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Finally, someone said it.Ukraine is far more important to Europe and the Middle East for their grain and natural gas, far less important to the US, yet we are doing the heavy lifting there.
Obviously, France, German, and Italy aren't providing nearly as much support as they should. But other allies have stepped up. By GDP, the Poles have provided more than anyone, including us, and are dramatically increasing their own military. The Poles also showed up with combat troops in Afghanistan and Iraq when we were under the gun. The British, Dutch, Slovaks, and Baltics also are doing their share, the frontline Finns also are arming up.This isn't a situation where we're the only ones doing anything, and supporting a country that isn't all that interested in fighting on its own. The country we are supporting is fighting bravely and well, and other allies who see the Russian menace for what it is are chipping in to support. We are not alone.
Their contributions are welcome but tiny compared to the US. As I said we've done the heavy lifting.Taiwan is still a far greater nat'l interest, that is if we don't want China controlling most of the world's supply chains.The main countries of Europe need to take the leadership on this. They screw us on trade, bleed us for their security.
Finally, someone said it.Ukraine is far more important to Europe and the Middle East for their grain and natural gas, far less important to the US, yet we are doing the heavy lifting there.Meanwhile Taiwan makes the bulk of the worlds chips, and a large number of manufacturing supply chains start there, as do the chips for the capital goods that build the stuff in the supply chain.If China gets ahold of that or destroys it, the entire world economy is going to be in a world of hurt.And the US can no longer fight a major two front war.
McCaul: We Can’t Make Weapons Fast Enough ‘to Protect the United States or our Allies’ and Don’t Have Deterrence in TaiwanIan Hanchett 20 Mar 2023On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said that “we cannot make our weapons fast enough to protect the United States or our allies,” Taiwan isn’t prepared for an invasion by China, and the U.S. doesn’t have adequate deterrence on the island.McCaul said, “Taiwan’s not prepared for this. I signed off on weapons three years ago, Maria, that have yet to go into [the] country. We have no deterrence, we have no joint military exercises with Taiwan. They are — unlike Ukraine, they’re incapable of fighting their own war if invaded.”He added, “When we sell an ally or somebody like Taiwan our foreign military sales…why does it take three years? Why don’t we have any weapons systems in [the] country right now to provide a deterrent to Chairman Xi from invading? Because, the fact is, we don’t. And I don’t think [Secretary of State Tony Blinken] can answer that question other than to say our defense industrial base system is broken and we can’t make these weapons fast enough.”McCaul concluded, “[T]he fact is, we can’t make these weapons fast enough, the new ones. And I think that’s part of the problem, that, it’s a little secret in Washington, Maria, a little well-kept secret that we cannot make our weapons fast enough to protect the United States or our allies, and that’s just the truth.”morehttps://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/03/20/mccaul-we-cant-make-weapons-fast-enough-to-protect-the-united-states-or-our-allies-and-dont-have-deterrence-in-taiwan/
. Shockingly, the Poles, Greeks, Hungarians, Romanians, Spanish, and Swiss all have more tanks than either the Brits, French, Germans, or Italians. Those countries had pretty much disarmed.https://www.globalfirepower.com/armor-tanks-total.phpThe other thing you have to consider are the almost 10 million Ukrainian refugees being housed overwhelmingly in other European countries, who are picking up most of that cost themselves.The Poles in particular have been absolutely essential, and not just on a per capita/GDP basis. Brits and Dutch also have done a lot.
Frankly, what I see as greatest in our National Interest is getting off the 'Green' kick and restoring our ability to manufacture what we need, even if only setting up scalable facilities. We need to extract our own resources, and secure other supplies for the things that China is threatening. That is chief among the things that make us weak or vulnerable. It will require some serious reversal of policies that have been decades in the making.It can be done with greater efficiency and cleaner than ever, but now is the time to start.
This is the promised utopia the democrats promised. Sad so many clueless fools fell for it, and many still do!
