World War III

[akhockeyplaya 0]

Anybody paying attention to things in the Middle East? Israel/Hezbollah? Any opinions as to what's going on there? Just wondering...

[Project_2501 0]

Lebanon's govt. is demanding that the UN put up an immediate cease-fire there and charge Israel with war crimes for using phospherous based bombs.

I don't think this will spark a world war. I mean, the US is backing Israel, the Palastinians have rocks to throw...

Another opinion: I think Israel is kicking ass and taking names.

Pretty good movie: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7828123714384920696

(Despite the bias and general crap a lot of them spew).

[akhockeyplaya 0]

Right, I agree pretty much. It just pisses me off when anybody points to the anti-Semetic UN as a "force" to be recognized. They are a joke.

[Project_2501 0]

I like the "problem" with the housing. If you're conquoring a territory, you need somewhere for your people to stay. Somehow "Hey guys, want to live with us while we fire tear gas at your relatives and take over, and btw, we're kind of at war..." doesn't seem to fly.

[akhockeyplaya 0]

Luckily, for the most part, these countries are relatively small, and the Hezbollah forces are relatively focused in the South, so there's no need for long supply lines and -- mostly -- extended stays in Lebanon. They can kind of jump in and out without staying for too long.

[Project_2501 0]

Yeah, according to the video I posted earlier, Israel is the size of NJ, and the 4th most powerful militaristically in the world. How would you say power to weight ratio? Haha.

But seriously, Israel will just win in a prolonged fight given the current technology difference. (And I'm damn glad Palastine doesn't have nukes...)

[2-Keys 1]

(And I'm damn glad Palastine doesn't have nukes...)

thats for sure!!!

[toroytorero 0]

If I lived in NJ and the rest of the country wanted me wiped off the map I'd want a large military too.

[Project_2501 0]

If I lived in NJ and the rest of the country wanted me wiped off the map I'd want a large military too.

+1

And having the US give backing is a very large asset.

[mack 44]

My money's on anything WWIII-ish starting in N. Korea before the Middle East.

[Project_2501 0]

My money's on anything WWIII-ish starting in N. Korea before the Middle East.

My first thought when I saw you had replied was "hahaha, here we go" but upon reading it, you are so damn correct it isn't funny. Scarily, they have the nukes, which is exactly what we do not need to be dealing with.

[mack 44]

That plus China's looming around like Germany was in WWII--just waiting for people to start taking on each other then sliding in.

[kosydar 0]

My cousin is a biology grad student at the University of Washington, and is on a research mission in Beruit. He has been sending the family emails constantly updating us on how he is and what is really going on. According to him (and I definitely trust him), Israel is needlessly bombing the shit out of all of Lebanon. While Israel is claming to only be targeting Hezbollah's locations, infact they're destroying roads, bridges, and close to entire cities. The town that he had to evacuate to (I forget what) has something like 100,000 refugees. It definitely isn't the defensive, only targeting Hezbollah mission that Israel is claiming it is. If I get around to it I'll post one of his emails, I find it really interesting reading what an innocent bystander has to say about all of this.

[hattrick74 0]

it seems to me the main issue Israel has is that Lebannon has been supporting terriorist organizations that are targeting Israel. So they are bombing everything they can that will crumble Lebannon's infrastructure

[beaucoup_fish 0]

We're all gonna die. And soon.

[Project_2501 0]

That plus China's looming around like Germany was in WWII--just waiting for people to start taking on each other then sliding in.

They could just walk in and take over whenever they wished to. Our military is spread out in the most rediculous fashion...

[mack 44]

They could, but look what happened when Germany did that. They may as well just keep hanging back and let everyone else beat each other up.

[Project_2501 0]

They could, but look what happened when Germany did that. They may as well just keep hanging back and let everyone else beat each other up.

Germany didn't wait long enough, and Hitler was over-ambitious. That was his achilles heel.

[kosydar 0]

China won't do anything, at least for a while. They are way too economically dependant upon the US and other countries as well. It isn't like they can afford to purchase all of the goods they manufacture themselves. Their economy has been growing fast, but it still isn't able to support itself.

[beaucoup_fish 0]

China won't do anything, at least for a while. They are way too economically dependant upon the US and other countries as well. It isn't like they can afford to purchase all of the goods they manufacture themselves. Their economy has been growing fast, but it still isn't able to support itself.

Annnnnnnd the U.S. economy is entirely self-sufficient?

The truth is that China's economy is in fact, not that dependent on the US - if anything, the US wants a piece of the Chinese market, and a large portion of Asian markets are dependent on Chinese manufacturing...

[kosydar 0]

China won't do anything, at least for a while.  They are way too economically dependant upon the US and other countries as well.  It isn't like they can afford to purchase all of the goods they manufacture themselves.  Their economy has been growing fast, but it still isn't able to support itself.

Annnnnnnd the U.S. economy is entirely self-sufficient?

The truth is that China's economy is in fact, not that dependent on the US - if anything, the US wants a piece of the Chinese market, and a large portion of Asian markets are dependent on Chinese manufacturing...

Obviously they depend on each other. I'm no economist, but I spent a good amount of time learning about this in a poly sci class I took this year. Remove China from the picture and the US economy is definitely hurt. Many argue that the US could overcome the loss of China, while the opposite isn't true. I want to say that the US trades more with Mexico and Canada than China, but I could be mistaken. Even if that isn't the case at this very minute, when NAFTA is finally done I can't see it not being true. And again, I want to say that the US is the biggest importer of Chinese goods. Regardless, we need them, and they need us.

[kosydar 0]

From the CIA world factbook:

China- Exports - partners:

US 21.4%, Hong Kong 16.3%, Japan 11%, South Korea 4.6%, Germany 4.3%

US- Imports - partners:

Canada 16.9%, China 15%, Mexico 10%, Japan 8.2%, Germany 5% (2005)

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html

[beaucoup_fish 0]

China won't do anything, at least for a while.  They are way too economically dependant upon the US and other countries as well.  It isn't like they can afford to purchase all of the goods they manufacture themselves.  Their economy has been growing fast, but it still isn't able to support itself.

Annnnnnnd the U.S. economy is entirely self-sufficient?

The truth is that China's economy is in fact, not that dependent on the US - if anything, the US wants a piece of the Chinese market, and a large portion of Asian markets are dependent on Chinese manufacturing...

Obviously they depend on each other. I'm no economist, but I spent a good amount of time learning about this in a poly sci class I took this year. Remove China from the picture and the US economy is definitely hurt. Many argue that the US could overcome the loss of China, while the opposite isn't true. I want to say that the US trades more with Mexico and Canada than China, but I could be mistaken. Even if that isn't the case at this very minute, when NAFTA is finally done I can't see it not being true. And again, I want to say that the US is the biggest importer of Chinese goods. Regardless, we need them, and they need us.

Certainly, they do depend on each other and several other countries. No economy is self-sufficient.

The U.S. imports a lot of goods from China b/c it's cheap. The purchasing power of each U.S. citizen would be far less if all the goods you consumed were still made in the US - which is why almost nothing is made in the states anymore. Besides purchasing power, the US economy also needs the low cost Chinese/Foreign labour that enables their consumer goods corporations to reap their record profits.

[kosydar 0]

All this is true, but there are countless other countries in Asia that the US could go in and exploit for cheap labor. As bad as it sounds, its true. Look at the economic tigers- Taiwan, S. Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

[beaucoup_fish 0]

All this is true, but there are countless other countries in Asia that the US could go in and exploit for cheap labor. As bad as it sounds, its true. Look at the economic tigers- Taiwan, S. Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

There are, and they do. Thailand, India, Philippines, they're all exploited by the US in some way or another, whether it be labour or crop farming.

What about the Asian Tigers? Those countries are exploited far less than the smaller, less developed nations...