The Suez Canal was opened in November 1869. It connects the Mediterranean Sea with Red Sea. The completion of the canal reduced shipping time from East Asia to Europe by three weeks. Before the canal was completed ships had to travel around the horn of Africa. Today ships would take about a week longer to travel around the horn.
We have a problem that will impact the entire world. It has been reported that 12% of all goods shipped in the world pass through the Suez Canal. Right now one of the largest ships in the world has gone aground while traveling through that canal. The ship left China with a destination of Rotterdam Holland.
How the hell did this happen?
Evergreen Marine, owner of the ship, said the Ever Given, which is 59 metres wide, “was suspected of being hit by a sudden strong wind, causing the hull to deviate from the waterway and accidentally hit the bottom and run aground.”
Jamil Sayegh, a former captain and maritime law specialist with experience navigating the canal thought that human error may also have been a factor since ships traverse the canal in convoys and none of the vessels behind the Ever Given had run into similar troubles.
The United States is unlikely to be invaded by the military of another nation.
In his final speech from the White House, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned that an arms race would take resources from other areas — such as building schools and hospitals.
Despite that conclusion under President Donald Trump there was a build up of America’s military might. It’s true that under President Obama military spending did decline.
U.S. military spending/defense budget for 2019 was $731.75B, a 7.22% increase from 2018. U.S. military spending/defense budget for 2018 was $682.49B, a 5.53% increase from 2017. U.S. military spending/defense budget for 2017 was $646.75B, a 1.08% increase from 2016. U.S. military spending/defense budget for 2016 was $639.86B, a 0.95% increase from 2015.
It’s nice to know we are well protected. But from who?
USA Today asks the question is this really necessary?America outspends every other nation in the world. Almost three times the money spent by the second largest military in 2019. The USA spent $731.8 Billion. China spent $261.1 Billion. The sum of military spending for the next ten largest military spenders is less than the US military budget.
In Germany, about 45,000 Americans go to work each day around the Kaiserslautern Military Community, a network of U.S. Army and Air Force bases that accommodates schools, housing complexes, dental clinics, hospitals, community centers, sports clubs, food courts, military police and retail stores. About 60,000 American military and civilian personnel are stationed in Japan; another 30,000 in South Korea. More than 6,000 U.S. military personnel are spread across Africa, according to the Department of Defense.
About 220,000 U.S. military and civilian personnel serve in more than 150 countries, the Defense Department says. But in today’s world it is not military invasion that is the issue. It’s the cyber invasion that is in process now.
David Sanger of the New York Timesreported on December 13, 2020, “The Trump administration acknowledged on Sunday that hackers acting on behalf of a foreign government — almost certainly a Russian intelligence agency, according to federal and private experts — broke into a range of key government networks, including in the Treasury and Commerce Departments, and had free access to their email systems.”
Remember the cyber attack on Sony Pictures in 2014. The FBI blamed a North Korea scheme to retaliate for the comedy ‘The Interview.’
More recently Business Insiderreported on February 25, 2021 SolarWinds, a major US information technology firm, was the subject of a cyberattack that spread to its clients and went undetected for months. US agencies — including parts of the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Treasury — were attacked. So were private companies, like Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, and Deloitte, and other organizations like the California Department of State Hospitals, and Kent State University, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The military Industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned about is still a reality. Jobs manufacturing military hardware are consequential in almost every state. Is President Joe Biden prepared to face the 21st century world? He must or the United States will be overwhelmed by its enemies.
This seem like a plot I have seen before. Yes a book and a movie.
CNN reports: “The Pentagon opened the door to the possibility of sending more American troops to Iraq as part of a newly expanded NATO training mission to support Iraqi forces and ensure that ISIS does not rise again.”
US soldiers in Afghanistan
So here we go again sending troops into Iraq and Afghanistan. The argument is we need to ensure ISIS and the Taliban don’t overwhelm those countries. The arguments goes ISIS and the Taliban could launch attacks on the United States. They could be worse than 9-11. In 2003 US-led forces invaded Iraq to overthrow President Saddam Hussein and eliminate weapons of mass destruction that turned out not to exist. We apparently still have troops stationed there.
The number of troops in Afghanistan is at least 2,500. The United States military has been engaged in Afghanistan since shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
When will we say “Enough is enough?” How many American lives and how much noney should we spend on this endeavor?
In Orson Wells’ “1984” there is a subplot of the never ending war with Eastasia in a war against Eurasia. The wars the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan seems very similar.
I am calling Joe Biden’s approach to his job as president, Bidenism. His will likely be a slow but well thought out leadership.
As reported on Politico Playbook the cautious JOE BIDEN spoke to TOM FRIEDMAN of the NYT: “Biden: ‘We’re Going to Fight Like Hell by Investing in America First’”: “Biden’s top priority, he said, is getting a generous stimulus package through Congress, even before he takes office. … But the big question is whether he can get it past McConnell today or tomorrow if the Republicans continue to hold the Senate. A significant number of Republican senators could decide that they want to become deficit hawks again under a President Biden, after four years of uncontrolled spending under Trump that has brought the national debt to record highs.
“Biden was careful about how he talked about McConnell, who has been careful not to call Biden ‘president-elect.’ Biden obviously wants to keep the prospects of cooperation open — but also make clear that he may have more leverage with the American people than the G.O.P. realizes if Senate Republicans opt for full-on obstruction.
“‘Let me put it this way,’ he said, ‘There are a number of things that when McConnell controlled the Senate that people said couldn’t get done, and I was able to get them done with [him]. I was able to get them to, you know, raise taxes on the wealthy.’ ‘I think there are trade-offs, that not all compromise is walking away from principle,’ Biden added. ‘He knows me. I know him. I don’t ask him to embarrass himself to make a deal.’ …
“On China, he said he would not act immediately to remove the 25percent tariffs that Trump imposed on about half of China’s exports to the United States — or the Phase 1 agreement Trump inked with China that requires Beijing to purchase some $200 billion in additional U.S. goods and services during the period 2020 and 2021 — which China has fallen significantly behind on. ‘I’m not going to make any immediate moves, and the same applies to the tariffs,’ he said. ‘I’m not going to prejudice my options.’”
The question for this debate was who should I vote for in the Iowa Caucus on February who can win the election in November?
The second question is who would be the best choice to lead the country in the 21st century?
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders were the clear winners in the debate. They impressed me with their knowledge on every subject. Tom Steyer was the big loser. Biden with the exception of his closing statement, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar were all mildly impressive but offered little in the way of a reason to gain my support.
I was happy that this debate was focused on foreign affairs. Arguing who voted in support of the invasion of Iraq gave us no idea of when and why we would become involved in another war. Buttigieg’s proposal that all authorizations should include a sunset provision is a wise idea. Warren pointed out that the generals have been saying for years that the war in Afghanistan is about to conclude.
Joe Biden’s closing statement is worth repeating here because it sums up my opinion about the Trump presidency. “Character is on the ballot this time around. The American character is on the ballot. Not what Donald Trump is spewing out, the hate, the xenophobia, the racism. That’s not who we are as a nation. Everyone in this country is entitled to be treated with respect and dignity. Every single solitary person has to have in a position that may in fact we treat them with decency. It’s about fundamental, basic decency. We in the United States of America can put up with … we can overcome four years of Donald Trump, but eight years of Donald Trump will be an absolute disaster and fundamentally change this nation. We have to restore America’s soul. As I’ve said from the moment I announced, it is in jeopardy under this President of the United States. We lead the world when we lead by example, not by our power.”
Sadly Joe Biden is too old to lead this nation in this century. Frankly, Warren and Sanders are also too old for this very difficult job. That puts Michael Bloomberg and me in the too old category as well. My reason is the stress is too high. Death of a senior citizen president puts the country in the hands of a vice president who is usually chosen for political reasons rather than capability.
My attention will now be on Buttigieg, Klobuchar, former tech executive Andrew Yang, and Former Mass. Gov. Duval Patriick.
In my opinion if Joe Biden is the Democratic Party nominee Donald Trump will be elected to a second term and then try to find a way to obtain a third term.
I fear we are about to go to war all because of a president who never reads intelligence reports or any other briefing documents but prefers making decisions based on his gut.
First the United States killed Iranian general Qassem Suleimani using a drone. Then Iran attacked Americans in a military base in Iraq. Next the United States responds with an attack on sites in Iran. Then counter attacks by Iran and we are in a war that was not authorized by congress and will solve nothing. This could be avoided by an experienced leader in the White House but we have a fool leading the most powerful country in the world who claims he is smarter than everyone else. We elected Donald Trump. Americans have no one to blame but themselves.
Clearly Iran could not win a shooting war with the United States. The physical destruction would be horrifying. Thus Iran will not attempt to confront the U.S. in that kind of war. Instead, I predict Iran will conduct a cyber war on the United States.
In fact Iran has already taken the first shots. In October 2013, Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate and prominent supporter of conservative politicians and Israel, appeared on a panel in New York in which he suggested that the U.S. could send a message to Iran, regarding its nuclear ambitions, by detonating an American warhead in the middle of the Iranian desert.
Just four months later, in February 2014, hackers inserted malware into the computer networks of Adelson’s Las Vegas casino (Sands Hotel and Convention Center). The withering cyber-attack laid waste to about three quarters of the company’s Las Vegas servers; the cost of recovering data and building new systems was $40 million or more. A year after the attack, the top U.S. intelligence official confirmed that Iran was behind it. Bloomberg reported this on their website and it was repeated on Yahoo.
It is not unlikely that Iran would conduct attacks on America’s banks, electrical grid and other parts of America with attacks similar to what they did to the Sands facility to obtain revenge for the killing of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani.
What kinds of retaliation would President Donald Trump direct? Iran has a population of about 82 million people and so it is unlikely the United States would invade. More likely is a cyber attack on Iran. The winner of such a war is unpredictable.
This is a sad way to start the year 2020. Let me make one thing clear about me. I am so opposed to the military that at the age of 12 I refused to join the Boy Scouts (too much marching and saluting). The last thing we should want is a war. Sadly Donald Trump may have put America on a path to war. I suspect his intention is to divert our attention from his impending impeachment trial.
Trump says Iranian military leader was killed by drone strike ‘to stop a war,’ and warns Iran not to retaliate. Where is the proof?
The United States killed a major Iranian general. Iranian general Soleimani was an Iranian general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and from 1998 until his death. He was a commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations. The Quds are reportedly known to spread terrorism throughout the Middle East.
America’s killing of Soleimani, it looks like an assassination, may have been a good thing if he was about to lead his forces in an attack on American soldiers stationed in Iraq. But why does the United States have a military force in Iraq?
The answer is oil. Iraq’s proven oil reserves are estimated at least 112.5 billion barrels, equivalent to 12 percent of the world’s total reserves. Some sources say those oil reserves are 140 billion barrels. CNBC reported in September 2019 that “OPEC’s second-largest oil producer hit record production figures in August with an output of 4.88 million barrels per day.”
The assassination of Soleimani also sends a message to others around the world that the United States is not above assassinating your leaders. Kim Jun Un, this is a message to you.
The United States military and all of America is on alert.
Was it worth it? Military enlistments will go up and the war materials manufacturers couldn’t be happier (Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, United Techonolgies, General Dynamics).
And finally Donald Trump hopes to make his tough guy approach part of his re-election campaign.
Louis XIV brought France to its peak of absolute power and his words ‘L’etat c’est moi’ (‘I am the state‘) express the spirit of a rule in which the king held all political authority. His absolutism brought him into conflict with the Huguenots and the papacy, with damaging repercussions.
This belief easily helps us to recall President Richard Nixon who said on camera in the David Frost – Nixon interviews “but when the President does it, that means it is not illegal…”
Donald Trump’s hunger for authoritarian power plays out in many ways but can be distilled into a generality: If he wants to do something, he cares not what the law, precedent or basic human decency might dictate. He just forges ahead and asks, who wants to try to stop me?
The answer is the American people through their elected representatives. The House of Representatives has the constitutional authority to investigate whether the president has committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” justifying impeachment. To resist legitimate inquiries related to that responsibility is obstruction.
At the heart of the impeachment case against President Donald Trump lies a potential dagger for his re-election campaign: He’s accused of putting himself first — and American interests second.
This Tweet Trump sent out last Tuesday supports that accusation. “As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!”
Too bad Trump has not read the constitution. If he had, he would know that impeachment is a process is included in the constitution just as the second amendment is part of that same basic law.
Update: Columnist Doyle McManus in the Sunday October 6, 2019 Los Angeles Times wrote an article titled “Trump should read the Constitution.”
Donald Trump’s philosophy or perhaps call it style (could it be called a doctrine?) is use threats and insults to obtain results he wants. While his threats against his business adversaries may have worked to his benefit that same methodology has not worked for him as president. Just last month he tweeted about the “official end” of Iran.
Today in the news are two more threats. From the Los Angeles Times: “Trump keeps the threat of ICE raids and restates his demands. The president says the raids will be rescheduled in two weeks if Congress does not change asylum laws.” From Reuters:“Trump: ‘I did not send’ message to Tehran warning of attackbut Iranian sources told Reuters that Trump had warned Tehran via Oman that a U.S. attack was imminent, but had said he was against war and wanted talks.”
The threat methodology has been used repeatedly. Has it worked? It certainly has frightened many people and has impacted the stock market.
Tariffs on all goods from Mexico
Tariffs on all steel and aluminum from Mexico and Canada
Tariffs on all imports from China
Auto tariffs on European cars
Tariffs on all European Union products
Withdraw from NATO
Demand South Korea pay for US Troops based in their country
“Fire and fury” use of military against North Korea
Cut off aid to Central American countries over a migrant caravans
Congress hasn’t caved in (no money for a wall) and neither have the North Koreans who have resumed testing missiles.
Coast Contact 