Those have always been utter show exercises. Nothing else. You attach way too much importance to them. Some US navy seals goofing around in speed boots while South Koreans ride the waves on jet ski. And when they hit the land they play NK invasion. I guess those sensitivities are exactly why many nations do not take American intensions all that serious anymore. A shame really.
Predictably, trump helping Chinese company to score a win in n. Korea
- Thread starter Cuddles
- Start date
You’re mistaken. The US military does not “play” any games. Go ahead and ask Sadam Hussein. That’s right, you can’t because they weren’t playing any games with him either.
Only a fool doesn’t respect power and the US military is the most powerful force in the world, ever. “Seriously.”
I have concluded that you are a waste my time. Welcome to ignore!
Yes if you say so... just watch some of the footage then perhaps you change your mind... It's quite entertaining. In any event those exercises are damaging to the upcoming summit. Well it may have been cancelled already.
just watch some of the footage then perhaps you change your mind... It's quite entertaining. In any event those exercises are damaging to the upcoming summit. Well it may have been cancelled already. Finally. I was begging for it in case you did not notice.
I have concluded that you are a waste my time. Welcome to ignore!
Yes if you say so...
A potential summit does not change the security issues on the ground. When the border becomes demilitarized then the exercises will stop, not before. Or, at least, that’s the way it should be. We can always elect some Neville chamberlain type or stupid looking Cheeto too.
I’m fully aware of what they look like to you, but they are extremely serious preparations for war and that is exactly what is needed.
There's a few different ways to view this. If you harbor a confirmation bias against Trump, then you see this as a Trump cave or some sort of conspiratorial collusion with the Chinese.
Alternatively, others might view this as Trump finding a very sensitive Chinese pressure point (which ZTE certainly is) and jerking around the Chinese with it like a dog on a chain. In my mind this is straight out of the Sun Tzu/Chinese/Korean/Iranian negotiation playbook. I know it's what they do... Find a weakness, threaten it, backtrack on it, give out some hope, threaten it again - all in advance of negotiations. Trump tweeting out that he told his Commerce Secretary to "fix it" is not even close to resolving the issue. Far from it. That is not a settled trade agreement item. You taunt your rivals by juicing both their anxieties (fear) and their expectations (hope for positive results). In fact, it's a well grounded interrogation technique. Trump mentioning of all things Chinese jobs was not a casual mistake or misplaced allegiance as many proclaimed - it was cunning. It shifts Xi's mindset towards his own domestic employment circumstances and how much sway the United States could have towards that. Xi has never before had a major trading partner suggest that Chinese jobs were important. That is subtle, and was completely misinterpreted by the Western press. But apparently Xi took it very seriously.
ZTE will face another US threat in the future and either just before or during the formal trade negotiations because that's how you play on your opponent's emotional state of balance.
Look at how Trump has trolled the US media and his enemies who wish him harm on the left into a state of neurotic pathology. The emotional state of the media and the left wing literally hangs on Donald Trump's twitter account. Think about that. You are being trolled and supremely distracted to your own detriment.
