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12-Jul-12 World View -- Taliban commander in Afghanistan calls al-Qaeda a 'plague'

13,500 troops and six surface-to-air missiles will guard London Olympics


** 12-Jul-12 World View -- Taliban commander in Afghanistan calls al-Qaeda a 'plague'
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi ... 12#e120712





Contents:
Syria's ambassador to Iraq defects
U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds approach record low yields
Taliban commander in Afghanistan calls al-Qaeda a 'plague'
13,500 troops and six surface-to-air missiles will guard London Olympics


Keys:
Generational Dynamics, Syria, Nawaf al-Fares, Iraq, Bashar al-Assad,
Manaf Mustafa Tlass, Denmark, Germany, France,
Guantánamo, Afghanistan, Taliban, al-Qaeda,
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, TTP, India, China, Iran,
London Olympics

I mostly agree with the assessment, but I'd like to add something about what I think our greatest weakness is in the coming war. It's not our skill at fighting or lack of advanced equipment; it's our arrogance and overconfidence.

Our military has been unequaled in the world since 1945, but that state of affairs is rapidly changing. China can't equal our military yet, but it's rapidly developing that capability, while we intend to significantly downsize our military. Yeah, we may reverse some of the planned cutbacks, but many will still be in place. I've discussed this with others in the past and the response is something along the lines of: "Our military budget is 40 percent of the world's budget; it's 6 times larger than our nearest competitor. If we cut back some of our ships, aircraft and soldiers, we've got nothing to worry about." Everyone that has told me this have spent their entire lives living in an America that was unmatched and cannot seem to comprehend how things could possibly be any different.

The second is that we're looking in the wrong direction. When most people in charge think of a military threat, they're referring to Iran and their attempts to develop nuclear weapons. Yes, they might be a danger to us at the moment, but when we discuss China, it's usually economic. I read the 2012 Department of Defense report on China's capabilities and compared to the previous ones, this adopts a much more conciliatory tone than the previous ones were, focusing more on the diplomatic challenges rather than their direct military threats.

And with China's one child per family policy for the past 25 years, there are millions more young men in China than women. China will be using these young men in the next war to serve their country.

2/11/09 Lesley Stahl, 60 Minutes: China: Too Many Men
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-1496589.html

Yes, that makes their already enormous problem even worse. It caused them problems from the very time it was implemented, around 1978, but it's a lot worse now that more and more people can afford ultrasounds. For the under 10 demographic, the imbalance has gotten to 130 boys for every 100 girls.

If you're young, unemployed and can't find a wife, you don't have much to lose by going to war, either against their government or the United States.