Chinese missile could shift Pacific power balance

[darth los]

To keep them in line, in case they start another World War. Perhaps, but we're going to have to start thinking long and hard about where our finacial priorities lie. This country has way too much responsibility. Some other countries are going to have to share in that burden.

[CooperWasRight]

Oh the U.S. is definitely on the decline. Our golden years were after WW2. And no, this country does not make anything anymore. You can only import so much. What is it that we actually export? To me it's a question of patriotism. Buy Americna people! Another thing you said brings me around to this phenomena that no one really talks about. I call it Politically correct warfare. War is hell. Bad things are going to happen and alot of things are gonna get blown up. You mess with us, you get fucked up, period. Since when did it become our obligation to rebuild these country's infrastructure? How about building THIS country's infrasrtucture. Lord knows we need it and at the same time it'll put people to work. Giving up on said responsibilities would pretty much be the last quality The United States of Hollywood has left... Our supposed moral high ground. This country doesn't really have much industry left... What we are at this point is a set for and inspirational feel good film... There are still people from all around that the U.S. stands for something that is good and hopeful... Morally if we bomb the shit out of a country that has provoked us (This is factually the exception to the rule).... You then do have a responsibility to fix it, if for no other reason then there are people living in that country that have nothing to do with the conflict.... Not to mention all the money that war makes private interest. As for the greater issue of this thread... Some people here have done there homework and know this country is a dead man walking. Financially we are in a....IMPOSSIBLE to solve problem. And for every right or left wing pundit who talks about deficits are ignoring the really issues of money... In the 70's over a few short years we went from #1 loaner to #1 debter... All though I hate pork and frivolous spending we have much greater financial debt and have for over 30 years... We have really only had a surplus in this country once in recent history and that didnt even take social security and un paid promised benefits into the equation which last I check and im sure it has gone up is 55+ TRILLION dollars... 55,000,000,000,000 And that doesn't begin to cover unchecked private industry, and the general outsourcing of a country. Most will continue to deny that state of this country and run to there nearest demigod that will tell them things are ok and gonna be just fine but that little scare with the financial crisis was simply stalled... It is only a mater of time.. Not if... "You can't convince some people there's a fire even when their hair is burning."

[Neil]

Do we have another arms race on our hands? Hopefully not because truthfully this country is in such bad finacial shape, we can't afford it. Military spending is killing this country but some feel that the military budget is off limits when it comes to budget cuts. I always say, the money is not infinite. We either spend it on this or that. The problem is that the U.S. has been used to having "the best of all worlds", for lack of a better term, for so long and now we presently find ourselves in an economic situation where that it no longer possible. There are debates in Washington over balancing the budget yet no major public official will put forth a plan on what they would cut. It sounds nice on paper but when it comes down to it no one has the political will to make the hard decisions. Isn't ironic though that the country we borrow the majority of our money from is the one we might have the next cold war with? That simple fact ensures that the U.S. won't be nearly as agressive with china as it was with the Soviet Union. Any thoughts? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100805/...carrier_killer I thought there were a number of anti-missile systems around? Why is this missile not vunerable to them?

[Publius]

Modern warfare is different. Wars are fought in unconventional ways now yet the U.S. is still spending hundreds of billions of dollars on relics from past wars like said aircraft carriers, cold war era Jets, etc. Do you have any unconventional methods for attacking and taking over a highly militarized island nation? It's not going to look exactly like D-Day, obviously, due to technological advances in conventional warfare, but that kind of operation is much less capable of being achieved through unconventional insurgent-type methods than, say, resisting an occupying force on land.