Taiwan: How many Americans do you expect to die for your self-actualization?
Barnett
¦"Taiwan Election Is All About China: Legislative Vote May Bolster Agenda of President Chen That Risks Riling China," by Jason Dean, Wall Street Journal, 7 December 2005, p. A13.
Big election coming up on Saturday. The current president Chen Shui-bian hopes his Democratic Progressive Party will win a majority in the parliament, allowing him to push ahead with a bunch of minor but highly provocative measures designed to signal the island's formal independence from China.
Seems like little stuff to outsiders, but it's huge to the mainland. Opponents of this risky strategy say the DPP is looking to take the nation to war.
Yeah, but which nations? Taiwan is under the illusion that America is going to defend them no matter what—and that is one dangerous illusion.
If Taiwan wants to change their name and rewrite their constitution, changing "happy" to "glad" and the "Republic of China" to the "Republic of China (Taiwan)," Taipei better not expect too many American troops are going to die defending their little rites of self-actualization.
The DPP is going to be sorely disappointed is they're stupid enough to spin that dial.
SysAdmin force: the boys who don't come home
¦"Rumsfeld: Troops hopefully out by 2009; Elections may be Iraqi turning point, Defense chief says," by Robert Burns, USA Today, 7 December 2005, p. 9A.
¦"Commander Sees Shift In Role of U.S. Troops: Force Would Focus On Training Iraqis," by Bradley Graham, Washington Post, 7 December 2005, p. A1.
Don Rumsfeld is a certified freak as SECDEF: simultaneous record-holder as the youngest-ever and oldest-ever man to hold that position. I mean, who has ever done anything like that in U.S. government history? With this huge career in between?
And Rumsfeld ain't going anywhere. His big goals for the second term all sound suspiciously SysAdmin in orientation: 1) rebalance the active duty/reserve mix so that specialities like military police are in sufficient supply and in sufficient readiness; 2) revise all contingency plans for military crises around the world (too many assumptions out of date, he says); 3) reposition U.S. bases around the world (closer-in on the Gap, natch!); and 4) improve our ability to train foreign troops in large numbers.
Meanwhile, CENTCOM boss Gen. John Abizaid says that as early as next year the U.S. forces in Iraq will transition heavily to a new core focus on training and developing Iraqi security forces.
I get asked everywhere I go? Is there any evidence of your ideas gaining traction with this administration?
Traction? Don't really know what that means, to be honest. But accurate? That I'm sure of. |
