for having taken up arms in the first place. A defensive war over Taiwan and keeping our promise doesn’t need a number on the table in advance to make it worth doing. It’s crass to even ask. How many American lives will it take to sink every boat belonging to or commandeered by the PLA in the Taiwan Strait, shoot down every jet that flies above and mow down every pair of PLA boots that lands on Taiwan’s beaches, and destroy every military shipyard on their coastline? Let’s assume this isn’t purely an American fight, you know, for the sake of argument. If you can figure that one out, you’ll have something close to your answer.
    • amalgamated_inc 4y ago
      50,000 sons 45,000 daughters about the same again in fathers and mothers
      • xtian 4y ago
        How did you arrive at that figure?
        • amalgamated_inc 4y ago
          Well I figured we lost almost half a million in WW2, at a population 1/3 of what we have now. How many people do you think the CCP will sacrifice to take Taiwan?
          • xtian 4y ago
            Learn the historical significance of the One China policy. Then the answer will be obvious.
            • amalgamated_inc 4y ago
              Then I point you to the historical significance of poking a sleeping giant. Ask Japan how they feel about it.
              • xtian 4y ago
                Paper tiger.
            • Apocryphon 4y ago
              At this point, the One China policy is a political fig leaf that both sides of the strait cling to to pragmatically stave off renewed warfare, which is prudent. On the other hand, a lot of that de jure formality is constantly being played around with. For instance, just recently the likely next DPP/pan-green presidential candidate is declaring that Taiwan is already de facto sovereign and independent, and so there is no need to formally declare independence: https://twitter.com/brianhioe/status/1615638156367507456 https://twitter.com/brianhioe/status/1615638156367507456 Odds are, this entire discourse in this HN thread is just a lot of fulminating hot air by people who don't even live in Asia, grognarding hypothetical wargames and war toys, while the actual people in China and Taiwan will peaceably and gradually figure it out over time.