Sequestration IS the elephant in the room, and this one isn’t a Republican…
Every thing I’m hearing is the Dems congresscritters are going to fail on purpose to effectively gut the military (this has LONG been the Dems dream) since there aren’t any votes in the military and the military budget take $$ away from the ‘entitlements’ the Dems know and love.
SECDEF Paneta was apparently on the Hill today but his comments and brief were NOT well received. The reality of sequestration is that it WILL gut the services; cutting personnel, equipment (which is worn out after 10 years of war), stop new development, and leave us in worse shape than where we were under Carter.
Our military is already stressed to the breaking point, spread way too thin and totally frustrated by the lack of support from this administration. When this mess happens, we will have even more problems just trying to maintain a presence in various places…
If you think Mogadishu was bad, that will be nothing compared to what can (and probably will) happen. The kids on the pointy end will not give up, and they will fight to the death, sadly because there won’t be any backup within a reasonable distance…
And the Chinese have vowed to push us out of Japan, etc. all the way out to the second island chain (Guam); it’s been in the world media, but not the US MSM (gee, no big surprise there)…
From this report- Oddly enough, from Air Power Australia
Every thing I’m hearing is the Dems congresscritters are going to fail on purpose to effectively gut the military (this has LONG been the Dems dream) since there aren’t any votes in the military and the military budget take $$ away from the ‘entitlements’ the Dems know and love.
SECDEF Paneta was apparently on the Hill today but his comments and brief were NOT well received. The reality of sequestration is that it WILL gut the services; cutting personnel, equipment (which is worn out after 10 years of war), stop new development, and leave us in worse shape than where we were under Carter.
Our military is already stressed to the breaking point, spread way too thin and totally frustrated by the lack of support from this administration. When this mess happens, we will have even more problems just trying to maintain a presence in various places…
If you think Mogadishu was bad, that will be nothing compared to what can (and probably will) happen. The kids on the pointy end will not give up, and they will fight to the death, sadly because there won’t be any backup within a reasonable distance…
And the Chinese have vowed to push us out of Japan, etc. all the way out to the second island chain (Guam); it’s been in the world media, but not the US MSM (gee, no big surprise there)…
From this report- Oddly enough, from Air Power Australia
“China’s new ‘Second Island Chain’ strategy aims to develop the capability to project power beyond the ‘Second Island Chain’ , ie the arc from Japan through Guam, Northern Australia and Indonesia. Air power plays a critical role in PLA strategic thinking. To implement the ‘Second Island Chain’ strategy the PLA is investing in its first aircraft carrier, the Varyag, with an air wing of J-15 (reverse engineered Su-33 Flanker D), and is developing a cruise missile capable bomber force.”
And when you add in Arab Spring, lack of support for Israel, Russia coming back into power, the ‘pending’ failure of the EU, the administration’s lack of support for historic allies…
Well, it just doesn’t bode well in my mind…
For those of you with friends/family members in the military, I truly hope I’m wrong, but if I’m right, they WILL need all our thoughts and prayers…
Do we have any friends out that way besides Australia? India maybe? Are the Japanese afraid of the Chinese enough to become a nuclear power if we fall off the scene?
I’d like to see things change here as much as the next person, but short of someone launching a war of conquest against us I don’t really see things changing from the path that they are on, that is to say slow but inevitable collapse both here and abroad.
This is truly distressing. I knew about most of what you posted, but (for whatever reason) hadn’t heard about China’s “second island chain” strategy.
It’s clear there are no people with more than a single functioning brain cell each in the entire D.C. If I were still on active duty, I’d be actively seeking a way out NOW. Better that than letting some ignoramus politician sentence me to death on the firing line.
My son, the Medic, gets lock jaw when I ask him about this. He can get out in a year, use his GI Bill to attend college, and sit out the rest of his four years in the Guard. Either way, he faces more deployments with inadequate and worn out gear.
Think I will have a hard time not bitch slapping the next jerk I hear talking about a “Peace Dividend”.
And here we are still worried about OWS and all of Herman Cain’s honeys and how bad Rick Perry is at debating.
No doubt that the chicoms take the long-term strategic view. They are building up their military capabilities at the same time we are decreasing ours.
And it’s not just the technological capabilities. As WSF and Matt indicate, our troops are getting worn down and our focus is getting distracted from the meaningful to the trivial.
What to do? I have no idea. There is no Ronald Reagan on the horizon…
I happen to a Hill staffer and asked about the Dems purposefully failing on the Super Committee and the consequential military cuts. The response I got was that not only can a Congress not bind the actions of a future Congress, they can’t bind the actions of the same Congress just one minute later. The speculation was that should the Super Committee fail, this Congress will simply waive the military cuts in a subsequent vote, which would put the Dems is a tough spot if they voted against it.
I will note that if the Dems allow deep cuts in the military, the NoVA Dems will be set up for being thrown out as NoVA is a lot more heavily dependent on military spending than most people realize.
I also hadn’t heard of the second island chain strategy. Seems to be a naval von Schlieffen plan.
Hopefully Andy is right, and any cuts are made in such a way that doesn’t impact national security. The worry I’m hearing from people I know who are still in is that once Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, we’ll go back to a hollow Army like we had in the 1970’s.
I think that you’re unfortunately right. There is no one in the government who can see past their own ideology or self-interest. To them, our military is merely numbers, not people. They give lip service while our military folks give real service to our country.
I think that the only way to fix it is to zero-out and start over.
Robert- They Aussies are our friends, and really the ONLY ones outside that arc. India is in bed with China…
Re your last, I have to agree.
Rev- Concur, dammit…
WSF- Yep, I’ve heard a ‘lot’ of that attitude… And it’s truly scary.
Matt- MSM mis-direction… Pay NO attention to the manipulations behind the curtain…
Tim- Your point is well taken, I’d say the new mantra needs to be Re-Elect NONE!
Andy- You are correct on all counts, but I personally think the Dems WILL try to enforce the defense cuts.
DB- It is, and hollow is not even close to the reality…
MC- Concur, but will they zero entitlements too??? I think not…
I remember the military under Carter and the freedom from ever fighting a non-war for a long time. It produced the military that rolled from America to Saudi Arabia and over Kuwait and lightly into Iraq.
They could use a break, to rearm, retrain and refit.
Stalin destroyed most of the Red Army for fear of his position, and had to find another to fight the Germans. I won’t be surprised by the Democrats dismantling our military for fool reasons, and looking around for someone to fight the next fool adventure without a clear victory to gain.
But then I did Vietnam and Gulf War I, and KNOW the difference.
Yeah, but that had meetings. In the misery of government bureaucracy, that’s what counts.
What bugs me is that “in the Spirit of Bi-Partisanship”, those Idiots in the Republitard Leadership went along with this “Lose-Lose” Plan.
Definition of “Active/Stupid”- see “John Boehner”
The US is in a tighter place than we’ve been for some time. It’s not just the economy, but it has to do with how we view the world around us.
Nothing could be more critical than the 2012 Election (Congress and the Presidency).
I really do not see 2012 turning around for the country. Look at the list of candidates that we have. Perry supports illegals, Romney/Huntsman are closet Democrats, Bachmann and Ron Paul go off into crazy town once and a while and the Mystery candidate Herman Cain who I am still trying to figure out. The GOP field is to weak for the top leadership position. With Reagan you get a guy you would march into hell on Earth with. I would not even go into a local 7-11 with these guys.
Earl- All your points are VERY Vaild, and I think you’re dead on…
PH- Yeah, but MEETINGS don’t do a damn thing to actually PROTECT people…
Les- Good point.
LL- Concur
mmasse- Sadly,I’m in agreement with you too…
You mean that China could be a threat? Oh, they are to peaceful to want to conquer the world. The own our debts, they will make our political choices their way or call in the markers. And I have it on good authority, that our political leadership is bought for pennies on the dollar – lots of dollars.
Those on the pointy end will fight forever, if sustained… but then I remember the Army of the British Empire… and what remains now.
Earl- China IS a threat… agree with the rest of your comment though 🙂
http://youtu.be/PJvXhc0XnOw
Super Committee