4 ms·

Probably didn't help that an Air Force general was openly and loudly proclaiming that war is inevitable. I looked up some speeches of his, and he is off the rai

by bmitc 4y ago

Probably didn't help that an Air Force general was openly and loudly proclaiming that war is inevitable. I looked up some speeches of his, and he is off the rails, like the German general in All Quiet Along the Western Front.

throwbadubadu 4y ago
Would be great if just more people had read this great book nowadays (and please, not watch that super bad recent movie that doesn't deserve to bear the same title (: ). And cannot belief statesman proclaiming that now everywhere :( War should always be seen as evitable, at least that belief needs to hold up til the last second.. and even further. But who am I...
moose_man 4y ago
I mean, it's nothing compared to the internal speeches that China gives its troops. Heck it's nothing compared to the speeches Xi gives internally to troops. Chinese troops are currently training on their missile corp on models of US aircraft carriers. Edit: Chinese propaganda video of attack on Guam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBOho1AOKYY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBOho1AOKYY https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36598/chinese-air-force-video-depicting-bombers-attacking-guam-steals-scenes-from-transformers https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36598/chinese-air-forc... https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-builds-mockups-us-navy-ships-area-used-missile-target-practice-2021-11-08/ https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-builds-mockups-us-...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- riku_iki 4y ago
  my speculation is that the main goal of Chinese covid lockdown was to train and simulate mass policing of population in case of upcoming war.
  - mikewarot 4y ago
    My understanding is their vaccine doesn't work at all, they don't have a strong emergency medical care system, thus it was the only real option for them.
    - riku_iki 4y ago
      they could buy western vaccine
      - pixl97 4y ago
        And admit weakness?, autocracy doesn't like doing that much.
        riku_iki 4y ago
        They not necessary need to tell population it is foreign vaccine. But maybe they were trying to solve the problem of aging population that way.
  - dfadsadsf 4y ago
    Why would you need to police population in case of war for returning Taiwan? It will be very popular war and you definitely won't need to lock people down.
    - riku_iki 4y ago
      there will be consequences from these war for population.
    - nostromo 4y ago
      Look at Russia as an example. The war has been longer and less popular than expected and economic sanctions have hurt the working class the most. China imports 66%-75% of its oil. That would drop dramatically in a hot war, as oil imports via the South China Sea would likely be blocked. This would require any imports to sail around Australia, which would likely be stopped by the US. Russia would happily sell China oil, but it doesn't produce nearly enough to cover the gap. No oil, no military. No oil, no economy.
- jollyllama 4y ago
  That's been going on for decades, and supposedly the balloons are nothing new. What's changed is the USA response, in terms of the American general's rhetoric and the coverage and downing of balloons. So there's been a shift on the part of the USA.
  - moose_man 4y ago
    That's a lie. It started in 2012 but it took until the middle of the 2010s before they started openly threatening war. This is not some status quo situation that the US General upended. China's been escalating toward war since Xi took over. I mean before Xi it was hide your strength bide your time.
    - jollyllama 4y ago
      Ok, a decade ago. > it took until the middle of the 2010s Here's a Chinese general openly threatening war with Japan in 2012: https://freebeacon.com/national-security/chinese-general-prepare-for-combat/ https://freebeacon.com/national-security/chinese-general-pre... The Taiwan Strait crisis of the '90s was before my time but it'd be interesting to know how bellicose the rhetoric got back then.
      - moose_man 4y ago
        Different than threatening war with US. Edit and yes, it stepped up in 2012 when Xi took over. Started with Japan and has migrated to aggression against US and allies. Edit: Taiwan crisis wasn't great, but it ended when the US sailed an aircraft carrier through Strait of Taiwan. So while it wasn't great, it wasn't like they were threatening war against US.
- Rebelgecko 4y ago
  Some of the propaganda videos people are posting on douyin (OG tiktok) are hilarious (even if the historical events they're inspired by are very serious). It's interesting to compare foreign propaganda about the US military to US propaganda about foreign militaries. https://www.douyin.com/video/6946497713223585028 https://www.douyin.com/video/6946497713223585028 https://www.douyin.com/video/7081571993102961958 https://www.douyin.com/video/7081571993102961958
- bmitc 4y ago
  China's actions are unacceptable but so are the general's words. I would be very surprised if he wasn't reprimanded in some way.
zoklet-enjoyer 4y ago
Do you have a link or name of the guy? I haven't heard about this
- bagels 4y ago
  edit: Maybe this? https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-air-force-general-predicts-war-china-2025-memo-rcna67967 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-air-fo...
  - nonethewiser 4y ago
    I dont see anything crazy there > Minihan said in the memo that because both Taiwan and the U.S. will have presidential elections in 2024, the U.S. will be “distracted,” and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have an opportunity to move on Taiwan.
    - bmitc 4y ago
      You need to read the full memo, sent out as an email and watch his prior speeches. The memo appears to have been admonished by actual national security experts. Irregardless of the accuracy, there are better ways to handle these things, and he doesn't seem to have proper authority to make those statements.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  Parent is presumably talking about recent comments by Gen. Mike Minihan (Air Mobility Command). IMHO, people/news are blowing it out of proportion. If the boss of FedEx said we're going to end up in a war with China, how much does that say about what defense contractors are doing? What it was probably actually about was shocking the troops assigned to AMC, establishing an important mission and raising morale, and declaring business as usual was no longer acceptable. Gotta be creative to make people excited about moving supplies. See also: every ridiculous statement by every startup CEO in a bubble, ever
nostromo 4y ago
That is entirely up to China and what it decides to do with regards to Taiwan. Xi has made it very clear he would like to invade Taiwan, and soon. If Ukraine was going well for Russia, he may have already invaded.
HillRat 4y ago
Yeah, he’s … a little excitable. Dude runs Air Mobility Command, he could stand to remember he’s not running ACC, he’s FedEx for things what go bang.
krapp 4y ago
Warmonger tries to sell a war. Film at eleven.

by bmitc 4y ago

throwbadubadu 4y ago

Would be great if just more people had read this great book nowadays (and please, not watch that super bad recent movie that doesn't deserve to bear the same title (: ). And cannot belief statesman proclaiming that now everywhere :( War should always be seen as evitable, at least that belief needs to hold up til the last second.. and even further. But who am I...

moose_man 4y ago

I mean, it's nothing compared to the internal speeches that China gives its troops. Heck it's nothing compared to the speeches Xi gives internally to troops. Chinese troops are currently training on their missile corp on models of US aircraft carriers. Edit: Chinese propaganda video of attack on Guam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBOho1AOKYY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBOho1AOKYY https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36598/chinese-air-force-video-depicting-bombers-attacking-guam-steals-scenes-from-transformers https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36598/chinese-air-forc... https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-builds-mockups-us-navy-ships-area-used-missile-target-practice-2021-11-08/ https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-builds-mockups-us-...

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
riku_iki 4y ago
my speculation is that the main goal of Chinese covid lockdown was to train and simulate mass policing of population in case of upcoming war.
- mikewarot 4y ago
  My understanding is their vaccine doesn't work at all, they don't have a strong emergency medical care system, thus it was the only real option for them.
  - riku_iki 4y ago
    they could buy western vaccine
    - pixl97 4y ago
      And admit weakness?, autocracy doesn't like doing that much.
      - riku_iki 4y ago
        They not necessary need to tell population it is foreign vaccine. But maybe they were trying to solve the problem of aging population that way.
- dfadsadsf 4y ago
  Why would you need to police population in case of war for returning Taiwan? It will be very popular war and you definitely won't need to lock people down.
  - riku_iki 4y ago
    there will be consequences from these war for population.
  - nostromo 4y ago
    Look at Russia as an example. The war has been longer and less popular than expected and economic sanctions have hurt the working class the most. China imports 66%-75% of its oil. That would drop dramatically in a hot war, as oil imports via the South China Sea would likely be blocked. This would require any imports to sail around Australia, which would likely be stopped by the US. Russia would happily sell China oil, but it doesn't produce nearly enough to cover the gap. No oil, no military. No oil, no economy.
jollyllama 4y ago
That's been going on for decades, and supposedly the balloons are nothing new. What's changed is the USA response, in terms of the American general's rhetoric and the coverage and downing of balloons. So there's been a shift on the part of the USA.
- moose_man 4y ago
  That's a lie. It started in 2012 but it took until the middle of the 2010s before they started openly threatening war. This is not some status quo situation that the US General upended. China's been escalating toward war since Xi took over. I mean before Xi it was hide your strength bide your time.
  - jollyllama 4y ago
    Ok, a decade ago. > it took until the middle of the 2010s Here's a Chinese general openly threatening war with Japan in 2012: https://freebeacon.com/national-security/chinese-general-prepare-for-combat/ https://freebeacon.com/national-security/chinese-general-pre... The Taiwan Strait crisis of the '90s was before my time but it'd be interesting to know how bellicose the rhetoric got back then.
    - moose_man 4y ago
      Different than threatening war with US. Edit and yes, it stepped up in 2012 when Xi took over. Started with Japan and has migrated to aggression against US and allies. Edit: Taiwan crisis wasn't great, but it ended when the US sailed an aircraft carrier through Strait of Taiwan. So while it wasn't great, it wasn't like they were threatening war against US.
Rebelgecko 4y ago
Some of the propaganda videos people are posting on douyin (OG tiktok) are hilarious (even if the historical events they're inspired by are very serious). It's interesting to compare foreign propaganda about the US military to US propaganda about foreign militaries. https://www.douyin.com/video/6946497713223585028 https://www.douyin.com/video/6946497713223585028 https://www.douyin.com/video/7081571993102961958 https://www.douyin.com/video/7081571993102961958
bmitc 4y ago
China's actions are unacceptable but so are the general's words. I would be very surprised if he wasn't reprimanded in some way.

zoklet-enjoyer 4y ago

Do you have a link or name of the guy? I haven't heard about this

bagels 4y ago
edit: Maybe this? https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-air-force-general-predicts-war-china-2025-memo-rcna67967 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-air-fo...
- nonethewiser 4y ago
  I dont see anything crazy there > Minihan said in the memo that because both Taiwan and the U.S. will have presidential elections in 2024, the U.S. will be “distracted,” and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have an opportunity to move on Taiwan.
  - bmitc 4y ago
    You need to read the full memo, sent out as an email and watch his prior speeches. The memo appears to have been admonished by actual national security experts. Irregardless of the accuracy, there are better ways to handle these things, and he doesn't seem to have proper authority to make those statements.
ethbr0 4y ago
Parent is presumably talking about recent comments by Gen. Mike Minihan (Air Mobility Command). IMHO, people/news are blowing it out of proportion. If the boss of FedEx said we're going to end up in a war with China, how much does that say about what defense contractors are doing? What it was probably actually about was shocking the troops assigned to AMC, establishing an important mission and raising morale, and declaring business as usual was no longer acceptable. Gotta be creative to make people excited about moving supplies. See also: every ridiculous statement by every startup CEO in a bubble, ever

nostromo 4y ago

That is entirely up to China and what it decides to do with regards to Taiwan. Xi has made it very clear he would like to invade Taiwan, and soon. If Ukraine was going well for Russia, he may have already invaded.

HillRat 4y ago

Yeah, he’s … a little excitable. Dude runs Air Mobility Command, he could stand to remember he’s not running ACC, he’s FedEx for things what go bang.

krapp 4y ago

Warmonger tries to sell a war. Film at eleven.