China warns conflict is inevitable unless U.S. changes course

a reply to: v1rtu0s0

Nice propaganda poster...

No history, facts or reasons...just a splash page.

How many of those actions do you know the history?

Mg

originally posted by: Klassified
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.” H.L. Mencken

Note worthy and worth repeating.

China/N. Korea are currently attacking the USA. They have operatives, and 1000's of troops already on the West Coast. We have captured shipping containers loads of Chinese military arms through out the West Coast.
When you start seeing the trailers with the shipping containers, that have 3 axles on the rear of the trailer, the end maybe closer than you think.

originally posted by: v1rtu0s0

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: v1rtu0s0

Nope, the US is the good guys and would never start any pre-emptive wars.

that list is pretty disingenuous in the context of US wars.

Also, I already said in this thread that we’ve hade our blights too.

What does that even mean? The US is king at killing millions of innocent people when they start preemptive wars in foreign countries. No other country is even close. The Ukraine conflict started in 2014 when a US coop overthrew that government, and as NATO countries have moved eastward, poked the bear and then cried foul when the bear got mad.

Ukraine is the world leader in child trafficking, organ tracking, money laundering (to the bidens, etc), biolabs and experiments, etc. It's the NWO staging ground, to be destroyed so it can be rebuild by blackrock etc. FTX laundered money through Ukraine back to the DNC and other demoRat interests.

Ukraine is never going to beat Russia, it's all a game. They are forcing innocent ukrainians to be used as canon fodder to support the corrupt interests of the Elites. Millions have fled and will not return, and many more will die from being forced to the front lines to die within a 4 hour on average time frame.

To support that is the most corrupt thing I can image, second to supporting the bioweapon vaccines. Infact it's so corrupt that there is no way someone with that mindset is every going to be able to function in a civilized society.

Well, except for the "Millions" part, It's hard to argue against your statement.
At least with me.

a reply to: putnam6

China is right.

US uses Ukraine against Russia.

US uses Taiwan Against China.

US govt uses Kosovo agaisnt Serbia.
While suggesting that Ukraine has a full right to fight for its territory but not others.

a reply to: Violater1

First off, IF there is a guerilla force evolving upon the west coast u.s.a....(big if)..this can be dealt with swiftly.

The US capabilities may seem 'clunky' openly at times, but by design.

Don't forget, the World Trade Centers cost each country to become nothing politically today, no power, no influence. The WTC attacks fell through the intelligence cracks...etc.

No. China will not opt to cut-off cash flow, risk battling the US and allies should it 'arm' a few folks.

Mg

a reply to: vNex92

How are ukraine and Taiwan not right?

Mg

If we went to war with China it would make our lives even worse...

Stop allowing the MIC to condition you with fear into accepting a perpetual war state.

China is our economic rival not our enemy.

Russia is our resource rival not our enemy.

Eisenhower warned us of this day. I feel some of you here probably need to hear his speech again...

originally posted by: JAY1980
If we went to war with China it would make our lives even worse...

Stop allowing the MIC to condition you with fear into accepting a perpetual war state.

China is our economic rival not our enemy.

Russia is our resource rival not our enemy.

Eisenhower warned us of this day. I feel some of you here probably need to hear his speech again...

Not me said it plenty of times here on ATS. Eisenhower is likely the last untainted President all the others were either neutralized or corrupt LOL or both, corrupt for a while then neutralized. And in a 2 party system, all you really need is a handful of politicians on both sides in your pocket. Money does make the world go round...

www.investopedia.com...

Top 3 Defense ETFs (PPA, XAR)
By CHARLOTTE WOLD
Updated February 25, 2022
In 2021, the U.S. ended its longest war, withdrawing troops from Afghanistan almost 20 years after invading in October 2001. Experts have estimated the cost of that war to be $2.3 trillion.

Nevertheless, the U.S. 2022 defense budget of $778 billion is one of the largest ever and American military spending as a percent of GDP remains one of the highest in the world at 3.7% in 2020.

Defense stocks have struggled to keep up with the broader market in recent years, with annualized 5-year returns of even the best-performing defense ETFs lagging the S&P 500 by about 3%. Currently, there are three ETFs that follow different indices tracking the aerospace and defense industry. They are listed below in order of 1-year return.

iShares US Aerospace & Defense (ITA)
The fund seeks to replicate the performance of the Dow Jones US Select Aerospace & Defense Index which is composed of US aerospace and defense equities. The fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the index, and its top holdings are Raytheon Technologies Corp, Boeing Co, and Lockheed Martin Corp.


AUM $2,545M
Expense Ratio 0.42%
1-Year Return 4.02%
5-Year Return (Total) 47.03%
Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA)
The fund seeks to replicate the yield and price of the SPADE Defense Index. The fund invests at least 90% of its assets in the underlying index, and its top three holdings are Lockheed Martin Corp, Raytheon Technologies Corp, and Northrop Grumman Corp.


AUM $650M
Expense Ratio 0.61%
1-Year Return 3.15%
5-Year Return (Total) 71.70%
SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR)
Tracking the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index, the fund’s top holdings are Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, Mercury Systems Inc, and Lockheed Martin Corp. The fund follows a “sampling strategy” which allows the fund manager to invest in securities other than those securities comprising the underlying index, but at least 80% of the fund’s assets is invested in the index itself.


AUM $1,067M
Expense Ratio 0.35%
1-Year Return -8.00%
5-Year Return (Total) 76.13%

actually who ever is in charge of the U.S wants us all to die. the strength of the united states is gonea reply to: putnam6

a reply to: putnam6

No doubt that you have a solid grasp on how this all works but my only point is that Russia is fighting to keep US influence off its border. There are, of course, other countries on or near Russias border which I believe are a part of NATO but I think Ukraine is the last straw for Russia because of its strategic importance. Putin may also have financial ties in Ukraine that he’s trying to protect.

originally posted by: lostbook
a reply to: putnam6

No doubt that you have a solid grasp on how this all works but my only point is that Russia is fighting to keep US influence off its border. There are, of course, other countries on or near Russias border which I believe are a part of NATO but I think Ukraine is the last straw for Russia because of its strategic importance. Putin may also have financial ties in Ukraine that he’s trying to protect.

I don't know anything but I'm enjoying the discussion immensely, definitely want to see what happens next. I just have read theories that sound just as likely as all the others. I completely agree though, with the Ukraine-Mexico analogy, America would go bugchit if Russia wielded so much influence in Mexico as the US now does in Ukraine. Even mentioned it here early on and was told I was a Putin apologist, and he was the new Hitler and was gonna take over Europe first and then the world, LOL.

Perhaps, the paradigm has shifted, the US is doing things that would have never been tried in the last 50 years in the region. It's only logical that once one country does that, the opposing country or countries involved will respond, we just don't know how exactly. I could easily see Russia trying to destabilize things in Europe and the US now that we both are engaged about as much as one can without being at war.

I agree with the fictional Hunt for Red October quote, which was supposedly based somewhat on the military's thoughts at the time, and likely had some truth to it. "The Russians don't take a dump without having a plan first". If they had a plan in Ukraine it failed miserably and now we are seeing nothing but them scrambling and trying to prepare for this long drawn-out conflict and they don't perform well without a plan.

I don't know why but early on Mar 21, 2022, I saw this theory in a nondescript consultant's blog, and it resonated with me. I revisit it from time to time just to see if the facts we now know still fit in the Ukrainian puzzle. It would seem it still does and perhaps there is more truth than fiction to this possible scenario

www.thelowdownblog.com...

Is Putin's Invasion Failing Because Russian Intelligence Embezzled Billions Intended As Bribes For Ukrainians?

It's even wilder than the headline suggests. The FSB embezzled every dime of the billions in bribe money intended for Ukraine, which they figured was a low-risk crime because no one - not even Putin - would be crazy enough to invade Ukraine, the largest country in Europe, and the bribe money was in cash so there was no accounting. Meaning no one would miss the dough.
But then Putin announced he WAS going to invade. And the military made clear it wouldn't do so unless the Ukrainian military had been bought off so it wouldn't fight, which the FSB had assured everyone had been taken care of. But since they hadn't been bought off, the FSB had a big problem. Which they attempted to solve by leaking the invasion news to the US (hence Biden's preternaturally superb intelligence on the invasion, including assassination attempts on Zelensky) hoping that would dissuade Putin. And the rest, as they say, is history. JL

The fact Russia thought there would be little resistance in Ukraine, and has been scrambling ever since somewhat fits. Just as the US intelligence seemed to know what was gonna happen. The US moved with such surety early on that it seems they had to have sources and independent confirmation.

It is well known that US intelligence (CIA) had very fine-grained, exact, precise, perfect, word-for-word intelligence on Putin`s invasion plans very early on in the game. Yep. You guessed it.

The perfect way to keep the secret about the whole FSB embezzlement scheme was to make certain there was no invasion. And the best way to make sure there was no invasion was to tell the CIA that there was going to be an invasion. And that is exactly what happened. Sergey Beseda and Anatoly Bolyukh gave it up. All of it. And kept giving it up, hoping beyond hope that once the secret was out, Vladimir Putin would call the Ukrainian invasion off.

And this is why President Biden (the CIA and MI-6) had months of advance warning and a crystal clear view into Putin`s invasion plans, the FSB 5th-Branch, almost everybody in the 5th-Branch was mainlining intelligence into CIA/MI-6 in a vain attempt to save their lives.

originally posted by: asabuvsobelow
Where have you been mate ?

Were you attending the new ' Ninja Freemason camp ' ?

I was in Ukraine for a bit.

originally posted by: putnam6
should we see if Israel can take out the pesky drone plant, on the way to hit the nuke site?

I shook my Magic 8 Ball and the answer was, "Rothschilds Say Yes".

a reply to: CriticalStinker

While the US has its foreign policy blunders that shouldn’t be ignored… We also protected the waters and trade of most of the planet since WWII and helped many develop. Much of the world has benefited.

The USA does indeed have many faults and idiosyncrasies and has made some truly awful 'foreign policy blunders' but - and it's a MASSIVE but - the world would be a much worse place without it and the role it has taken on the international stage.

Also, I think a lot of people just want the Budapest Memorandum memory holed.

I think some people chose to completely ignore The Budapest Memorandum as its impossible to deny that its content shows their predisposed and set in stone opinion to be invalid, wilful ignorance at its best.

a reply to: ltrz2025

The global game has been going on from the beginning of time. From Rome, to England, till today.

And a hidden hand has always been at play.

And wheels on the bus go round and round.

originally posted by: Freeborn
I think some people chose to completely ignore The Budapest Memorandum as its impossible to deny that its content shows their predisposed and set in stone opinion to be invalid, wilful ignorance at its best.

That memorandum was mean to the Soviet Union/Russia. They should be able to stick their foot up their neighbor's ass and not have to worry about it.

It would take roughly 5-8 years to voluntarily replace Chinese manufactured imports, by my estimation.
It could be done in 6-12 months if we didn’t have a choice.

Sadly, the US would rather find “a new China” for importing manufactured goods rather than convert to domestic production. And that is the problem. The US economy is so trashed by turning monetary policy over to the Federal Reserve that we can’t afford domestic production.

In the 1970’s, the US was so good at making washer and driers that every unit that would be bought that year was completed by late-February to mid-March including units for export. At that time, a washer and drier would last 10-15 years. Part of that is production efficiency and manufacturing quality, but the big factor was that families were not having as many children. Population decline forewarned seasonal layoffs which forced more decline due to wanting less mouths to feed.

Inflation complicated that population decline by artificially growing investments making boom and bust bubbles as the last stabling blocks were removed by ending the gold standard. Today’s dollar could be tomorrow’s dime in spending power. On a macro level, Dollar Tree was five items for $5, now you only get four items for that same $5.

China, due to the increased cost of transportation under Covid that has not normalized. Combined with lower selection due to hampered distribution because of that cost, is finding itself no longer the manufacturing darling it once was. The US will drop China like a casual girlfriend that wanted too much out of the relationship. But rather than settling down, the US will continue to play the field.

Our money will go elsewhere. China will key our car. Life will go on.

This is the best reply, literally 100% truth right here a reply to: ltrz2025

a reply to: Ahabstar

I think cost pays a huge role in manufacturing here in America. I don't know of many manufacturing that is clean.

It almost always involves contamination of the workers, the soil, the water, or the air. Some involve contamination of a combination of environments.

The cost of manufacturing, while preventing contamination of our environment, is the real reason so much of our manufacturing is outside of America.

As a child, I lived in a neighborhood, not far from the J&L Lyons steel mill. Air quality was nearly non existent.

A quick look at the air in China, along with the soil and water in some areas, will tell a large part of the story that is often left out. Any other country that does heavy manufacturing tells the same tale.

Americans will either agree to unclean water, food, and air, or the cost of bringing manufacturing back to the US will be through the roof.

Or Americans will continue to buy from outside the US and we will have destroyed our environment with little gain.

a reply to: Freeborn

Nothing is more diplomatic than trade.

It creates rapport through learning about one another, breaking bread, and forming relations that (usually) benefits both sides.

That same bonus is also leverage against bad foreign relations. I’m sure Xi would love nothing more than to help Russia and build up the Eastern sphere of influence… but the West eats up about 80% of their exports.