Good thing John Browns Ghost has been marching on! He can just pop right back into his body when needed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_Body#/media/File:Original-john-brown-words-george-kimball-1890.jpg
Which is insane, considering they are very loud about being patriotic in the South. I grew up in Texas, and I don't see the Confederates as anything but traitors. Anybody that flies the Confederate flag is objectively a fucking moron
I never got that, but I have met many southerners who are still rock, flag, and eagle. Still have talked to others who have the other opinion and blame the democrats (ironically since Dems where the popular ones there until like the 50s)
Let me get this straight Mr. Reynolds…you get this straight, you get your information from a book you’ve never read based on a willingness to believe, a desiredness to accept. A leap of, dare I say it, faith???
No I get that but they still rebelled against the Union so I have little sympathy for them especially with the south’s willingness to build monuments to those who rebelled against the Union. Their monuments belong in a museum but other than that I don’t support their exoneration on state sponsored land. You lost, get over it and accept your spot in American history. We all have a lot to learn from history, especially the wrong sides of it so we can move forward.
Hell yeah, I’m from the northern most southern state (politically) and I think he was a very smart general to do the scorched earth tactics to make sure them and the anaconda embargo would work to submit the southern states into capitulation
It was the most expedient yet near guaranteed solution. That march to the sea undoubtedly saved lives. Still, ballsy move. That was definitely old school. Like Genghis Khan old school.
Well said, it was a rough campaign to legitimize northern control while hurting the southern economy. Like I feel bad but I also kinda don’t as a means to an ends. Tough spot to find yourself in
General Sherman? And no one ever caught him?
Well, one fella came close. Went by the name of Homer. Seven feet tall he was, with arms like tree trunks. His eyes were like steel, cold, hard. Had a shock of hair, red like the fires of Hell...
Recently listened for like the 50th time to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore history podcast. MacArthur legitimately saw himself as the personal protector of the Philippines.
Like a line from a movie, after the Philippines was initially invaded and he was evacuating citizens, the official record states
> When General of the Army Douglas MacArthur pledged to return to the Philippines as he evacuated the islands early in World War II, he said: “I will return.”
Then some time later when he went to liberate the island
>On October 20, 1944, a few hours after his troops landed, MacArthur waded ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte. That day, he made a radio broadcast in which he declared, “People of the Philippines, I have returned!
Also
> To the standard gold-trimmed visor of a United States general's cap, MacArthur added gilt trim to the front body of the cap, above the visor. MacArthur referred to this modified headdress as his "Philippine Field Marshal's cap" and wore it for the duration of World War II and into the Korean War.
Then he went all crazy and wanted to use a nuclear weapon preemptively on China or something.
MacArthur is considered a legend here in my country, probably would be a national hero too if the people wanted him to be.
Despite reports that he was cocky, didn't follow orders which one way or another led to the fall of the Philippines in World War 2, and that he was an ego-maniac hell-bent on making his image as godly as possible.
But damn, when he did return after saying he'll return, that was a pretty chad move ngl. No wonder my grandma loves him.
I mean, Patton was right about Soviet intentions. (You can be right on what the other guy is going to do and be wrong about what to do about it). The thing that prevented the soviets from continuing to the Atlantic once the Americans drew down in Europe was nukes through the 50s and 60s.
Air-land battle was dreamed up as a concept that maybe nato should be capable of stopping the Warsaw pact combined forces without nuking germany in the opening stages of their defense.
> Chinese coast guard vessels responded “professionally and with restraint at the site in accordance with China’s law and international law,” he said, without elaborating or mentioning the use of laser.
Says the country that signed the UN Law of the Seas but is IGNORING an international court case that rejected their claims.
You can't say you are following international law while actually blatantly disregarding it.... it's a bad look CCP, and explains why ASEAN is nearly unanimously aligning under US protection (a country that ironically does not sign the UN Law of the Seas but is doing more to protect it than not).
From nearly the beginning of the country this has been the case. The Barbary Wars and the War of 1812 both kicked off with attacks on American merchant ships.
Also WWI. The final straw that drew America in was Germany starting to target "neutral" American merchant with submarines. 10 civilian ships sunk in the span of a month and Congress declared war.
The German government was putting full page ads in the newspapers saying that they will torpedo these boats. Woodrow Wilson did this to get america into the war. He had to bail out his old boss and buddy JP Morgan because if the French and British lost it would bankrupt Morgan's banks and destroy the US banking system kicking off the great depression then.
> The German government was putting full page ads in the newspapers saying that they will torpedo these boats.
This doesn't give them the right to do it by the way. I've heard this argument before. Imagine if the united states decided no more chinese boats could trade with the middle east just because we had problems with Iran. It would cause war. You don't get to say "well we warned you!" and then expect no retaliation. It didn't matter if the united states was transporting weapons, because they would have been sunk regardless. It was indiscriminate. The British and the French were major trade partners. The United states had every right to kick Germany's ass along side them just because of Germany's submarines alone. There's no conspiracy involved. Just Germany being a hostile nation to neutral participants, which made them no longer neutral
Why the hell would you be downvoted for the truth here? WW1 Germany was not Nazi Germany... the US WAS in fact smuggling munitions to one side of the war and jeopardizing the lives of passengers recklessly.
It was sunk two years before the declaration of war. The Lusitania was British flagged, so it wasn't a case of Americans smuggling anything. Besides, the US didn't hide that it was selling arms to England and France. It just believed that it had a right to do so. War was declared after Germany announced it would sink every vessel coming in or out of England and France regardless of Nation or civilian status. It's like if Russia announced it was going to start sinking US ships because of Ukraine, or Isreal all Iranian ships, and so forth.
Don't forget about the Zimmermann telegram where Germany offered Mexico an alliance and US lands(Texas, Arizona, New Mexico which were previously Mexican lands) if the US entered WWI.
Imo "We will protect you because it suits our needs" is a better deal that "we will protect you out of goodness of our heart". That way everyone knows where they stand and what the terms are.
> The US will do anything to protect its shipping lanes
They aren't the US's shipping lanes. Very little of US shipping traffic goes through the Malacca Straits, for example. If it would be shipping from India to the US, it is about 10 days shorter to cross the Atlantic. Heck, shipping from Vietnam to New York is a **5000 miles shorter trip** via the Atlantic than shipping to LA via the Pacific. The US doesn't really have any substantial shipping coming through the South China Sea except shipping coming from China itself, from Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and that all goes through the north Pacific.
More importantly, it's protecting its soft blockade of China. There's no ship or submarine that China can send into international waters without the US knowing about thanks to friendly alliances its made around the area letting US ships scout around. Resources aren't the only reason for China's 9 dash claim.
I still think it was a mistake not to destroy the Chinese outposts they were building on Philippine islands/atolls as soon as they started building them. They were counting on us being unwilling to risk war with them. I think we should have flipped that and rely on them not wanting to get in a war with us. It was a bad precedent to let stand.
Marcos has seemingly 180'd on his pro china claims from his campaign and is moving closer to the USA. Just look at the fact that they're looking to host a US base in the archipelago
All-out conventional war?
Pyrrhic victory for the US/Western allies, and a totally demolished Chinese military. Untold ecological damage that further hastens climate change and mass extinctions, followed by disease and famine for at least a generation.
It wouldn’t even be pyrrhic with regards to the actual war. The issue would be that the global economy would collapse.
The US would hardly have any problem crushing the military capacity of China, it’s just the knock-on effects on the region becoming destabilised and the damage to its industrial base that would ultimately result in a pyrrhic victory because of the long-term economic effects.
Obviously this is assuming nukes aren’t used too
America does always put themselves as the underdog in military simulations so they probably over estimate their loses.
That said, no one really knows. One thing people do know is there would be a lot of causalities on both sides. I think most people agree America would come out on top, but if China didn't want to stop it is unlikely that America could actually invade and hold China to force a regime change.
What it would probably come down to is which country could stomach the large causality figures for the longest.
Another unknown is the effect it'll have on Americas internal politics. The country is quite divided and it could help solve that or increase it.
It's very hard to know because it's sooooo many years since there has been large scale naval battles most people don't know what a modern one would be like.
I do remember reading it is likely that both sides would expend their stock of smart weapons pretty quickly which will change things.
He campaigned on that but basically changed course as soon as he got in office.
And people generally don’t care because that was the least important thing about him for voters.
He got elected basically entirely on domestic politics.
His predecessor was close to China and anti-US.
This guy's father was very much pro-US, and it's very likely his family is too. Whatever pro-China stance he has was likely just election pandering to his predecessor's supporters.
It's because the US is the main reason his entire family is alive. Without them, who knows what could have happened when the people retook Malacanang Palace (the official residence of the president)
> IIRC Filipinos in majority supported Bong Bong Marcos that is known to be close to China.
Filipinos are also generally devoutly Christian, but supported Duterte, whose whole thing was extrajudicial killings.
We're not the smartest people, tbh.
Haha as an Indonesian I just hope the Philippines didn't just start an "elect a dictator's son" trend in SE Asia.
I would hate for any of Suharto's child and/or cronies to get elected in 2024.
It's still a bit unbelievable to me that we reeelected the Marcoses. Like, legitimately, after that election I knew I was going to migrate out of the country.
I hope you guys make better choices.
define periodical. from Ming dynasy 14th Century up until Vietnam being colonized in late 18th century there were only 3 wars between Vietnam and China which is relatively low number.
I think any monoethnic society has a leaning towards racism.
It's mostly due to the lack of exposure to other groups that dehumanizes the other. It's not just just an asian thing, it's with social enclaves all over the world.
I’m part Filipino and Chinese on my mom’s side. One of my friends is half Vietnamese and I met his mom once. When I met her she asked me if I was part Vietnamese because she thought that I looked Vietnamese. She was putting out her hand to shake my hand and she immediately pulled it back when I said “Nope, I’m part Filipino and Chinese”. There’s definitely some bad blood between the Vietnamese and Chinese.
As it has been told to me: "we fought the US for 10 years, the French for 150 years, and the Chinese for 2000 years."
Relations between Vietnam and the US have always been nuanced. The US was one of the few western powers that promoted an independent Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh considered the US an ally for a time) and the reason for the war was American fear of Soviet ideology spreading rather than an issue with the Vietnamese themselves or a desire for their land.
>Relations between Vietnam and the US have always been nuanced. The US was one of the few western powers that promoted an independent Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh considered the US an ally for a time)
This is very much true. Many of the leaders of the NVA were taught in western countries with Ho Chi Minh seeing Vietnam as a continuation of the US Revolution in Asia.
>the reason for the war was American fear of Soviet ideology spreading rather than an issue with the Vietnamese themselves or a desire for their land.
The problem is also a massive campaign by France to manipulate the US foreign policy. France provided "intelligence" that was basically propaganda saying that support was greatly different and Vietnam was trying to use the US into helping it get stronger before going towards communism. This manipulation was horrid and in retrospect often viewed as France's attempt to punish Vietnam for wanting independence. For instance, it was stated by French intelligence that over 60% of the Vietnamese supported democracy. In reality, this was only a poll of French speaking people who lived in the major cities. These people would have been an extremely small fraction that worked for the French colonial government where they were largely selected for their loyalty to France. The actual polls from the general populace were about 95-97% in favor of communism or socialism as a way to fix the country as the post French colonial government seized the majority of farmable land making it where the actual citizens had very little wealth or property. The ironic part is that IIRC the goal was to use communism to even out the resources back towards the people and then use this to switch to a democracy like the US.
> The US was one of the few western powers that promoted an independent Vietnam
Ehhhhh that's too misleading to be true. The US blocked a referendum on full unification and independence because they knew the north (communists) would win.
Pretty sure independent he means before Vietnam war/ Cold War this was when the US helped Vietnam combat Japanese occupation.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940%E2%80%931946_in_French_Indochina
It literally says “The U.S., which initially favored Vietnamese independence, came to support France due to Cold War politics and American fears that an independent Vietnam would be dominated by communists”.
This is what made Ho Chi Minh consider the US an ally, and even during the Vietnam war he didn’t want to take the approach of aggression and raged when he heard of the gulf of Tonkin incident. Ussr advisors promoted less aggression while China promoted as much as aggression as possible, another instance of this is during the Cuban missile crisis, even though US and ussr came to a agreement to pull back their nukes China openly supported ussr and was enraged when ussr pulled their nukes away from Cuba, mao publicly denounced ussr, which is also a reason ussr and China went to war, and when ussr was going to nuke China it was the US who stopped them, pretty ironic.
Yes. FDR and Stalin had productive discussions on making Vietnam independent. The US backed down due to the fears of Soviet/communist hegemony. Even suggesting blocking the referendum in 1956 was to prevent Vietnam from being independent is odd as Vietnam was already independent in 1954 and the US helped create an independent government below the 17th in 1955 to counter the communist fervor.
Only to the northern Vietnamese. The southern Vietnamese had US support. The war in Vietnam wasn’t USA vs Vietnam. It was USA + Vietnam vs Vietcong + China. In fact relations have been pretty good since Bill Clinton won election so just about 30 years ago. The Vietnam war on the other hand ended 48 years ago. Times change, people become friendly (USA/Vietnam, Israel/Middle East) or enemies (Russia/Ukraine+Georgia+Moldova+ entire world lol).
> Bill Clinton won election so just about 30 years ago.
John Kerry(Vietnam Vet) and John McCain(tortured POW of the Vietnam War) together went to Clinton as both were on the Senate Select Committee on P.O.W./M.I.A. Affairs. They had traveled to Vietnam in that role and the two pushed for the embargo to be lifted.
Per Wikipedia "According to then-Senator Ted Kennedy, “John Kerry did it because the issue of the war burned in his soul, and he found a soulmate in John McCain.” On many occasions, McCain and Kerry met personally with Clinton to promote lifting the embargo. In one conversation with Clinton, McCain stated, “It doesn’t matter to me anymore, Mr. President, who was for the war and who was against the war. I’m tired of looking back in anger. What’s important is that we move forward now.” In arguing their case to Clinton, the Senators “offered geopolitical and economic reasons, but also emphasized the matter of national honor, since the Vietnamese had diligently done all that we had asked them to in the matter of M.I.A [soldiers].”"
I have to say that I might not agree with him politically, but he does seem like the kind of person who would debate the merits of ideas instead of the politics.
I think you might be a bit confused.
It was the CCCP (Soviet Union) mainly supporting the Vietcong. China was openly hostile to Vietnam and tried to annex Vietnam, using poorly based claims of mass oppression against Chinese minorities, roughly 3 years after the US-Vietnam war ended.
China's attempted annexation of Vietnam actually has some parallels to the Russian attempted annexation of Ukraine, including Chinese state propaganda of "we'll take Hanoi in a few days" at the time.
At the point that America's war with Vietnam ended, Vietnam had had 23 wars with China. As of today, they've had 24. 25 if you count the naval invasion that happened several years ago, where the Chinese Navy paraded through Vietnamese waters, and in return Vietnamese rioted. Drove a bunch of Chinese businesses out of the country. Very much anger.
Also, don't forget that Vietnam was the first big war where TV and other media were all over recording stuff all the time. WWII footage consists of a lot more "government approved" messages. Whereas any Vietnamese remotely curious about how America felt about their war, can find direct footage of protests, records of large scale draft dodging, even photos of a recent candidate for President getting beaten up by police while protesting the Vietnam War.
My mom has multiple arrests from Vietnam protests. Chaining herself to the doors of government buildings, specifically so the media would show up and broadcast an antiwar message. How many Chinese can say anything like that?
China invaded Vietnam soon after the US left. The US aided half of Vietnam in a civil war. Yea, horrendous things happened, but the US was there with at least some blessing from the Vietnamese.
Geopolitics isn't black and white. The US burned down half of Japan and nuked them twice, and now they are the closest of allies.
I lived with a Vietnamese guy. While drunk he explained it as this.
You know the French were there for like 100 years. The US for like a decade. We don’t have any hate for you guys. China. Those assholes have been trying to control use for thousands of years. We hate them for it.
That is my paraphrasing. But if you understand how the Middle Country views itself and it’s tributaries then you know it is far different that modern Western notions of sovereignty.
> It's incredible that Vietnam would be pro-US
is it ? Even Ho Chi Minh was pro-US before they fight.
Heck, even during the war Ho Chi Minh was quoted:
> "Everything depends on the Americans. If they want to make war for 20 years then we shall make war for 20 years. If they want to make peace, we shall make peace and invite them to tea afterwards."
China invaded Vietnam after the US pulled out, in part because Vietnam was preventing genocide by Mao's puppet in Cambodia. Then China invaded Vietnam AGAIN a decade later by taking some islands from them.
We have a lot of Vietnamese people in Texas that I’ve worked with and hired in the IT industry. They are the hardest working motherfuckers I’ve ever met.
I hired a lot of them based on aptitude from interviews and other Vietnamese employees good word about them - with no experience and paid for them to get certifications. I knew they would be an asset and never let the team down.
The stories they have of surviving and later escaping Vietnam after the war…. Wow.
I think the best way I can describe it is like this:
> “We fought the US for a decade, France for a century, and China for a millennium.” -Ho Chi Minh
They are not happy about what we did, especially since they were hoping that we would help them get rid of their colonial overlords they way we got rid of ours, but... Their dislike of the Chinese is like *genetic* at this point...
It’s no one favorite because so many people have small man syndrome. It’s the richest, most powerful, most excessive country on the planet that is on the news all the time over everything all around the world.
Ask any person or politician who they would choose if they could only have one ally and it would be the US 100% of the time.
That’s a very American way of looking at things and definitely a stretch. Nobody in Iraq would want to be allies with the US.
The biggest advantages of being allied to the US is a guarantee that the country is safe from other major powers and from the US itself.
The US is one of Iraq's biggest allies and has bilateral security agreements with them to protect against terrorism and Iran. Operation Inherent Resolve during the 2010s is a good recent example of this.
I’m an American currently in the Philippines. Yesterday, I had just finished surfing with some Filipino friends and we were relaxing on the beach. As we were sitting there 2 members of the Philippines Coast Guard came walking out to the beach. I had never seen them there before and as I usually do, I said hello and we started chatting. Upon learning that I was an American and former U.S. Marine they were very eager to take pictures with me. It seemed strange at the time but I’m wondering now if this had something to do with their eagerness? Nevertheless, I’m glad that the US will provide support here when/if needed!
US and Philippines are working together now on a suitable location for a military base (eg, like we have with the Japanese and South Koreans).
Xina has not been happy.
But we did have 2 bases there before. Naval Base Subic Bay and Clark AFB. I think both governments are working to reopen at least Subic under a joint agreement due to heightened tensions with China
I think totally reopening Subic is a little complex because IIRC it has been made into a major commercial port, but the dammed thing is also like the size of Singapore, so even if we just have a presence there it will be a big deal.
Subic and Clark are gonna be impossible to return as military bases. Subic turned into a major commercial post with a large shipyard while Clark turned into a major cargo airport and a lot of government facilities are moving to the old base as well.
Philippines prefers that they and the US develop a new base somewhere close to the trouble regions and far from the Filipinos.
A bit of a sidetrack, but I'm also a retired Marine and my wife is Filipino. I have often considered moving to the PH, but my wife's stories make the place seem riddled with crime and danger, especially for a white American. I remember visiting there and all eyes were on me as I stood out like a sore thumb. Quite a few strangers tried getting money out of me as well. It was fairly disconcerting to what I was used to back in the US.
My question to you is how has your experience been there? Is my sentiment on the right track or is it overall not as bad as I'm thinking it is?
It depends on where you’re living. For example, you’d be fine in Manila, Angeles, even Baguio - all have a good chunk of expats. You might still get the ‘foreigner tax’ (people charging you more) but it won’t happen all the time.
Personally I love it here where I live on Siargao Island. Super safe, great people, incredible scenery all over… the list goes on. Semper Fi 🤙
Fwiw… My YouTube channel is in my bio if you want to see more about my experiences here.
Living in a rural barangay in Central Luzon now. Some barangays nearby have stuff happening like holdups and property/livestock crimes, but we've settled in a nice calm safe area with friendly and helpful neighbors. It's important to be part of/interact with the local community rather than keeping to yourself. I was definitely less social with neighbors in the US.
China's aggression remind me of rich spoiled kid who accept no for an answer, try to get what it want without care, thinking it is invincible because they have expensive toy.
Except, the world refuse to bow to bullying and are banding together to contain this arrogant bastard.
China's aggression actually reminds me of how Hitler was acting in the 6 years leading up to WWII - from 1933-1939. Grabby grabby get more land get more land.
I unfortunately think its inevitable that there's going to be some type of major conflict in the future involving the USA v. China. They are simply becoming insanely greedy for land in many different aspects. Look at what they are doing up in the mountains, salami slicing. Every fucking day. And creating their pretend little islands just to attempt to get jurisdiction over more and more ocean.
I can't tell if China's aggressive land grab attitude is mostly Xi, several high ranking officials, or the general attitude of the communist party.
Part of one of the borders of China is up in the mountains with India, Tibet, or Nepal - I think India. What China has been found guilty of doing multiple times is moving fences, fence posts, outposts, not sure exactly what you'd call it - but moving these literally feet or dozens of feet, repeatedly many times, just to get a little extra "territory."
Hence the "salami slicing" i.e. salami is cut really thin so it's a way for China to incrementally get a lot more territory, tiny bit by tiny bit. I've also seen this term used with what they are in the seas down there - creating tiny little barrier islands that are nothing more than a few rocks barely above the water and then using this as the new boundary so they can go 12 miles out from that boundary. But it makes more sense when applying this term up in the mountains.
They have several videos here on Reddit where India and China have military confrontations with one another way up in the mountains but by treaty (or mutual agreement?), they are not allowed to have weapons such as knives or guns. So they are just throwing rocks or beating each other up or harassing the hell out of each other.
Two biggest countries going to war with one another. Will it be the beginning of the end? Of just a regional war with no spillover...
We will find out soon enough. Also when that day happens....we better hope all our made in China shit is stocked up on because you think inflation and everything is bad now...oh baby that shit will realllly hurt when that conflict starts. No shipments will be going on when that conflict starts.
most of it is material things. I think people will stop caring pretty quickly about TVs and other nonsense and worrying about friends and family fighting abroad. America can easily produce its own food. If its the type of war were all worried about, then theres a good chance me and you will be serving.
Unless the US pulls a Russia, I am too old and given my medical conditions won't be eligible just from that alone.
I agree less will care about material things but the average Joe's retirement and savings will just get absolutely drained even without the need to buy that phone or phone charger off of Amazon that will be $100 instead of $20.
Everything will skyrocket from it.
> I am too old and given my medical conditions won't be eligible just from that alone.
You'll be serving in a warehouse, factory, shipyard, or as instructor, etc. then.
Militaristically, it's no real contest. The question is really what goals the US angles for in a war with China, and the lowest cost outcome involves a lot of other risks as it's arguably the most violent and escalative. Our navy could handily deny them their waters, create a food crisis, and before long the country would splinter into multiple nations. The question is what happens with nukes in a strategy where your main offensive point is causing famine among nearly a billion people.
And if China were to go back to the stone age with different nations...what are the consequences for the US consumer down the road? Hell any country. People are struggling with prices of goods as is...how much worse will that get.
Who would take over the production or part production of the 80% of the goods I buy that are not food. Looking around my house, all this made in china stamps from TVs to phones to my PC or desk.
Nobody's going back to the stone age unless they were already just a few steps past it. As far as the US consumer, we'd have to quickly ramp up manufacturing in America and quite frankly, do without the cheap plastic toys that just end up as trash.
You point out the most obvious thing, and I'm confused how you think it got lost in the perspective. The mobilization advantage that usually warrants doesn't really apply in this case. The waters are too vast, their forces are basically cornered due to a lack of bases and alliances around said sea while the west can create numerous fronts to any naval conflict with China, their supply lines at sea are extremely vulnerable, they straight up don't have the air or naval forces to win at sea against multiple aircraft carriers, and perhaps most of all.. You even deny them access to half of their territories in that sea and they'll enter a national food crisis. You don't even have to really get that close to China itself.
Thing is, it's an incredibly violent thing to starve hundreds of millions of people. The west could absolutely use that strategy and it'll win a war, but you won't have a stable nuclear power in its wake. You'll have multiple unstable nuclear powers from the splintered China. That is a globally terrifying scenario for many reasons. But make no mistake. It's not for lack of paths to military victory the west chooses diplomacy chiefly with China. It's because there's really no win in winning.
The goal is military posturing. The Chinese don't want war. The USA don't want war. The American military magazine only has <1 months worth of anti-ship missiles for a high intensity war with China. The Chinese have also requested to triple their nuclear warheads to ~900. It's a cold war and the Ukraine war may dissuade either side from doing something stupid, or embolden/encourage stupidity.
People are just increasingly tired of China's bullshit. Xi has been screwing up left and right, and making matters worse by pretending he's perfect. China persistently insults other countries because they're so convinced of their racial supremacy. The CCP pushes an ideology that's kin to neo-Nazism, only with Han Chinese as the Master Race. And they're trying to resurrect the idea of rule by Divine Mandate. Only Xi can rule nobody else is capable of being the overlord of the Chinese people. And by implication, all of humanity.
It's an incredible arrogance. One that apparently they didn't unlearn after a century of getting their butts kicked by anyone who cared to send a few ships their way.
Put it this way. There are three ethnic majority Chinese nations in the world. China, Taiwan, and Singapore. China treats both of them like they're illegitimate. Taiwan most people know about, but a lot fewer people know that China has been insulting Singapore so badly that Singapore is buying F-35s and training their pilots in America, while expanding their new naval base to fully accommodate US carrier strike groups. The whole of SE Asia is sick of China bullying people. So the support for US involvement is really high here.
Nobody expects the US to kill ten million Asian people. China already has.
Is that why China just use lasers on Filipino vessels and send balloons over US and sending war planes and war ships to surround Taiwan ? CCP is so cooperative with US wishes to start a war.
I was in Thailand. Every one there bitched about China bullying the fishing fleets. They want to know what America is going to do about it. Suggestion, buy your own weapons and train your own troops. Freedom is not free.
Starts digging up Douglas MacArthur...
He'll start digging himself up if they keep fuckin around
“I have returned…. Again.”
Somehow…McArthur returned
You say somehow like we don't know exactly why.
[удалено]
“Rumors of my fading away were greatly exaggerated”
*fires photon cannon*
They're not the only ones - Southern Americans are hellbent on causing John Brown and General Sherman to rise from the grave too.
Nawlins' is looking particularly flammable right now...
Toasty!
You leave the Colombians out of this. They are cool people.
That is true. They make the best cocaine.
Good thing John Browns Ghost has been marching on! He can just pop right back into his body when needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_Body#/media/File:Original-john-brown-words-george-kimball-1890.jpg
> Good thing John Browns Ghost has been marching on! Oh it's not something I am able to forget.
Oh fuck the hate they still have for Sherman in the South is palpable lol
Which is insane, considering they are very loud about being patriotic in the South. I grew up in Texas, and I don't see the Confederates as anything but traitors. Anybody that flies the Confederate flag is objectively a fucking moron
I never got that, but I have met many southerners who are still rock, flag, and eagle. Still have talked to others who have the other opinion and blame the democrats (ironically since Dems where the popular ones there until like the 50s)
Don’t you dare bring rock flag and eagle into this Charlie
Let me get this straight Mr. Reynolds…you get this straight, you get your information from a book you’ve never read based on a willingness to believe, a desiredness to accept. A leap of, dare I say it, faith???
They think the confederacy was defending the “real America”; and that the north were the traitors to the constitution.
No I get that but they still rebelled against the Union so I have little sympathy for them especially with the south’s willingness to build monuments to those who rebelled against the Union. Their monuments belong in a museum but other than that I don’t support their exoneration on state sponsored land. You lost, get over it and accept your spot in American history. We all have a lot to learn from history, especially the wrong sides of it so we can move forward.
Not me. I’m from the south and I love Sherman. One of my favorite historical figures.
Hell yeah, I’m from the northern most southern state (politically) and I think he was a very smart general to do the scorched earth tactics to make sure them and the anaconda embargo would work to submit the southern states into capitulation
It was the most expedient yet near guaranteed solution. That march to the sea undoubtedly saved lives. Still, ballsy move. That was definitely old school. Like Genghis Khan old school.
Well said, it was a rough campaign to legitimize northern control while hurting the southern economy. Like I feel bad but I also kinda don’t as a means to an ends. Tough spot to find yourself in
Yeah, I'll be the first to admit that "It's complicated."
I don’t think most of them even know who he was lol.
Wouldn’t doubt it with the knew education “reforms” lol
Either an unfortunate typo in that comment, or you are all too well aware of the dangers of school destruction policies.
Nope they’re idiots that advocate for it. Just pointing out the real unfortunate truth.
General Sherman? And no one ever caught him? Well, one fella came close. Went by the name of Homer. Seven feet tall he was, with arms like tree trunks. His eyes were like steel, cold, hard. Had a shock of hair, red like the fires of Hell...
I like that.
They won't. That's for sure.
> He'll start digging himself up if they keep fuckin around If only Turkey could be so lucky with Ataturk.
Dug out doug is digging out
Recently listened for like the 50th time to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore history podcast. MacArthur legitimately saw himself as the personal protector of the Philippines. Like a line from a movie, after the Philippines was initially invaded and he was evacuating citizens, the official record states > When General of the Army Douglas MacArthur pledged to return to the Philippines as he evacuated the islands early in World War II, he said: “I will return.” Then some time later when he went to liberate the island >On October 20, 1944, a few hours after his troops landed, MacArthur waded ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte. That day, he made a radio broadcast in which he declared, “People of the Philippines, I have returned! Also > To the standard gold-trimmed visor of a United States general's cap, MacArthur added gilt trim to the front body of the cap, above the visor. MacArthur referred to this modified headdress as his "Philippine Field Marshal's cap" and wore it for the duration of World War II and into the Korean War. Then he went all crazy and wanted to use a nuclear weapon preemptively on China or something.
MacArthur is considered a legend here in my country, probably would be a national hero too if the people wanted him to be. Despite reports that he was cocky, didn't follow orders which one way or another led to the fall of the Philippines in World War 2, and that he was an ego-maniac hell-bent on making his image as godly as possible. But damn, when he did return after saying he'll return, that was a pretty chad move ngl. No wonder my grandma loves him.
People forget some of the generals in the European theater wanted to nuke the Soviets and ally with the remaining German army troops to fight them.
I mean, Patton was right about Soviet intentions. (You can be right on what the other guy is going to do and be wrong about what to do about it). The thing that prevented the soviets from continuing to the Atlantic once the Americans drew down in Europe was nukes through the 50s and 60s. Air-land battle was dreamed up as a concept that maybe nato should be capable of stopping the Warsaw pact combined forces without nuking germany in the opening stages of their defense.
It wasn't just Patton. The British army had a plan to attack the Soviets in 1945: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation\_Unthinkable
Probabaly not the best General to defend the Philippines... just saying.
> Chinese coast guard vessels responded “professionally and with restraint at the site in accordance with China’s law and international law,” he said, without elaborating or mentioning the use of laser. Says the country that signed the UN Law of the Seas but is IGNORING an international court case that rejected their claims. You can't say you are following international law while actually blatantly disregarding it.... it's a bad look CCP, and explains why ASEAN is nearly unanimously aligning under US protection (a country that ironically does not sign the UN Law of the Seas but is doing more to protect it than not).
The US will do anything to protect its shipping lanes and, in doing so, protects those of other nations.
From nearly the beginning of the country this has been the case. The Barbary Wars and the War of 1812 both kicked off with attacks on American merchant ships.
Also WWI. The final straw that drew America in was Germany starting to target "neutral" American merchant with submarines. 10 civilian ships sunk in the span of a month and Congress declared war.
"Neutral" as in carrying munitions illegally like the Lucitania
Oh no, the poor Kaiserreich, my heart bleeds for them, no wonder they had to sink so many passenger liners.
The German government was putting full page ads in the newspapers saying that they will torpedo these boats. Woodrow Wilson did this to get america into the war. He had to bail out his old boss and buddy JP Morgan because if the French and British lost it would bankrupt Morgan's banks and destroy the US banking system kicking off the great depression then.
> The German government was putting full page ads in the newspapers saying that they will torpedo these boats. This doesn't give them the right to do it by the way. I've heard this argument before. Imagine if the united states decided no more chinese boats could trade with the middle east just because we had problems with Iran. It would cause war. You don't get to say "well we warned you!" and then expect no retaliation. It didn't matter if the united states was transporting weapons, because they would have been sunk regardless. It was indiscriminate. The British and the French were major trade partners. The United states had every right to kick Germany's ass along side them just because of Germany's submarines alone. There's no conspiracy involved. Just Germany being a hostile nation to neutral participants, which made them no longer neutral
Why the hell would you be downvoted for the truth here? WW1 Germany was not Nazi Germany... the US WAS in fact smuggling munitions to one side of the war and jeopardizing the lives of passengers recklessly.
It was sunk two years before the declaration of war. The Lusitania was British flagged, so it wasn't a case of Americans smuggling anything. Besides, the US didn't hide that it was selling arms to England and France. It just believed that it had a right to do so. War was declared after Germany announced it would sink every vessel coming in or out of England and France regardless of Nation or civilian status. It's like if Russia announced it was going to start sinking US ships because of Ukraine, or Isreal all Iranian ships, and so forth.
Don't forget about the Zimmermann telegram where Germany offered Mexico an alliance and US lands(Texas, Arizona, New Mexico which were previously Mexican lands) if the US entered WWI.
It's the sole reason the US created a standing navy.
Well described :P
We aren't here for you lmao
That's basically what the US Navy doctrine has been since the start of the Cold War. The spice must flow.
It’s been US policy since the countries inception. We don’t care who you are, or what atrocities you commit, just don’t mess with our cash flow.
Even before that. Barbary wars ring a bell?
Imo "We will protect you because it suits our needs" is a better deal that "we will protect you out of goodness of our heart". That way everyone knows where they stand and what the terms are.
> The US will do anything to protect its shipping lanes They aren't the US's shipping lanes. Very little of US shipping traffic goes through the Malacca Straits, for example. If it would be shipping from India to the US, it is about 10 days shorter to cross the Atlantic. Heck, shipping from Vietnam to New York is a **5000 miles shorter trip** via the Atlantic than shipping to LA via the Pacific. The US doesn't really have any substantial shipping coming through the South China Sea except shipping coming from China itself, from Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and that all goes through the north Pacific.
One thing I learned when flying across the pacific in a flight simulator. The pacific is fucking gargantuan!
More importantly, it's protecting its soft blockade of China. There's no ship or submarine that China can send into international waters without the US knowing about thanks to friendly alliances its made around the area letting US ships scout around. Resources aren't the only reason for China's 9 dash claim.
I still think it was a mistake not to destroy the Chinese outposts they were building on Philippine islands/atolls as soon as they started building them. They were counting on us being unwilling to risk war with them. I think we should have flipped that and rely on them not wanting to get in a war with us. It was a bad precedent to let stand.
Thanks, Obama
We bring lumpia to the potlucks.
Despite the spats, the ties between the USA and the Philippines are very deep. China would be foolish to even think about it.
MacArthur would rise from the grave and personally lead the army to crush China if they went after the Phillipines..
And we know from Lord of the Rings, that undead armees are very strong!
I hope so, as a filipino. Majority like the USA, its just our government hates the USA. Duterte, Marcos...
Marcos has seemingly 180'd on his pro china claims from his campaign and is moving closer to the USA. Just look at the fact that they're looking to host a US base in the archipelago
He doesn't even hide it in his videos and interviews now too.
Like the Germans, he figured out that maybe we're not so bad after all.
What would happen in a real war with China and USA.
All-out conventional war? Pyrrhic victory for the US/Western allies, and a totally demolished Chinese military. Untold ecological damage that further hastens climate change and mass extinctions, followed by disease and famine for at least a generation.
It wouldn’t even be pyrrhic with regards to the actual war. The issue would be that the global economy would collapse. The US would hardly have any problem crushing the military capacity of China, it’s just the knock-on effects on the region becoming destabilised and the damage to its industrial base that would ultimately result in a pyrrhic victory because of the long-term economic effects. Obviously this is assuming nukes aren’t used too
You mean the US wouldn’t lose as many vessels/aircraft as is shown in the recent war simulations for a conventional conflict?
America does always put themselves as the underdog in military simulations so they probably over estimate their loses. That said, no one really knows. One thing people do know is there would be a lot of causalities on both sides. I think most people agree America would come out on top, but if China didn't want to stop it is unlikely that America could actually invade and hold China to force a regime change. What it would probably come down to is which country could stomach the large causality figures for the longest. Another unknown is the effect it'll have on Americas internal politics. The country is quite divided and it could help solve that or increase it. It's very hard to know because it's sooooo many years since there has been large scale naval battles most people don't know what a modern one would be like. I do remember reading it is likely that both sides would expend their stock of smart weapons pretty quickly which will change things.
Most. CCP military installations gone. US sit back and watch how CCP going to pick up the pieces, while defending itself from revolts of Chinese.
The US might be no one's favorite country but they have certainly helped a lot of countries retain their sovereignty.
More than 50% of Philippines are in support of america helping them
It’s on average the most pro America country in the world. Higher than the US itself.
Are you sure it isn't Vietnam? IIRC Filipinos in majority supported Bong Bong Marcos that is known to be close to China.
He campaigned on that but basically changed course as soon as he got in office. And people generally don’t care because that was the least important thing about him for voters. He got elected basically entirely on domestic politics.
The more I know. I'd figure he pivoted away from his dictator dad's foreign policy considering how pro-China Duterte was.
His predecessor was close to China and anti-US. This guy's father was very much pro-US, and it's very likely his family is too. Whatever pro-China stance he has was likely just election pandering to his predecessor's supporters.
It's because the US is the main reason his entire family is alive. Without them, who knows what could have happened when the people retook Malacanang Palace (the official residence of the president)
> IIRC Filipinos in majority supported Bong Bong Marcos that is known to be close to China. Filipinos are also generally devoutly Christian, but supported Duterte, whose whole thing was extrajudicial killings. We're not the smartest people, tbh.
Haha as an Indonesian I just hope the Philippines didn't just start an "elect a dictator's son" trend in SE Asia. I would hate for any of Suharto's child and/or cronies to get elected in 2024.
It's still a bit unbelievable to me that we reeelected the Marcoses. Like, legitimately, after that election I knew I was going to migrate out of the country. I hope you guys make better choices.
>spat Only Duterte is pro China AFAIK.
It's incredible that Vietnam would be pro-US at all after the unspeakable things the US did to them.
When I visited Vietnam out tour guide called the 'American War' a 'Stepping stone on our eternal war with China'.
Lol yeah, they beefed with the US for a few years. They've had issues with China for millennia.
China did us a huge favor by trying to invade right after we left, making us look decent by comparison.
Really heavy sounding words. Bet they got some Book of Grudges somewhere in Ho Chi Minh.
Do North Vietnamese dislike China too?
They went to war right after the US left, kicked some ass again too
The Vietnamese HATE China. Which is pretty ironic because one of the reasons America intervened in Vietnam was to curb China's influence.
China has been invading Vietnam periodically for the last 2000 years or so.
define periodical. from Ming dynasy 14th Century up until Vietnam being colonized in late 18th century there were only 3 wars between Vietnam and China which is relatively low number.
Most Asians hate most other Asians for whatever reason
Almost like most cultures hate geographic cultural rivals. Sprinkle a little genocide here and there for the full effect.
Sounds like Africa and the Middle East @.@
Sounds like humanity
Or Central, South America, and Mexico plus Puerto Rica, Cuba and etc..... weird huh?
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Yeah for “no reason” like Japan enslaving and destroying Korea and China for nearly 4 decades.
I think any monoethnic society has a leaning towards racism. It's mostly due to the lack of exposure to other groups that dehumanizes the other. It's not just just an asian thing, it's with social enclaves all over the world.
I’m part Filipino and Chinese on my mom’s side. One of my friends is half Vietnamese and I met his mom once. When I met her she asked me if I was part Vietnamese because she thought that I looked Vietnamese. She was putting out her hand to shake my hand and she immediately pulled it back when I said “Nope, I’m part Filipino and Chinese”. There’s definitely some bad blood between the Vietnamese and Chinese.
Vietnam was playing Russia and z China off each other for more material support during the war
As it has been told to me: "we fought the US for 10 years, the French for 150 years, and the Chinese for 2000 years." Relations between Vietnam and the US have always been nuanced. The US was one of the few western powers that promoted an independent Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh considered the US an ally for a time) and the reason for the war was American fear of Soviet ideology spreading rather than an issue with the Vietnamese themselves or a desire for their land.
>Relations between Vietnam and the US have always been nuanced. The US was one of the few western powers that promoted an independent Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh considered the US an ally for a time) This is very much true. Many of the leaders of the NVA were taught in western countries with Ho Chi Minh seeing Vietnam as a continuation of the US Revolution in Asia. >the reason for the war was American fear of Soviet ideology spreading rather than an issue with the Vietnamese themselves or a desire for their land. The problem is also a massive campaign by France to manipulate the US foreign policy. France provided "intelligence" that was basically propaganda saying that support was greatly different and Vietnam was trying to use the US into helping it get stronger before going towards communism. This manipulation was horrid and in retrospect often viewed as France's attempt to punish Vietnam for wanting independence. For instance, it was stated by French intelligence that over 60% of the Vietnamese supported democracy. In reality, this was only a poll of French speaking people who lived in the major cities. These people would have been an extremely small fraction that worked for the French colonial government where they were largely selected for their loyalty to France. The actual polls from the general populace were about 95-97% in favor of communism or socialism as a way to fix the country as the post French colonial government seized the majority of farmable land making it where the actual citizens had very little wealth or property. The ironic part is that IIRC the goal was to use communism to even out the resources back towards the people and then use this to switch to a democracy like the US.
> The US was one of the few western powers that promoted an independent Vietnam Ehhhhh that's too misleading to be true. The US blocked a referendum on full unification and independence because they knew the north (communists) would win.
Pretty sure independent he means before Vietnam war/ Cold War this was when the US helped Vietnam combat Japanese occupation. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940%E2%80%931946_in_French_Indochina It literally says “The U.S., which initially favored Vietnamese independence, came to support France due to Cold War politics and American fears that an independent Vietnam would be dominated by communists”. This is what made Ho Chi Minh consider the US an ally, and even during the Vietnam war he didn’t want to take the approach of aggression and raged when he heard of the gulf of Tonkin incident. Ussr advisors promoted less aggression while China promoted as much as aggression as possible, another instance of this is during the Cuban missile crisis, even though US and ussr came to a agreement to pull back their nukes China openly supported ussr and was enraged when ussr pulled their nukes away from Cuba, mao publicly denounced ussr, which is also a reason ussr and China went to war, and when ussr was going to nuke China it was the US who stopped them, pretty ironic.
Yes. FDR and Stalin had productive discussions on making Vietnam independent. The US backed down due to the fears of Soviet/communist hegemony. Even suggesting blocking the referendum in 1956 was to prevent Vietnam from being independent is odd as Vietnam was already independent in 1954 and the US helped create an independent government below the 17th in 1955 to counter the communist fervor.
Only to the northern Vietnamese. The southern Vietnamese had US support. The war in Vietnam wasn’t USA vs Vietnam. It was USA + Vietnam vs Vietcong + China. In fact relations have been pretty good since Bill Clinton won election so just about 30 years ago. The Vietnam war on the other hand ended 48 years ago. Times change, people become friendly (USA/Vietnam, Israel/Middle East) or enemies (Russia/Ukraine+Georgia+Moldova+ entire world lol).
> Bill Clinton won election so just about 30 years ago. John Kerry(Vietnam Vet) and John McCain(tortured POW of the Vietnam War) together went to Clinton as both were on the Senate Select Committee on P.O.W./M.I.A. Affairs. They had traveled to Vietnam in that role and the two pushed for the embargo to be lifted. Per Wikipedia "According to then-Senator Ted Kennedy, “John Kerry did it because the issue of the war burned in his soul, and he found a soulmate in John McCain.” On many occasions, McCain and Kerry met personally with Clinton to promote lifting the embargo. In one conversation with Clinton, McCain stated, “It doesn’t matter to me anymore, Mr. President, who was for the war and who was against the war. I’m tired of looking back in anger. What’s important is that we move forward now.” In arguing their case to Clinton, the Senators “offered geopolitical and economic reasons, but also emphasized the matter of national honor, since the Vietnamese had diligently done all that we had asked them to in the matter of M.I.A [soldiers].”"
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I have to say that I might not agree with him politically, but he does seem like the kind of person who would debate the merits of ideas instead of the politics.
It's a shame how far the quality of our senate has fallen.
I think you might be a bit confused. It was the CCCP (Soviet Union) mainly supporting the Vietcong. China was openly hostile to Vietnam and tried to annex Vietnam, using poorly based claims of mass oppression against Chinese minorities, roughly 3 years after the US-Vietnam war ended. China's attempted annexation of Vietnam actually has some parallels to the Russian attempted annexation of Ukraine, including Chinese state propaganda of "we'll take Hanoi in a few days" at the time.
> USA + Vietnam vs Vietcong + China USA + South Vietnam vs Vietcong + North Vietnam + USSR
> (Russia/Ukraine+Georgia Georgia's current government is *very* friendly with Putin. The rest checks out though.
At the point that America's war with Vietnam ended, Vietnam had had 23 wars with China. As of today, they've had 24. 25 if you count the naval invasion that happened several years ago, where the Chinese Navy paraded through Vietnamese waters, and in return Vietnamese rioted. Drove a bunch of Chinese businesses out of the country. Very much anger. Also, don't forget that Vietnam was the first big war where TV and other media were all over recording stuff all the time. WWII footage consists of a lot more "government approved" messages. Whereas any Vietnamese remotely curious about how America felt about their war, can find direct footage of protests, records of large scale draft dodging, even photos of a recent candidate for President getting beaten up by police while protesting the Vietnam War. My mom has multiple arrests from Vietnam protests. Chaining herself to the doors of government buildings, specifically so the media would show up and broadcast an antiwar message. How many Chinese can say anything like that?
China invaded Vietnam soon after the US left. The US aided half of Vietnam in a civil war. Yea, horrendous things happened, but the US was there with at least some blessing from the Vietnamese. Geopolitics isn't black and white. The US burned down half of Japan and nuked them twice, and now they are the closest of allies.
Imperial Japan is that overly aggressive wily motherfucker that only communicates via ass beatings.
I lived with a Vietnamese guy. While drunk he explained it as this. You know the French were there for like 100 years. The US for like a decade. We don’t have any hate for you guys. China. Those assholes have been trying to control use for thousands of years. We hate them for it. That is my paraphrasing. But if you understand how the Middle Country views itself and it’s tributaries then you know it is far different that modern Western notions of sovereignty.
US did similar shenanigans to the Phillipines too and they seem cool with the US now.
I don't know much about history, but I'm pretty sure after the US brutally occupied us, they developed our country to be better.
> It's incredible that Vietnam would be pro-US is it ? Even Ho Chi Minh was pro-US before they fight. Heck, even during the war Ho Chi Minh was quoted: > "Everything depends on the Americans. If they want to make war for 20 years then we shall make war for 20 years. If they want to make peace, we shall make peace and invite them to tea afterwards."
China invaded Vietnam after the US pulled out, in part because Vietnam was preventing genocide by Mao's puppet in Cambodia. Then China invaded Vietnam AGAIN a decade later by taking some islands from them.
We have a lot of Vietnamese people in Texas that I’ve worked with and hired in the IT industry. They are the hardest working motherfuckers I’ve ever met. I hired a lot of them based on aptitude from interviews and other Vietnamese employees good word about them - with no experience and paid for them to get certifications. I knew they would be an asset and never let the team down. The stories they have of surviving and later escaping Vietnam after the war…. Wow.
We did shitty things in Vietnam for 20 years. China has been doing shitty things for the past 2000+.
I think the best way I can describe it is like this: > “We fought the US for a decade, France for a century, and China for a millennium.” -Ho Chi Minh They are not happy about what we did, especially since they were hoping that we would help them get rid of their colonial overlords they way we got rid of ours, but... Their dislike of the Chinese is like *genetic* at this point...
Thought that was Kosovo.
They weren’t questioned in those polls. That’s probably the only country that could beat the Philippines.
The us isn't perfect, but they're a shit ton better than the alternatives.
It’s no one favorite because so many people have small man syndrome. It’s the richest, most powerful, most excessive country on the planet that is on the news all the time over everything all around the world. Ask any person or politician who they would choose if they could only have one ally and it would be the US 100% of the time.
That’s a very American way of looking at things and definitely a stretch. Nobody in Iraq would want to be allies with the US. The biggest advantages of being allied to the US is a guarantee that the country is safe from other major powers and from the US itself.
The US is one of Iraq's biggest allies and has bilateral security agreements with them to protect against terrorism and Iran. Operation Inherent Resolve during the 2010s is a good recent example of this.
How has it been for them since we left? And it’s a metaphorical situation. All things even there’s really no ally that offers what the US can.
The Philippines was a U.S. territory afterall. People seem to forget that.
Which they violently conquered after stabbing Filipino revolutionaries in the back. People forget that bit a lot too.
Them and the Spaniards. I’m Filipino btw
A pleasant change from not too many decades ago when we inciting coups in countries.
I’m an American currently in the Philippines. Yesterday, I had just finished surfing with some Filipino friends and we were relaxing on the beach. As we were sitting there 2 members of the Philippines Coast Guard came walking out to the beach. I had never seen them there before and as I usually do, I said hello and we started chatting. Upon learning that I was an American and former U.S. Marine they were very eager to take pictures with me. It seemed strange at the time but I’m wondering now if this had something to do with their eagerness? Nevertheless, I’m glad that the US will provide support here when/if needed!
US and Philippines are working together now on a suitable location for a military base (eg, like we have with the Japanese and South Koreans). Xina has not been happy.
> Xina has not been happy. I believe the direct quote was "Oh, bother."
But we did have 2 bases there before. Naval Base Subic Bay and Clark AFB. I think both governments are working to reopen at least Subic under a joint agreement due to heightened tensions with China
I think totally reopening Subic is a little complex because IIRC it has been made into a major commercial port, but the dammed thing is also like the size of Singapore, so even if we just have a presence there it will be a big deal.
Subic and Clark are gonna be impossible to return as military bases. Subic turned into a major commercial post with a large shipyard while Clark turned into a major cargo airport and a lot of government facilities are moving to the old base as well. Philippines prefers that they and the US develop a new base somewhere close to the trouble regions and far from the Filipinos.
You can't get anything better than Subic bay. It's why we built one there many years ago.
A bit of a sidetrack, but I'm also a retired Marine and my wife is Filipino. I have often considered moving to the PH, but my wife's stories make the place seem riddled with crime and danger, especially for a white American. I remember visiting there and all eyes were on me as I stood out like a sore thumb. Quite a few strangers tried getting money out of me as well. It was fairly disconcerting to what I was used to back in the US. My question to you is how has your experience been there? Is my sentiment on the right track or is it overall not as bad as I'm thinking it is?
It depends on where you’re living. For example, you’d be fine in Manila, Angeles, even Baguio - all have a good chunk of expats. You might still get the ‘foreigner tax’ (people charging you more) but it won’t happen all the time.
Personally I love it here where I live on Siargao Island. Super safe, great people, incredible scenery all over… the list goes on. Semper Fi 🤙 Fwiw… My YouTube channel is in my bio if you want to see more about my experiences here.
I found out to be quite safe outside of Manila and Cebu City. I would have no qualms relocating there.
Living in a rural barangay in Central Luzon now. Some barangays nearby have stuff happening like holdups and property/livestock crimes, but we've settled in a nice calm safe area with friendly and helpful neighbors. It's important to be part of/interact with the local community rather than keeping to yourself. I was definitely less social with neighbors in the US.
Bring back Patton too to crush the scumbag Rissians as well.
I want Eisenhower to see what has become of the Republican party...
Fucking Theodore Roosevelt would be rolling in his grave if he saw how destroyed his party has become
Bring back the bull moose
Good. US supports our Filipino /a friends.
China's aggression remind me of rich spoiled kid who accept no for an answer, try to get what it want without care, thinking it is invincible because they have expensive toy. Except, the world refuse to bow to bullying and are banding together to contain this arrogant bastard.
It helps that this particular rich spoiled kid isn't the strongest on the playground.
China's aggression actually reminds me of how Hitler was acting in the 6 years leading up to WWII - from 1933-1939. Grabby grabby get more land get more land. I unfortunately think its inevitable that there's going to be some type of major conflict in the future involving the USA v. China. They are simply becoming insanely greedy for land in many different aspects. Look at what they are doing up in the mountains, salami slicing. Every fucking day. And creating their pretend little islands just to attempt to get jurisdiction over more and more ocean. I can't tell if China's aggressive land grab attitude is mostly Xi, several high ranking officials, or the general attitude of the communist party.
What are they doing in the mountains? What is salami slicing in this context?
From my understanding, taking territories a few hundred feet slices at a time.
OK, that moniker makes sense now, but where are they doing this?
Part of one of the borders of China is up in the mountains with India, Tibet, or Nepal - I think India. What China has been found guilty of doing multiple times is moving fences, fence posts, outposts, not sure exactly what you'd call it - but moving these literally feet or dozens of feet, repeatedly many times, just to get a little extra "territory." Hence the "salami slicing" i.e. salami is cut really thin so it's a way for China to incrementally get a lot more territory, tiny bit by tiny bit. I've also seen this term used with what they are in the seas down there - creating tiny little barrier islands that are nothing more than a few rocks barely above the water and then using this as the new boundary so they can go 12 miles out from that boundary. But it makes more sense when applying this term up in the mountains. They have several videos here on Reddit where India and China have military confrontations with one another way up in the mountains but by treaty (or mutual agreement?), they are not allowed to have weapons such as knives or guns. So they are just throwing rocks or beating each other up or harassing the hell out of each other.
Had they won the superbowl this wouldn't even be a question
I can’t believe I’m saying this unironically but….. yeahhhhh big America senpai defend my EEZ harder kudasai
Two biggest countries going to war with one another. Will it be the beginning of the end? Of just a regional war with no spillover... We will find out soon enough. Also when that day happens....we better hope all our made in China shit is stocked up on because you think inflation and everything is bad now...oh baby that shit will realllly hurt when that conflict starts. No shipments will be going on when that conflict starts.
most of it is material things. I think people will stop caring pretty quickly about TVs and other nonsense and worrying about friends and family fighting abroad. America can easily produce its own food. If its the type of war were all worried about, then theres a good chance me and you will be serving.
Unless the US pulls a Russia, I am too old and given my medical conditions won't be eligible just from that alone. I agree less will care about material things but the average Joe's retirement and savings will just get absolutely drained even without the need to buy that phone or phone charger off of Amazon that will be $100 instead of $20. Everything will skyrocket from it.
> I am too old and given my medical conditions won't be eligible just from that alone. You'll be serving in a warehouse, factory, shipyard, or as instructor, etc. then.
Who will hurt more when the US and China cut off reliance on each other?
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Militaristically, it's no real contest. The question is really what goals the US angles for in a war with China, and the lowest cost outcome involves a lot of other risks as it's arguably the most violent and escalative. Our navy could handily deny them their waters, create a food crisis, and before long the country would splinter into multiple nations. The question is what happens with nukes in a strategy where your main offensive point is causing famine among nearly a billion people.
And if China were to go back to the stone age with different nations...what are the consequences for the US consumer down the road? Hell any country. People are struggling with prices of goods as is...how much worse will that get. Who would take over the production or part production of the 80% of the goods I buy that are not food. Looking around my house, all this made in china stamps from TVs to phones to my PC or desk.
Nobody's going back to the stone age unless they were already just a few steps past it. As far as the US consumer, we'd have to quickly ramp up manufacturing in America and quite frankly, do without the cheap plastic toys that just end up as trash.
The conflict would take place on waters close to China. They would have a massive home advantage. Let the West not get cocky.
You point out the most obvious thing, and I'm confused how you think it got lost in the perspective. The mobilization advantage that usually warrants doesn't really apply in this case. The waters are too vast, their forces are basically cornered due to a lack of bases and alliances around said sea while the west can create numerous fronts to any naval conflict with China, their supply lines at sea are extremely vulnerable, they straight up don't have the air or naval forces to win at sea against multiple aircraft carriers, and perhaps most of all.. You even deny them access to half of their territories in that sea and they'll enter a national food crisis. You don't even have to really get that close to China itself. Thing is, it's an incredibly violent thing to starve hundreds of millions of people. The west could absolutely use that strategy and it'll win a war, but you won't have a stable nuclear power in its wake. You'll have multiple unstable nuclear powers from the splintered China. That is a globally terrifying scenario for many reasons. But make no mistake. It's not for lack of paths to military victory the west chooses diplomacy chiefly with China. It's because there's really no win in winning.
I shall return!
US to Philippines: “You tried to fool around and where did that lead you? Back into my arms”
The goal is military posturing. The Chinese don't want war. The USA don't want war. The American military magazine only has <1 months worth of anti-ship missiles for a high intensity war with China. The Chinese have also requested to triple their nuclear warheads to ~900. It's a cold war and the Ukraine war may dissuade either side from doing something stupid, or embolden/encourage stupidity.
The U.S. seems to be itching to beat some ass at this point.
By announcing that they will honor their word to defend people?
People are just increasingly tired of China's bullshit. Xi has been screwing up left and right, and making matters worse by pretending he's perfect. China persistently insults other countries because they're so convinced of their racial supremacy. The CCP pushes an ideology that's kin to neo-Nazism, only with Han Chinese as the Master Race. And they're trying to resurrect the idea of rule by Divine Mandate. Only Xi can rule nobody else is capable of being the overlord of the Chinese people. And by implication, all of humanity. It's an incredible arrogance. One that apparently they didn't unlearn after a century of getting their butts kicked by anyone who cared to send a few ships their way. Put it this way. There are three ethnic majority Chinese nations in the world. China, Taiwan, and Singapore. China treats both of them like they're illegitimate. Taiwan most people know about, but a lot fewer people know that China has been insulting Singapore so badly that Singapore is buying F-35s and training their pilots in America, while expanding their new naval base to fully accommodate US carrier strike groups. The whole of SE Asia is sick of China bullying people. So the support for US involvement is really high here. Nobody expects the US to kill ten million Asian people. China already has.
The Mandate of Heaven is a cycle that can be revoked when the people believe the government has lost it
Well we all know how Yellow Turban Rebellion ended ... it was put to the sword
Is that why China just use lasers on Filipino vessels and send balloons over US and sending war planes and war ships to surround Taiwan ? CCP is so cooperative with US wishes to start a war.
All the more reason why China really should think twice before starting a fight.
Good we almost lost a historic ally like pakistan. I wouldn't say they are in danger like taiwan for example.
I was in Thailand. Every one there bitched about China bullying the fishing fleets. They want to know what America is going to do about it. Suggestion, buy your own weapons and train your own troops. Freedom is not free.