Democrats obstructed whenever we tried to help the Kurds.

Maybe you guys need to admit you are weak little pansies then. After all, if you can take complete power in the government and still can't do what you like, isn't that pretty strong evidence you are worthless and need to go? What kind of people in power are weaker than those under them? Wimps.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

I think it will be different with Japan. It's easy to ignore the problem if it's just a few homemade missiles being lobbed over the border, like in Israel, but if NK starts war, SK and Japan are going to feel the full shock of NK's capabilities, were talking massive distruction, possibly nukes. That's not so easy to ignore. If we turn on backs on that, everyone is going to notice. Plus, this isn't simply a promise. We have a written agreement in the Japanese constitution to protect them.

Japan has been doing a lot of talking recently about building up their military. That seems like a good idea, but technically, it would be a breach of contract with the US and could be used as an excuse to withhold US protection.

Japan is in a real tight spot. They're relying on protection from the US, who right now, doesn't seem so trustworthy to the rest of the world, yet at the same time, may not be able to ready a strong military in time for a NK attack.

But as I said, ignoring a NK attack on Japan would completely ruin US credibility. They will likely see US protection.

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WARNING: In the unlikely event of an accidental agreement with any or all points made in the above post, contact a clinical psychologist immediately.

The views expressed in the above post are not necessarily those of Joker and/or any of his affiliates.

We've been helping them build up a military, especially navy for decades. The agreement that they've always respected is that they can employ a force, for self defense ONLY...hence the JMSDF (Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force) But with the new developments in NK, we may be willing to allow Japan to use their military as a strike force, if only against NK.

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America is a melting pot, the people at the bottom get burned while all the scum floats to the top.
- - - Charlie King

...I don't know the details very well, but isn't there a maximum limit on the size of Japanese National Defense Force, and isn't that limit pretty small, hence the US protection agreement?

I didn't realize we have been helping them build up a navy for quite some time. Good.

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WARNING: In the unlikely event of an accidental agreement with any or all points made in the above post, contact a clinical psychologist immediately.

The views expressed in the above post are not necessarily those of Joker and/or any of his affiliates.

We've actually assisted them in constructing guided missile destroyers.

They are VERY advanced, with phased array 3D radar and the Latest weaponry. They even have a number of submarines, amphibs, frigates, etc.

I dont know much about their size restriction but they arent even allowed to leave the harbor without our permission.

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America is a melting pot, the people at the bottom get burned while all the scum floats to the top.
- - - Charlie King

"We should be allowing the Asians to arm themselves".

Seems to me, that's a very dangerous thought.

There's an argument to be made for "balance of power", but on the other hand, it seems to me there's a shorter and more direct way to achieve the goal.

Sanctions are pointless, except that they'll provoke the opposition.

If y'all know the Orientals, they're a very dangerous lot. To us, they seem "all the same" 'cause they have slanted eyes and all that ---

But within that sphere, is a hell of a lot of mutual hatred, and atrocities going back thousands of years, and it seems to me that if we unleash that level of anger again, we're just going to put ourselves into a world of hurt (as if we needed another one).

The Japanese could easily be convinced to switch sides at some point, as has already been the case with certain Asian-sphere govs we once considered to be "friendly" - Malyasia, Burma, Indonesia - and on top of that,

THERE'S THE CHINESE EQUATION.

Seems to me, now is not the time for belligerence. Now is the time for diplomacy. The Chinese seem to have gotten temporarily concerned about their neighbors and so-called allies, but I'll bet that doesn't last for more than a week or so.

Now more than ever, the Chinese equation is probably the central most important piece of the whole puzzle, and like everything else important these days, it's being ignored by our illustrious administration.

At least Nixon was smart enough to realize the importance of diplomacy, and he was also good enough to be able to do something about it. He picked the right people, and got the job done.

And now, it seems like it's going downhill.

They didn't call him "Tricky Dick" without good reason.

But he got the job done. And of course he did turn a little paranoid towards the end there... and for good reason... but the Presidency has to be a big load on anyone's mind, and the whole question is whether you can understand the PRIORITIES or whether you're going to be ideologically stupid and hard-headed.

Plus, a little good intel always helps....

The vast majority of Asia hates Japan, and a fair amount of Japanese don't even consider themselves Asian. I remember having numerous conversations about Asian politics with a Japanese student of mine in Tokyo. Anytime I mentioned Japanese as Asians, he quickly cut me off, "No! We are not Asian; we are Japanese! We do not live in Asia. We live on a separate island!" At the very least, a majority of Japanese believe they are superior to all other Asian nations.

There's not a whole lot of comaraderie between Japanese and other Asians, so why would Japan switch sides and who would convince them to do so?

South Korea, maybe, but I can't imagine Japan.

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WARNING: In the unlikely event of an accidental agreement with any or all points made in the above post, contact a clinical psychologist immediately.

The views expressed in the above post are not necessarily those of Joker and/or any of his affiliates.

So----since the Kurd uprising occurred in October of 1991 and I'm sure we did not know the extent of the killings right away----why didn't Bill Clinton come in and do something about it---considering he took over in January of 1992?

The hypocrisy of Democrats gets very old. If we go to war or bomb somebody under a Republican administration you have a hissy fit......and if we don't go to war or bomb somebody you STILL have a hissy fit.

Bottom line is.....you're gonna complain and biatch no matter what.

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007