Generational Dynamics World View News

[Guest]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRLoRz5HFGA[/youtube]

Investigators: Putin ordered poisoning of ex-spy

[Tom Mazanec]

Russia intensifies Mariupol bombardment as street fighting rages
117,736 viewsMar 23, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5sCEZyKuGY

Biden to meet with allies on new Russia sanctions; Zelenskyy accuses Russian forces of stealing humanitarian convoy: Live Ukraine updates
Joel Shannon, USA TODAY
Wed, March 23, 2022, 3:36 AM
https://news.yahoo.com/biden-meet-allie ... 49792.html

Last Update March 23, 2022 06:25am EST
Fight for Mariupol intensifies as US seeks more sanctions: LIVE UPDATES
https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/ukrai ... 03-23-2022

[spottybrowncow]

I have a question for the military experts here:

How does the combined military power of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan compare to China alone?

[thomasglee]

I have a question for the military experts here:

How does the combined military power of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan compare to China alone?

I'm not a military expert, but I can speak somewhat to Korea's abilities, as I worked there in their defense industry for many years. Korea has a fairly advanced defense industry, but like most Asian countries, it is fraught with corruption. A good example is their counter artillery.... a few years ago when north Korea shelled one of their islands, Korea's counter artillery failed miserably. Why? It just didn't work. It didn't work, yet it was deployed, because they insisted on using domestic sources for their defense, instead of using proven systems made abroad. If that failure is any indication of how their other domesticated military weapons will work, they are in a lot of trouble if China ever moves against them.

Combined I think they could pose a struggle for China, but I don't believe they work together very well, so that's a whole other issue. If the US were to lead a combined forces response, they might fair well, but overall, I am suspect of how well the three would work together.

[Navigator]

Doesn't modern technology/globalization/communication change this equation? It's hard for me to imagine a world war dragging on for several years as we just watch from the sidelines, especially given our economic dependence on all of the Asian countries involved?

The other question I have is how long would China put up with protracted conventional wars against Taiwan and Japan before using nukes? And can they keep North Korea in line? Can Kim be trusted not to do something crazy?

I'll add a "fun" speculative question. Suppose somehow Russia, China, etc. didn't have nuclear weapons. Could the proactive attitude shown by the West have prevented a broader WWIII?

My guess is that in Asia the US could try to delay entry by a couple of weeks or a month. Definitely not years, that was the point of an earlier post I made. And you are right, NATO involvement means US involvement, but I think the Biden admin would delay total mobilization as long as it could, even as it "gets involved".

If war gets protracted in Asia, US nuclear deterence should prevent China from using too many nukes, but if Taiwan is fighting alone, a couple might get used (my opinion obviously). What Kim does is anyone's guess.

If there were no nuclear weapons, WW3 would have been fought in the late 60s, early 70s when the USSR would have seen the US as weak.

If there were no nuclear weapons in today's situation, China would have already moved against Taiwan.

[Navigator]

I have a question for the military experts here:

How does the combined military power of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan compare to China alone?

Taiwan can put up a very good fight against what the Chinese can move across the water to invade them with.

South Korea would have no problem (other than massive damage to Seoul) should North Korea be stupid enough to invade them on their own. If the Chinese show up, it would be a replay of the Korean War before the US showed up in strength (meaning they MIGHT be able to hold on to the Pusan perimeter area).

Japan is relatively weak currently, but could mobilize and become a significant player.

This is the main thing. In a long "all-out" war, it is not the strength of the force at the start that matters as much, it is what you can "bring to bear" within a year or two as you mobilize your manpower and industrial resources.

As we are seeing in the Ukraine, the age of armored spearhead pincer movements are over, and the coming war will be rather infantry and artillery (especially rockets) centric.

[Guest]

— NATO & U.S. forces in Europe have been placed at heightened readiness per NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

[Guest]

9,861 Russian KIAs and 16,153 WIAs in Ukraine - and this pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda refers to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The story was deleted almost immediately. — Illia Ponomarenko

That's almost 25.000 Soldiers, dead or wounded.
The Website was archived before deleted.

We can make an equivalency of losing 1.5 US Army divisions. (The US has 10 Army Divisions)

[thomasglee]

9,861 Russian KIAs and 16,153 WIAs in Ukraine - and this pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda refers to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The story was deleted almost immediately. — Illia Ponomarenko

That's almost 25.000 Soldiers, dead or wounded.
The Website was archived before deleted.

We can make an equivalency of losing 1.5 US Army divisions. (The US has 10 Army Divisions)

If the losses are truly as bad as claimed (you must admit, those are almost beyond belief), then why is NATO going on alert and why is Zellensky screaming for help? It seems like he has already defeated the Russian military.

I find it hard to believe that their losses are far exceeding the losses the US sustained in Iraq. If these "reports" are correct, then good for Ukraine. But again, I find it hard to believe that Russia's loss in a month is half of what the US lost during 10 years of Vietnam.

[Silenced S]

Ukraine's "Agency:" The CIA Kind
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/22/c ... -cia-kind/