Meanwhile on the International front....

We hope, and we hope everyone stays rational. We've all been conditioned to think World War III includes a massive and immediate nuclear exchange, but I'm not certain that it needs to — at least initially. I think we can go quite a bit down the road of war, to the point of imminent defeat or governmental collapse, before that becomes a reality or even a considered option. No one wants to do a first strike on offense, but there are certainly some who would consider it to strike a decisive blow or cover a retreat (like if Russia is being pushed out of Crimea, or China can't make headway in a conventional invasion of Taiwan).

 

Days.

If China destroyed a U.S. Battlegroup and killed thousands of sailors, what does proportional response look like? What does China's proportional response to our proportional response look like? It's nothing but a quick series of escalations until the ultimate escalation ....

 

Good question. If China destroys a battlegroup with a nuke, then all bets are off. If it's a more conventional confrontation with their ships, then maybe it stays conventional.

 

To be clear, I'm not advocating for any shit gettin' real. That said, I think it could happen because: 1) a lot of these protesting students are here on student visas; and 2) post-9/11 laws re: "supporting terror organizations" open the door for a lot of shenanigans. The visas thing alone is a very powerful tool.

 

China destroys a battlegroup with a swarm of SSMs. We respond with a strike against a Chinese fleet in port (from bases in Japan). China responds with an SSM strike on Japanese territory. ....

 

... and we all get a nice sunburn on our way into oblivion. Gotcha.

 

Despite the wishes of Curtis LeMay and Thomas Power (whom even LeMay said was mentally unstable).

 

Nah. They don’t want the smoke.

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-special-forces-vs-russian-mercenaries-syria-details/

 

Not you my friend.

But the national appetite for payback is worrying.

A lot of disinformation out there too, stirring up anger and trouble.

 

A.I. Muddies Israel-Hamas War in Unexpected Way

 

Israelis are allegedly hunting Palestinian college students living legally in Israel.

https://x.com/alonleegreen/status/1718347927108677943?s=46&t=wVPJyeunUA-4G1zuWq69ug