Cuban Missile Crisis - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 20 May 2022

Mark Armstrong — Fri, 20 May 2022 23:13:16 +0000

Greetings from Tyler,

Amid the scare that the pretend administration is trying to turn American sovereignty over to a faceless UN body known as the WHO, is the reality of “emergency powers.” Isn’t that convenient? Congress doesn’t have to pass laws. A pint-sized twerp in a lab coat can be trotted out to make a declaration, and that authorizes all manner of stupidity.

Businesses were closed in New York, California and a host of states where the governors acted on behalf of the “public.” Surely the “public” would be better off if they weren’t running around spreading coronavirus all over the place. Businesses of all kinds closed, often permanently. You probably miss some of them. There was nothing gyms could do except lock the doors. Some who bucked the lock-down were raided and forcibly closed by police. What Constitution?

It appears that ways to exert authority have been discovered, and the protections that we thought were inherent in our citizenship are no protections at all when it comes to “emergency declarations.” Governors retained the right to FORCE people to stay home, not work and hunker down. At first, Joe Q. Public probably didn’t mind, thinking it would be a week off, maybe two. But that was two years ago, and still we’re getting bossed around about coronavirus. They’re trying to resurrect it in New York, where the mayor has declared that masks must be worn outdoors in public. What!?! These so-called emergency powers have been egregiously abused, and there are other emergencies around the corner. We only have to wait for them to be manufactured.

The naysayers said Trump was dangerous. They said he would bungle us into nuclear war. They said the same thing about Ronald Reagan. Not even close. We were worried about North Korea. Remember the panic in Hawaii? People lowering their children down manhole covers, making one last call to loved ones? They haven’t forgotten, and probably never will. Now we’re worried about Russia. Threats have been issued. The last time we were this close to war with Russia was the Cuban missile crisis. If you listen to some of the advisors you’d think it was the U. S. at war in Ukraine! Talk about stumbling into big trouble. At least Trump has all his marbles, and loved the country enough to sacrifice his billionaire lifestyle to make it thrive.

The election appears to have been stolen. Saying so would get you thrown off social media platforms, not that I care. Differing with the approved narrative was not allowed. What are you, a source of “disinformation”? The pretend regime thought they’d appoint someone to stamp out “dis-information” and set everybody straight. Unfortunately they picked some hair-brain gal that’s been busy spreading nonsense, between singing to her computer and making creepy faces. It was so ludicrous they’ve shut down, or more accurately “paused” the new department under the department of Homeland Security. Now Homeland Security has appointed Michael Chertoff to figure everything out. Another creep.

Nobody can figure out what to do about China. Tons of plastic junk fill the shelves of nearly every store. But businesses can make tremendous profits if they manufacture in China. The NBA has staked its future on the huge audience that has no chance of actually competing in the sport. They must thrill to the athleticism on display. Not only that, it’s the biggest imaginable market for their swag. What do those profiting from China care? They’ve got the money to live anywhere on Earth. And no. We’re not jealous. Taiwan? Apparently that’s a sacrifice worth making for the profits involved. People making money off ignoring the abuses in China ought to have to live there. Just saying.

The baby formula crisis is so bad that all the wire services have propelled it into everybody’s domain. The first thought was that mothers would be going to the internet to find out how to make it at home. But the news is warning that you better not. Now there’s a news story about a mother who’s been “caught” hoarding formula to feed her babies. What mother wouldn’t try to acquire a supply amid a crisis? How many crises have arisen? We’ve got more crises than we can keep up with, and the pretend administration is only a year and a half old.

It’s as if turning back all of those evil Trump policies means that the American people have become the enemy. Now it’s all about “social justice,” diversity, inclusion and saving the planet. All the big corporate names are popping up to let us know they’re on board. After all, they don’t want to be attacked by the three letter agencies that are tasked with making sure we all think the same thoughts. It’s a joke, and a bad one at that. But we seem to be on some kind of ride that we can’t get off. Not to wreck your weekend by spelling out all the manufactured crises, you already know. This can’t end well, and it won’t. Hopefully there will be something left to save when the “adults” are no longer in charge.

Mark

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

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War: China Is Showing Its Commitment to Invading Taiwan By Sea

Lyle J. Goldstein — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 23:41:41 +0000

The Chinese have been heavily investing in amphibious capabilities.

Here’s What You Need to Remember: The best way to prevent such a violent and shameful disgrace is to press Taipei into negotiations on forming a confederation with Beijing now. It was actually not so long ago that Taipei and Beijing leaders were chatting amiably at the first-ever Taiwan-China summit. “One country, two systems” may indeed be a kind of “ugly duckling” at this point, at least in the Western press, but that only remains true until the cataclysmic alternative is thoroughly understood.

A number of events and trends are coming together now to drive Taiwan and with it the whole Asia-Pacific region, to the edge of disaster. These include the recent election for Taiwan’s leadership, the unrest in Hong Kong, China’s increasing military might, and the downward spiral of contemporary U.S.-China relations. For sure, Taiwan has been at or near the center of U.S-China relations for the last seventy years, so at one level, there is nothing particularly new here.

Yet, before U.S. leaders dismiss this warning into a heap of other global calamities, they should briefly peruse the words below from an unsigned Chinese editorial in the December 25, 2019 edition of Global Times: “The United States as a whole must understand that although Taiwan is the easiest place to provoke Mainland China, it is also the place where the U.S. is most at risk. It is precisely that China has the most real cards against the U.S. provocation in the Taiwan Strait region, and China has the strongest will and capability to defend the core interests of the country [美方作为整体必须了解，台湾虽是最容易挑衅、刺激中国大陆的地方，但也是对美方来说风险最大的地方。中国在台海地区反制美方挑衅的实牌恰恰也是最多的，而且中国在这里捍卫国家核心利益的意志和能力都是最强的].” The editorial continues, “This is not a joke. Mainland China has so far exercised restraint in the Taiwan Strait region and has not meddled in some of America’s vulnerabilities across the world [这可不是开玩笑的，中国大陆迄今在台海地区很克制，在国际上也没有在美国的一些脆弱点找麻烦].” It concludes, “We hope the U.S. Congress is not acting as a prelude to a future U.S.-China crisis. To be honest, we don’t think that the U.S. is ready for a Sino-U.S. crisis related to Taiwan, and we don’t think the DPP authorities are ready for it [希望美国国会不是在弹中美一场未来危机的前奏。实话说，我们不认为美方对迎接一场与台湾相关的中美危机做好了准备].” Merry Christmas? Not so much. Fighting words or a brash bluff?

As one who reads Mainland Chinese defense publications on a daily basis, my impression is that “T-Day” is not very far off. Over the last few years, I have demonstrated that China’s missile forces are wholly adequate to give the PLA both air and naval superiority for the requisite period of weeks. I will not rehearse here the many reasons why Western analyses tend to be overly optimistic concerning the military balance in the western Pacific more generally. But rather than discussing capabilities again, let’s briefly put a focus on the crucial matter of strategy. That is generally a taboo subject in Chinese defense discourse, but hints occasionally bubble to the surface. One such discussion appeared in the September 2019 edition of Military Digest [军事文摘] that provides a careful analysis in Mandarin of the vital precursors to the Normandy victory in WWII: both the disaster at Dieppe, as well as the lessons learned from amphibious operations during the arduous Italian Campaign.

For readers unfamiliar with Dieppe battle, this short, bloody engagement featured an amphibious “probe” by British and Canadian forces of German coastal defenses along the French coast of the English Channel during mid-August 1942. This Chinese analysis rightly characterizes the raid as a “complete defeat,” but extracts numerous lessons, as indeed the Allied commanders did too. First, it is assessed that “the forces were inadequate to risk such a decision [实力不足冒险决策].” The Allies in this engagement suffered from a paucity of warships, transports, tanks, artillery, and even infantry numbers were less than their German adversaries. Trying to fight their way ashore straight into the teeth of Germany’s “massive air force shield” was bound to prove disastrous for Allied troops, according to this Chinese analysis, as Dieppe proved to be both “the wrong time and the wrong place” for an attack. A second lesson articulated in the Chinese article is, indeed, that “intelligence was poor causing operational blindness [情报不力盲目行动].” The account reports the Allied forces were surprised by unexpected defenses, such as a two-meter sea wall, minefields, and also German forces that were not anticipated to be in the area. Even the weather forecasts are reported in this Chinese rendering to have been inadequately detailed.

Lacking both air and sea control in these circumstances, the Allies making the raid on Dieppe were relying heavily on the element of surprise. Apparently, there was neither an extensive pounding by bombers from the air, nor even any kind of preparatory barrage from warships offshore. This Chinese account relates how “the element of surprise was lost immediately … [and] the Allied amphibious forces came under the full firepower of the German military.” Thus, a third lesson the Chinese take from Dieppe is that “inadequate fire preparation will entail major personnel casualties [火力不备人员伤亡].” Finally, the Chinese analysis examines the command arrangements for the Dieppe battle and finds them wanting. It is reported that there was no overall commander and each of the services went in their own direction. An airborne parachute drop was scrubbed due to weather at the last minute and the participating ships were very poorly coordinated, such that the amphibious forces were, more or less, left to simply try to save themselves with the resultant terrible losses. Thus, the fourth lesson for Chinese strategists from Dieppe was “the need to harmonize so that each service is not fighting on its own [协同不周各自为战].”

Fortunately, as related in this Chinese analysis, the Allies got some substantial additional practice before Normandy. In the invasion of Sicily, for example, it is related that the Americans and British corrected almost all the mistakes from Dieppe. British intelligence, according to this Chinese rendering, succeeded in making fake plans and spreading rumors that the Allies intended to attack Greece instead of Sicily. Mobility was used to achieve surprise, air and naval superiority proved decisive, and due diligence on logistics also paid dividends for the Allies. Still, this Chinese analysis criticizes Allied operations in the Italian campaign for being excessively timid [步步为营] and also in failing to make better use of airborne and amphibious capabilities.

Understanding this history in some detail enables a keener appreciation of the grand achievements of D-day, for sure. This Chinese historical analysis closes with a summary of those elements of success for Operation Overlord. These included, of course, “absolute superiority [绝对优势]” in the air that knocked down 600 German aircraft in the months prior to the invasion at Normandy. With a comment that might have special resonance for the Taiwan scenario, this Chinese rendering claims that during the three days after D-day, not a single German submarine entered the English Channel to challenge the invasion force. The famous intelligence ruse or a skillful “mingling of truth and false [真真假假]” made by General Dwight Eisenhower is also related in decent detail – down to the fact that Allied bombers and intelligence flights made a 2:1 ratio in favor of sorties to targets that were distant from Normandy in order to keep the Germans confused. Finally, the Chinese analysis relates that the Normandy invasion represented the triumph of logistics [后勤支撑], including 370,000 dedicated logistics personnel that delivered over five millions tons of equipment and supplies for the invasion.

With respect to Taiwan, one can safely assume both a massive PLA superiority in firepower and very close attention to the complex logistics problem. Thus, the only remaining challenge for Beijing is to create a proper ruse – admittedly somewhat difficult in the age of satellite reconnaissance. Yet, this is also not all too hard to imagine. Would Xi Jinping simply call his friend Vladimir Putin to ask for a decent-sized diversion in the Baltics? It should not be forgotten that Mao Zedong’s victorious military campaign against India in 1962 was accomplished with lightning efficiency under the “cover” of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The actual PLA assault on the “beautiful island” would come from both the sea and the air, of course, developing from multiple vectors simultaneously, allowing for the exploitation of the most promising fronts, and likely prompting rapid, total collapse.

Probably, the “dirty deed” would be accomplished within just a week or maybe two (for mopping up). As with Putin’s annexation of Crimea back in 2014, the U.S. might well be better off if the whole episode was “fervently condemned,” but then quickly written off as a total loss. To be sure, some new “Taiwan sanctions” could be added to the Hong Kong and Uighur list already approved by Congress. Yes, this would be another grand humiliation for American power, but at least the planet would be spared from a third and final world war.

The best way to prevent such a violent and shameful disgrace is to press Taipei into negotiations on forming a confederation with Beijing now. It was actually not so long ago that Taipei and Beijing leaders were chatting amiably at the first-ever Taiwan-China summit. “One country, two systems” may indeed be a kind of “ugly duckling” at this point, at least in the Western press, but that only remains true until the cataclysmic alternative is thoroughly understood.

In November 2019, a leading Mainland expert regarding Taiwan, Wang Zaixi, gave a keynote speech at Peking University. He decried the new tendencies in Taiwan toward ‘step-by-step de-sinification’ [一步一步推动’去中国化’]” and the Taiwan-related manifestations of the new policy of “hard containment [强硬遏制]” undertaken by the Trump Administration. He warned ominously that “time is running out [时间已经不多了]” and that cross-Strait relations now confront “huge risks [巨大风险].” Are American diplomats, strategists, and scholars wise enough to help avert this altogether preventable tragedy?

Lyle J. Goldstein is Research Professor in the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the United States Naval War College in Newport, RI. In addition to Chinese, he also speaks Russian and he is also an affiliate of the new Russia Maritime Studies Institute (RMSI) at Naval War College. You can reach him at goldstel@usnwc.edu. The opinions in his columns are entirely his own and do not reflect the official assessments of the U.S. Navy or any other agency of the U.S. government.

Source: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/war-china-showing-its-commitment-invading-taiwan-sea-179454

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World War 3 is now ‘CLOSER than ANY TIME’ since the Cuban Missile Crisis, claims expert

Joseph Carey — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 20:00:02 +0000

WORLD WAR 3 is “closer than any time” since the Cuban Missile Crisis after the Salisbury crisis that saw Sergei Skripal and his daughter poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent, it has been claimed.

Phil Butler, a geopolitical analyst, issued the stark warning and explained that the Theresa May’s strong response to Moscow, combined with the appointment of John Bolton as Donald Trump’s new National Security Advisor could make for a new world war.

He said: “Looking at President Trump’s seeming eagerness to jump on board, combined with his appointing the psychotic John Bolton as National Security Advisor, the picture does not look good at all.

“The level of aggression has simply ratcheted up many notches. I am sure this is why Mr Putin warned the world of Russia’s new and devastating weapons.

“The Kremlin surely knows more than any of the rest of us. Short answer, World War 3 is closer than at any time since US President Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev sorted things out.”

Mr Butler then launched an attack on the UK’s response to the Salisbury poisoning by stating that the “West has unleashed a large scale onslaught on every front against Russia and President Vladimir Putin”.

The analyst then continued to defend the actions of Russia by labelling the poisoning of Mr Skripal and his daughter as a “chemical weapons charade” that is part of a wider ranging plan targeted against Moscow.

He went on: “The UK chemical weapons charade is just part of a plan involving widespread cyber-attacks, social and political assaults, media manipulation, and real strategic and tactical elements.

“Take for example the Israeli hype over Gaza incursions and presumed Hezbollah intercessions. Look at the whole spectrum, and you see what I mean.”

Mr Butler then suggested that Theresa May’s strong response to Mr Putin is an excuse for the UK to create a wave of opposition against the Russian World Cup and the recently approved Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

He went on: “Yes, this is exactly what is happening.

“While Nord Stream and other facets are important, but the World Cup is where the liberal order has put Mr. Putin in a tough position.

“I am sure he will parry this stab, but think about empty stadiums and the gut punch this would be.

“Putin’s response to this, if it happens, has to be perfect or the world gets split down the middle.”

Nations around the globe joined Theresa May in expelling Russian diplomats, marking a sign of solidarity against aggression from Moscow.

Mr Putin is set to announce his response to the slew of expulsions in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Mrs May has promised clear action against Russian cyber warfare initiatives by announcing the Fusion Doctrine that is set to counter threats in the new military realm.

The move will surely reinforce the strong signals that have been sent to Vladimir Putin since the Salisbury incident.

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