Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
“The U.S. said on Wednesday it had disrupted a Chinese hacking operation responsible for break-ins and attempts on the Justice Department, NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Senate, and other sensitive government agencies.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/china-sponsored-hacking-platforms-seized-143227358.html
The US demanded that Canada give the US control over Canada’s trade policy with other countries. The US also demanded that US companies streaming shows in Canada not be required to order the shows shown to users based on Canada’s cultural preferences. The US wanted Canada to end its Buy Canada program that it put in place in response to US tariffs without offering to cancel the US tariffs that caused this program. The US demanded that the US could change certain terms of the deal at any time.
Ridiculous and demeaning demands on a long-time ally. Ruining such a relationship is not good for the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhgw3qAxYlY
Blockading Iran is hurting them economically. This could get them to the negotiating table, but it could take time and is quite costly for the US to maintain, both militarily, and the economic consequences of Iran mostly closing the Strait.
If Trump did not parade around the world like an asshole, threatening and attacking allies, there could have been a chance of a blockading coalition to help convince Iran the world will not tolerate them terrorizing the Strait of Hormuz. Oh well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6KTVkMChG4
America’s biggest trade problem is China. Trump started a trade war with China, fought it foolishly, and lost. He escalated tariffs on all goods from China to a level the US couldn’t handle, and that combined with the US need for Chinese rare earths, forced Trump to back down. Tariffs were put on countries who are not rivals and who cooperation with has little to no downsides. Tariffs were put on all sorts of goods, making it difficult for American businesses to operate because they couldn’t afford the inputs to their businesses. China’s strategic cheating on trade affects the whole world. The US could have worked with the world and strategically fought a trade war with China. Instead, the president doesn’t appear to have a basic understanding of economics and world relations, so just blindly tariffed most countries and most goods in such a way that hurt the United States and its people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PffKnEEY-E
Russia and Iran can more easily hold out for longer because China is helping both of them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoiYPCx90dA
Anyone who followed Iran a little bit knew that Iran was likely to close the Strait of Hormuz. The Navy knew that US bases anywhere near Iran and the Strait would have minimum use because the US can’t stop enough Iranian drones and missiles. The Navy also knew that this would put difficult logistic pressures on supplying carriers in a conflict that wasn’t real quick. Yet, there seems to have been completely inadequate preparation for this logistics. This is because the president was convinced by the Secretary of Defense, Israel, and his own foolishness that the Strait would not be closed and the conflict would be quick. The problems we are seeing are partly due to a lack of preparation for a long conflict, even though that was a likely outcome and the president should have known this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTX2Gz5Fq_w
The US does not have enough carriers to meet its worldwide commitments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPNwCkzsSIM
Military exercises with allies make the US better able to deter and fight war. Trump limiting such exercises makes the US more vulnerable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld3vWwGoAB0
The Trump administration has been ordering US military men and women to commit, or be involved in, war crimes and other illegal activity. It’s difficult for a regular military person to say no to an illegal order. They are expected to follow orders, and it’s hard for them to know if an order is illegal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfok5yIuekU
Drones are changing warfare, but they are not the super weapon that they sometimes seem to be. They work best in combination with a variety of weapons. It usually takes many drones to take out a tank.
In many situations, mortars are more effective than FPV drones.
FPV drones can’t fly far, can’t see well at night, don’t work well when it’s cloudy, are vulnerable to jamming, and have light payloads. Mortars are better in these respects. You can make a drone that doesn’t have these disadvantages, but at that point, you have an attritable weapon that is much more expensive than a mortar shell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sItcZFcMNBM