China Talks War While the US Prepares to Disarm

Now, for an unusually opinionated post... I suppose this is on topic because even the outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has recognized that financial and economic issues are the greatest threat to the national security of the United States.

According to a UPI article, an official Chinese newspaper is calling for war against the Philippines and Vietnam over natural resources in the South China Sea:

"The time to use force has arrived in the South China Sea; Let's wage wars on the Philippines and Vietnam to prevent more wars."

Meanwhile, the US is on the road to gutting our military because we can't get over the partisan bickering over the budget, never mind actually address the systemic issues in the economy.

On the bright side, if China makes a military move on the Philippines or Vietnam, it would be the perfect opportunity for us to impose a trade embargo and cancel their debt holdings. It would be rough at first because we are so dependent on their exports, not just for junk like the "Soldier Force VI" toy set I saw in Rite Aid the other day or for luxuries like iPhones, but for necessities like pharmaceuticals.

However, in the mid- to long-term, we could re-build the domestic industrial base, put a big dent in unemployment, and end up with a more sustainable and self-sufficient economy. At the same time, launch a serious crash program for sustainable energy sources. Let China have the oil. We wouldn't need if we got serious about the wind, the sun, the Earth's heat, fuel cells, hydrogen combustion, nuclear fusion, and other 21st-century energy sources.

Best of all, we wouldn't necessarily have to fire a shot or put a single American service member in harm's way.

By: Guardian