The U.S. vs. China

[stratman]

Originally posted by: earthman
LOL we can't win a conventional war in Iraq, and you dufuses think we're going to beat China? Get real. If we got into a war with China, our economy WOULD be destroyed, since we rely on their money to support our gotesque national debt, and every one of you guys under 30 would get drafted. They could put 10 million men in uniform faster than we could 10 thousand. We would never launch a nuclear strike against them, because risking the destruction of even one American city is out of the question, it just wouldn't be done. You saw what happened to our economy when Al-Quaeda knocked two buildings down...what do you think would happen if two thousand got knocked down?

We did win the conventional war in Iraq. We can't win the unconventional guerilla war in Iraq.

And while China "could put 10 million men in uniform", those men wouldn't know how to hold the gun properly, let alone fight with it.

Don't get me wrong, in 20 years China could have a world class army 10 times the size of America's. Right now though, the vast majority of China's army is not combat ready.

I agree with you about the risking entire cities in nuclear war though. It's out of the question.


I could be wrong, but the US spends more on their armed forces than anyone else in the world, right?

 

[Alistar7]

Originally posted by: stratman

Originally posted by: earthman
LOL we can't win a conventional war in Iraq, and you dufuses think we're going to beat China? Get real. If we got into a war with China, our economy WOULD be destroyed, since we rely on their money to support our gotesque national debt, and every one of you guys under 30 would get drafted. They could put 10 million men in uniform faster than we could 10 thousand. We would never launch a nuclear strike against them, because risking the destruction of even one American city is out of the question, it just wouldn't be done. You saw what happened to our economy when Al-Quaeda knocked two buildings down...what do you think would happen if two thousand got knocked down?

We did win the conventional war in Iraq. We can't win the unconventional guerilla war in Iraq.

And while China "could put 10 million men in uniform", those men wouldn't know how to hold the gun properly, let alone fight with it.

Don't get me wrong, in 20 years China could have a world class army 10 times the size of America's. Right now though, the vast majority of China's army is not combat ready.

I agree with you about the risking entire cities in nuclear war though. It's out of the question.


I could be wrong, but the US spends more on their armed forces than anyone else in the world, right?

Welcome to AT stratman, stop being so rational or we will BAN you, lol

 

[raildogg]

dumb topic. dumb post. end it before it gets any lamer

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: GoPackGo

Originally posted by: amdfanboy
Sadly, I'm afraid it will happen sooner or later.

Our missles and air superiority would crush them.

if the sent an invasion for by sea, our subs would take them out.

if by land, bombs...nukes if necessary.

Don't kid yourself. Nuclear war with China would mean we would all be incinerated at 10,000°C.

 

[earthman]

You people are delusional! You must really believe what you hear on Fox. There was no "conventional" war in Iraq. The army went home to wait for us to leave (or to get cocky). There is no difference between "conventional" and "unconventional" war in practice anymore. If someone is fighting you, its war! For Christ sake, the British thought the Revolutionary war was "unconventional" because we wouldn't all line up to be shot like you were supposed to back then! You really think they don't know how to hold a gun in China? Why, because they're not Americans, who are better, stronger, smarter, and superior to everybody else in the world? I think if they have to, they'll learn really quick, while we'll have a hard time tearing our "soldiers" away from their Playstations and iPods (probably made in China)

 

[Kibbo]

You guys underestimate the capabilities of the American economy. If worst came to worst, you could expropriate all foreign-owned industry, and have some kind of 5-year plan reindustrializing. Sure, you might have a few years of teletubbies doll shortages, but you could easily readjust to a closed (or continental) economy regardless of what happens to your dollar. The transition wouldn't be pretty, and you wouldn't want to go through it for anything short of total war, but it would be doable. As long as you, Mexico and Canada produce enough food (which we do easily) and raw materiels, you'd be fine. Sure, there might rationing, especially of fuel (no more single passenger commutes) but you'd get through it.

You have a ton of usable Capital, and a well-educated workforce. With your continental partners, you have a ton of resources, agricultural and industrial. It's cheaper now to let others do the dirty work. But you could very quickly reorient yourselves, if ever you had to.

You've done it before.

 

[Blackjack2000]

Of course there is a difference between a conventional war and an unconventional war. A conventional war is waged between two (or more) nationally controlled armies, like WWII, and Desert Storm. An unconventional war is usually waged by insurgents and resisting militia against an occupying army. The problem when you say "U.S. vs. China" is that you're not supplying enough information. If China attacked the U.S. their forces would be obliterated, there is no doubt about that. If the U.S. attacked China, they would likely be somewhat successful at engaging and destroying China's organized military, but they wouldn't be able to control the guerilla warfare. As an academic question, if the Chinese and American militaries somehow met on "neutral ground" I believe American forces would win pretty easily, but who cares? The most important thing is that neither country could hope to successfully launch an attack on the other.

 

[Blackjack2000]

I'm not sure that we'd have to ration fuel. We get our fuel from the Middle East, not China, and I'm pretty sure that we'd be able to protect the supply lines.

 

[Alistar7]

Originally posted by: Kibbo
You guys underestimate the capabilities of the American economy. If worst came to worst, you could expropriate all foreign-owned industry, and have some kind of 5-year plan reindustrializing. Sure, you might have a few years of teletubbies doll shortages, but you could easily readjust to a closed (or continental) economy regardless of what happens to your dollar. The transition wouldn't be pretty, and you wouldn't want to go through it for anything short of total war, but it would be doable. As long as you, Mexico and Canada produce enough food (which we do easily) and raw materiels, you'd be fine. Sure, there might rationing, especially of fuel (no more single passenger commutes) but you'd get through it.

You have a ton of usable Capital, and a well-educated workforce. With your continental partners, you have a ton of resources, agricultural and industrial. It's cheaper now to let others do the dirty work. But you could very quickly reorient yourselves, if ever you had to.

You've done it before.

You underestimate our debt load, our dependence on foreign capital to prop up our currency, and our impact on the global economy, this is not the 1800's....

 

[Blackjack2000]

The United States is certainly no more dependant on the world than any superpower that it would be fighting.

 

[miketheidiot]

if you burned the constitution it could be won, and china could be forced to surrender, without occupation, or nuclear attack. After our economy collapsed (although this is avoidable imo) a short reindusrtialization plan (1-2 years) and some heavy economic reorganizing, and we would have a decent economy to fight a war.

While this is happening, our airforce would need to dominate (and could easily) the major industrial centers and keep railroads out of service. We would also need to cordon off their army, and prevent them from attacking the M/e or russia. Our navy would blockade, and cut off imports.