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In an armed conflict between the US and China, the US would win hands down. The only question is whether the war would last weeks or months.
Based on what?
Just FYI - a little while back this thread took over the title for having "most replies" on this forum from "Bulgarian people, the forgotten saver of Europe".
I had forgotten about that thread until you inconveniently brought it back up. 🙁
Democrats pipe fear out to the masses to keep their vote. Republicans had their chance in 1994 to do the right thing, and they decided to act like Washington insiders instead, which is why they got kicked out again. One of these days these politicians are going to have to understand that the people are smart enough to know what they want, and will vote the people in who think like them.
I can see the states need standardized texts so I have no problem with them narrowing the selection down to a small number. However, I would hope History professors (who have peer reviewed the text books) and knowledgeable history teachers at the secondary level have the most input on the selections. Bureaucrats in the state education departments shouldn't have much say over content. They can have input on costs and publishing contracts though.
Oh I think if China went all out against Japan, we would move in and try and stop them, but I don't see China risking that either. Historically, the Chinese are not that belligerent. They meddle in the affairs of their neighbors (see North Korea and Vietnam), but they have no desire to take over their land. The Chinese leadership are so paranoid that a major war could destabilize their hold on power, they do everything in their power to avoid it. They have decided instead to wage economic war, which will ultimately achieve the same objectives. The Chinese are very methodical and patient. They see things in terms of centuries rather than decades as we do. Their long term planning is way beyond ours. In the meantime, they will milk the American economy for all it's worth, and then move on to the next phase of their geo-political master plan.
Jake - I guess my metaphor was a little off. My main point is that we weren't fighting the war in a way aimed at defeating the North Vietnamese. We were fighting it - on a strategic level - to not lose to them. U.S. strategy was focused largely on defeating the Viet Cong, and when they showed up in unit strength, the NVA. In no way do I want to minimize the casualties, as each one was a personal tragedy. My comment on irrelevance was meant on the basis of evaluating success criteria. Under Johnson/MacNamara/Westmoreland we evidently identified the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese critical vulnerability as their inability to replace losses and maintain troop strenghts in the field. In the case of the VC, I think that they were right. In the case of the NVA - well, evidently they were wrong given their inability to go after them in North Vietnam.
Seems to me the VC/NVA were readily able to replenish their losses given the kill ratio. Don't forget the fact that they were able to do this going back to their war with the French. I don't think the North Vietnamese even cared how many they lost since they had so many bodies to throw at us.
Well, seeing how well he faired against the Romans in battle, I'd say he should have faced them on his way in. He might have lost less men, supplies and arms while taking Romans with him as opposed to losing half his army to the elements.
No, he could not have taken Rome proper. So he tormented them from the countryside. The Romans kept an army between he and Rome at all times and simply shadowed him throughout the peninsula. Every time the Romans engaged Hannibal in open territory, they got bludgeoned very badly. Still Hannibal was smart enough to realize that his greatest weapon was fear. His campaign was more about paralyzing the Roman juggernaut in fear to keep Carthage safe. Scipio Africanus finally wised up and took the fight where it belonged, and once this was done, Carthage was doomed.
I think you've discovered what we all pretty much already knew, that our public education system is nothing more than a propaganda venue for the government.
