Shock and awe was the strategy of the Bush government. Maybe we are in shock now as our kids continue to be killed and maimed. 1,500 dead and thousands with blown off limbs. We may soon be in awe of the Shiite leaders who will take our military victory and turn it to their own agenda.
China, meanwhile, is creating itself into a power while we are looking at the Mideast. I’ve read little about the probably future implications of the incredible events centering around China. My thinking basically on what follows, so here goes.
China now owns almost a trillion dollars in US Treasury bonds. They are helping to finance our deficit. Happily. A couple weeks ago, they dispelled fears they might start selling them as our dollar continues to drop in value. And I say - of course they will not sell them. Holding them gives them leverage with us. After assuring us they will hold, they authorized war to regain control of Taiwan. We have defended Taiwan since 1948 when the Nationalists fled there. Our navy has sailed between Taiwan and China as a guard against invasion by China.
Now, China can ignore our navy. Maybe not this month, but soon. And of course China will not challenge our navy. Bush will pull our navy back. China can tell him to. We need China to continue buying bonds to finance the war in Iraq and the lost revenue from the tax cuts. If China starts to sell, then the dollar will drop lower, and other countries will sell in order to recoup their money.
To just sell would throw the world into chaos and China will not do that. Instead, it will continue to buy our bonds and we will continue to owe China more and more. China wants value in other ways - and we will be forced to give it - just as we forced military bases from weak third world countries during the Cold War. China will want things. And we will give. Over the next five and ten years this will become painfully clear.
What do they want first? They have it. Unlimited export of clothing to the USA. Do you remember how to boil a frog? Put it in cold water and slowly increase the heat. The frog never notices. So will China now put the slow heat to us? They are patient - and we will not notice. While we wage useless war in Iraq and spend ourselves into poverty, others are smart.
Check this one post on SFBayView.com for a similar perspective.
Recent Articles
Two years since the invasion of Iraq
Shock and awe was the strategy of the Bush government. Maybe we are in shock now as our kids continue to be killed and maimed. 1,500 dead and thousands with blown off limbs. We may soon be in awe of t
Shock and awe was the strategy of the Bush government. Maybe we are in shock now as our kids continue to be killed and maimed. 1,500 dead and thousands with blown off limbs. We may soon be in awe of t
To comment, please log in.
Two years since the invasion of Iraq
Shock and awe was the strategy of the Bush government. Maybe we are in shock now as our kids continue to be killed and maimed. 1,500 dead and thousands with blown off limbs. We may soon be in awe of t
They fooled me
Sinn Fein is a sham. Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein are fronts for the IRA - the Irish Republican Army and its brutal methods of torture and killing of innocent Irish.
Shame on Brazil
The government will arrest some poor guys and execute them for the murder of Sister Stang. The government will say they are shocked, just shocked. But the government of Brazil is relieved that Stang i
How do you solve a problem like Maria?
Maria Cantwell has voted to restrict class-action law suits - siding with the Bush administration to remove legal rights from working people. My Democratic friends seem to be silent on her voting reco
Iraqi election
With the Bush government in high celebration of the Iraqi election, and all the TV news reporting from the Green Zone that all is going great - even though they only know what the US Army tells them -
Tsunami relief
What if we gave $10 for every American. That would be $3 billion. Family of three? Give $30.
Military’s highest and best use
Let’s not criticize George Bush for being slow to respond to the tsunami disaster. Unless you will also hammer UN Secretary Kofi Annan for spending three more days at the Jackson Hole ski resort after
Ebb and flow
These photos below may not be of the Tsunami. An email says they are of the Qiantang Tidal Bore in China - a real tidal wave generated by the tides.
Tidal photos
Where? Indonesia is my guess. They were sent to me. If you know any more about the location, please let me know. The bottom photo is a close up of the second photo’s far right side, just behind the gr
How the tsunami crossed the ocean
An animated map of the Indian Ocean shows how the deep-ocean waves sped out from the earthquake. NOAA prepared the map.
Rumsfeld doesn’t have a clue
He embarked on a war of conquest of a foreign country for the benefit of oil companies.
Diversity of news
Reading foreign news websites is a most enlightening process. We learn things and read perspectives not found in our controlled US media. Not that other media are not controlled to some extent also, b
Three blind mice?
Richard Cohen of the Washington Post has it right. You need to register with the Wa Post to read his column, Presidential medals of Failure. The fourth failure is, of course, Bush himself. But these t
What are those poor kids dying in Iraq trying to protect?
When Al-Jazeera first went with an English version last year, they were boomed off line in the US by several never-revealed Internet companies using illegal electronic processes. The common assumption
That soldier didn’t think of that question all by himself
An energetic reporter set it up - and made sure it would happen. Edward Lee Pitts, embedded with a unit going north to Iraq, saw the troops working with unarmored vehicles and saw an opportunity to ge
We need to use critical thinking
Israel is restarting the terrorist violence. Since Arafat died a month ago, there have been no serious Palestinian attacks - and all the world has been watching the Palestinian leaders try to organize
We think a little torture will protect us
To be concise, if we start to rationalize torture then we are lost. It is the absolute opposite direction of democracy. It is the basic tool of the tyrant - the dictator. Terror is created by torture.
Below is a response from John Poirier
to my post of Nov 6. He sees things differently, and I think he is right. I received several emails on that post, but this is the one that explains things best.
<
blockquote>The gay “issue” did
Shame on Israel
Today they again arrested Mordechai Vanunu. We expect the worst for him. This courageous Jew has dared to speak out against Israel’s madness. This in a country that says it is tolerant. But he
One can be for gay rights and not be for gay marriage
The Democratic Party continues to be unable to understand people and what motivates them. The party - and party members - have pushed extreme gay rights issues up the noses of conservative Christians
