No American Lives Should Be Lost to Defend Taiwan

Including because it can not be done

With the U.S. presidential election in full swing over the summer and fall, Americans could be excused for hardly having noticed the rising tension across the Taiwan Strait on the other side of the planet. Recent developments, however, threatened to bring a simmering pot up to a full blown kitchen fire and maybe even a three alarm blaze. A Taiwan news outlet breathlessly announced that U.S. Marines were in Taiwan to train their counterparts. This could well be the first time in four decades that Washington has committed forces to the island claimed by China. Such exercises may have previously occurred in secret, but this is the first time these alleged activities have been revealed to the public. Though a denial was subsequently issued by the Pentagon, sparks relating to this public relations blunder may portend the real possibility of a superpower military clash over Taiwan, possibly even in the coming months.

Allowing the U.S. to be drawn – sleepwalking, as it were – into a major conflict over Taiwan would be an error of epochal proportions by the U.S. foreign policy establishment for three basic reasons: military, historic, and strategic.

On the military side, there is a high likelihood that China could subdue Taiwan in just two weeks. Even more gravely for Americans, there is the distinct possibility that U.S. forces could suffer a major defeat. The logic is simple and involves primarily geography. Taiwan is just 90 miles from Mainland China, but over 6,000 miles from the American mainland. That vast asymmetry means that that the Chinese military can bring far greater firepower into the fight at an early point against U.S. forces at the end of an exceedingly long and tenuous logistics chain.

True, amphibious invasions are inherently difficult, but China has had decades to plan, practice, and prepare its forces. New investments in missiles, rocket artillery, drones, attack aircraft, helicopters, paratroopers, and special forces now make the invasion fully feasible. A very credible blockade option exists as well. U.S. forces would be held in check, such as by anti-ship ballistic missiles. Even the vaunted U.S. submarine force would be confronted by myriad Chinese countermeasures, including sea mines.

Certain ideologues might still argue that all of America’s strength should be deployed, up to and including nuclear weaponry, to save Taiwan. Such an argument could plausibly be made for the Philippines, a beleaguered country that the U.S. attempted to colonize during the early 20th century and one in which tens of thousands of Americans were sacrificed to defend in WW2.

Actually, Taiwanese fought on the side of Japan in the Pacific War. However, there are other critical historical points that Americans need to understand to see why the 1955 Alliance Treaty with Taiwan was later abrogated.

Most importantly, they need to realize that Taiwan was formally incorporated into Fujian Province, as part of China, in 1684 – nearly a century prior to the American Revolution. Two centuries later, the island was conquered by the Japanese, which explains how the Taiwanese people ended up on the wrong side of WW2. But President Harry Truman was crystal clear in his 5 Jan 1950 explanation of U.S. policy: “The U.S. has no predatory designs on Formosa [Taiwan], or on any other Chinese territory.”

Taiwan did indeed become a protectorate of the U.S. during the 1950s, for a time, including with the deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons to the island. However, these were wisely withdrawn along with all other American soldiers after the Vietnam War, as part of the US-China normalization process. Indeed, the withdrawal of U.S. forces formed the primary condition for normalization. Thus, the reinsertion of U.S. forces onto the island represents a major retrograde step back into the intense and dangerous Cold War of the 1950s. Only this time, China is not an impoverished basket case, but rather an ascendant superpower.

Today, the formal name of Taiwan’s government remains the Republic of China. The Palace Museum in Taiwan holds many of China’s most famous treasures. An American re-intervention in China’s unfinished civil war not only risks military defeat and violates prior historical commitments made under multiple U.S. presidents, but it would also constitute a disaster for U.S. strategy, draining Uncle Sam’s coffers for dubious ends. Contrary to the view of many American strategists, Taiwan is neither the “cork in the bottle” of Beijing’s maritime aspirations, nor the vital lynchpin that holds together U.S. alliances in the Asia-Pacific. In fact, American alliances will be strengthened by more realistic and feasible defense lines. The “cork in the bottle” – once described as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” off the Chinese coast is simply no longer feasible or wise. In actuality, this cork is set to explode with disastrous consequences for the region and for U.S. security if American forces are deployed.

At present, China does not represent an aggressive power. Beijing has not resorted to the major use of force in more than 40 years. It has built a single base overseas. Still, one cannot rule out altogether that China might develop into a more bellicose form. America must hedge against this possibility – even if it is rather remote. When the Union cavalry officer, John Buford, surveyed the hills outside of Gettysburg in mid-1863, he concluded it was “good ground” to fight on. If it somehow comes to a war with China, Taiwan is emphatically not “good ground” – quite the opposite.

Source: The American Conservative

39 Comments
  1. Frank frivilous says

    Who is promoting this defeatist narrative? Obviously someone who has already taken the unconscionable decision to consign millions of people to abject slavery. The CCP is universally despised both for it’s essential character and it’s posture in the world. I expect that every one of Mainland China’s neighbors has made preparations for this eventuality and if it includes the same defeatist rhetoric displayed in this article, their leadership should all be tried and prosecuted for treason by their citizens. The Biden family included.

  2. Trevor says

    Yeah Yeah
    But how awesome would it be to watch a full scale nuke war between USA and China.
    Humans have yet to enjoy the benefits of a nuke war, so a nuke war between china and USA over Taiwan would be an interesting development.
    It doesn’t really matter who wins, what matters is that humans take war to the next level,
    Nukes
    And then nukes in space.

  3. Canosin says

    the world would be greatly cheering with lots of maotai, schnapps, vodka, soju, sake and champagne 🍾 😄 once its done and finished…..the US armed forces defeated and humiliated….

    1. Jimbo says

      But that will never happen little man. No country has the capability. Or I must add the brains or balls. So drink your rice wine and eat your rotten meat back in your grass hut and forget about it.

      1. Canosin says

        ohh…..did I hurt your little pride and your little self confidence??
        too bad a$$hole……for you…..we will celebrate your capitulation

        1. Jimbo says

          And then, you will starve and experience a return to the middle ages. And your statement to me applies to you actually. The Idea that the Ukraine and India can replace the US Agriculture is insane. The USA has the most arable farmland of any country in the world. China is in a poor position with food and farmland. Their Idea with Terracing actually failed. Then there is that desert creeping in. But the biggest weakness and mistake is that Dam. One small missile and everything and person below it is gone. So you just keep on with your dreaming. China is no problem. Their people under Communist rule have become a true slave race. Primitive and simple. Like that AK 47.

          1. James Scott says

            The US military is full of women and gays. Don’t be so sure it can’t be beat. There is a reason the USA only picks on little nations that cannot defend themselves. The US military has a lot of hi tech weapons but its full of low IQ people gays and women. In a conventional war against a modern equipped military like Russia the US military would fold. In a ground war the Chinese would roll over the USA. Full spectrum dominance by a military full of gays women and low IQ people is not possible.

      2. itchyvet says

        Got news Jimbo for you, IF the U.S. is as stupid to wage war on behalf of Taiwan, that will most certainly be the end of U.S. hegemony World wide. Moreover, I believe the Pentagon is very much aware of this FACT. Read the article again, specificly the bit about, “Taiwan is just 90 miles from Mainland China, but over 6,000 miles from the American mainland. ” Are you aware of the logistic demand such an engagement requires ? Within hours of the first shot being fired, U.S. ships will be scattered on the sea bed. Some might survive. but without ordinance to sustain their survival, they could also become statistics. Consider too, the U.S. Navy is not, (as some seem to think)in top shape, with engines breaking down, and equipment failures left right and center.
        Consider too, IF such an event were to eventuate, the destruction of 1/3 of the U.S. Navy, what flow on effect would that have for the hegemony the U.S. currently enjoys, when nations are no longer concerned or fear them ? WW 2, was an excellent example, when the folks living in Asia discovered that little Japanese soldiers wearing glasses and riding bicycles, were able to boot the great British military out of Asia, from that moment on wards, all those nations started onto the pathways of self Government and the Brits were no longer the Great White Masters. Is the U.S. prepared to do a repeat of such an execercise ??

        1. Frank frivilous says

          The only concern I have over this statement is if the Pentagon is actually using the same shoddy products with which China has become famous for. Since China was invited to join the rest of the industrialized world 40 years ago, it has become renown for copy right infringement, disposable products and outright theft. No wonder they are so desperate not to be shut out of trade agreements.

          1. Ron Ronery says

            Can you site just “ONE” example of China copy right infringement? If you check the top 10 frauds of all time, they are American. The Germans in the last few years have also shown fraud…i.e. Volkswagon and Deutche Bank.

            China “copying” is just mainstream propaganda. You do realize there is zero possibility a country can go from outside the 100 biggest economies to #1 or #2 within 40 years without REAL achievements right? Also, the Chinese currently are the #1 or #2 patent generators in the World.

            As for shoddy products, I hope you practice what you preach and drive a Ford or ride a Harley Davidson motorcycle….in fact, everything you own better be Made in USA otherwise you are just another one of those hypocritical fools on the interweb.

        2. Jimbo says

          Is China? I have seen their cheap copies and unreliable equipment. Next, you have no clue as to what technology actually exists. Sure the carriers are obsolete but there are other things up there. As a matter of fact some things you see now are forty to fifty years old. So keep on talking the talk. Your position is media created.

          1. itchyvet says

            Dream on, cause that’s all it is, dream that’s fading fast. B.T.W. I did not mention anything about carriers being obsolete. If so, I wonder what the sailors manning them, think then, that their Government is happy to send them to their deaths on obsolete equipment.

            1. Jimbo says

              Not the equipment or the carrier itself or the men. Its use in certain battle situations is however different. It is a moving city and airport. In situations such as control of an area that is threatened but mostly intact it can be used effectively. However the placement of a carrier next to a large continental threat is on one hand a huge and almost suicidal risk. But this placement is not only the carriers image of power but behind that is the cold sweat effect. The threat of the ship and of course the Nuclear retaliation. This is the obsolete method of deployment.

      3. Trevor says

        Based on history
        The USA is a failed state and collapsing empire.
        It will slowly withdraw from its overseas military bases. Or it will be defeated base by base.
        But I agree. An invasion of the USA mainland is unlikely in the near future.
        More likely is that they USA will rip itself apart with a civil war and the mexicans will grab the lower states.

        1. Jimbo says

          I will buy that. We have been purposely invaded. The same goes for Europe. There is an agenda. A parasitic group is persecuting the Western people.

          1. Trevor says

            Yes
            But whats their end game
            They are actively destroying all civilizations through various methods.
            The old Problem / Solution play
            And they are the ones manufacturing the problems
            Fascinating times

        2. James Scott says

          If it comes down to a shooting war non whites will be rounded up and deported for sure. The shooting part would not last a month if the gov’t was not involved. White men in the USA have way more guns but more importantly they have way way way more bullets. Non whites do not have fortitude when it comes to organized violence. Every special forces class starts out at least 50% non whites and they graduate 95% whites on average. The men in the US military with their finger on a trigger are overwhelmingly white. The non whites are in the rear with the gear.

          The Deagle website claims the USA will have a population of 125 million in 4 years. It offers no explanation and if its a troll site it is an elaborate troll for sure. It was a mistake to allow non whites to become Americans. They have brought nothing but strife and race problems. White people founded built the USA for white people. Its ours. If we decide to deport them it would go a long way towards explaining Deagles prediction. Mestizo’s cost the gov’t $600,000 each over their lifetimes on avg. Whites pay the gov’t $225,000 each over their lives in taxes on avg so the mestizo’s are a big problem that cannot be ignored forever.

          Fix the USA’s race problem once and for all. Deport all the non whites back to where they belong. Nations are not land they are what people build on the land and the USA is ours.

          1. Trevor says

            Yeah. Interesting hypothesis but:
            1. Population reduction of 225 million people over 4 years. Only a war can do that.
            2. As for race, I just don’t see it.
            Humans are not going to let you play the race card.
            You just wont generate enough hate.
            3. You’ll need to see either a political or religious divide.
            Given that USA is Irreligious, then that really only leaves a political divide.
            4. So basically a civil war fought along political lines. Not race and not religion.
            Personally I’d rather have seen a religious war.
            Religion makes people bat shit crazy and much easier to demonize the enemy.
            But who know, guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
            But here’s hoping!

            1. James Scott says

              You are delusional. White people are the target of hate. I am not trying and will not have to generate any hate. Reality is reality. You claim you do not see race but you lie. The race card is being played against white people already. Non whites do not have a right to what white people built just because they want it.

              Race war has already begun. You are just not bright enough to grasp it. Or you are not white and want to pretend we are all the same so your group can keep taking advantage of white people.

            2. Frank frivilous says

              Let’s not forget that both China and Russia are also multiethnic states with Siberia suffering from and even larger and more aggressive invasion than the southern U.S. States. Russia only appears to support China when it’s politically convenient. Just ask our old CIA prodigy Joe Biden. China is more racist than the U.S. comparatively and just as Imperialistic culturally. The CCP has to win every engagement AND not appear to back down to any provocation lest it’s Han minority of party leaders get overrun and devoured by their own people.

            3. James Scott says

              90% of Chinese citizens are Han. What minority of party leaders?
              Neither Russia or China has leaders that are trying to turn them into minorities Like the US oligarchs are doing. Both Russia and China are ruled by the traditional people who built their nations. It is not racist to not want foreigners ruling over you. It is not racist to keep power in the nation your ancestors built for you.

              Of course Russia only backs China when it suits their purpose. That is what all sane nations do when it comes to international relations. The USA is ruled by an elite that is hostile to the people who founded the nation. This cannot be said about Russia or china so your comparison falls flat.

  4. Dr. Gerbs says

    American “low education and poor” military personnel are cannon fodder for the Elites that pull the strings in the USA. There is absolutely ZERO benefit for the average American to fight in another countries civil war. Don’t buy that “democracy” and “freedom” bullshit. You will die and only you will suffer the longstanding consequences. China and Taiwan have all the freedom “THE CHINESE PEOPLE” desire.

    1. Jimbo says

      Oops

    2. itchyvet says

      Good post, Dr Gerbs. IF Americans cannot see the hypocrisy in their ALLEGED Democracy after the recent disasterous mockingly Democraticly held election, then from where I sit, they deserve the runaway train coming towards them. The laughable “freedom” they waffle on about, L.O.L. how is that working out with their LOCKDOWNS for Corona ??? If it wasn’t so darn sad, it’s be funny as hell.

    3. Jimbo says

      Those “Chinks” aren’t even people . And as far as your statements go concerning the US soldiers, Don’t make the same mistake like the last time and all the other times before.

      1. Kris Saenen says

        Dear Jimbo, WWII was NOT won by America, but by the Soviet Union. Please name 1 war, outside of Grenade, where the Americans won. Not in Iraq, not in Afghanistan, not in Vietnam, not in Syria, nowhere. Let’s be firmly clear on this point: Pnac and 9/11 are co conspired by zionists and the American elite, and your soldiers go to fight in the war OF terror because of it. Now that millions have died because of American false flags and lies, the tables will be turned and America WILL HAVE TO PAY for all the mass murder it so joyfully brings about in the world. You started the killing, now you’ll pay the price. America is born in genocide and has never stopped, that is the schizophrenic dystopian world you live in.

        1. Frank frivilous says

          Public School version of history? The Russians suffered the largest casualties of WW2 by almost a factor of 3. That includes all the firebombing of German civilian population centers. Without generous lend lease supplies and Stalin’s commissars in the rear guard shooting anyone seen retreating, the Soviet Union would be speaking German…….or Japanese.

          1. Kris Saenen says

            That’s a twisted way of presenting the truth. The Russians suffered far more than any in WW2, who denies? It was the Russians that breached German defenses and arrived at Berlin first. The casualties were so enormous because most of the German defense was on the east front. How big exactly was the allied force landing on D-Day? As for the Russians speaking German? Where’s your knowledge from? Operation Barbarossa was doomed from day 1….

            1. ddearborn says

              Hmmm

              Talk about re-writing history kris, good grief. Eisenhower and the President deliberately stalled Patton in the fall of 1944 by withholding fuel and supplies and therefore literally forcing his Army to stop. That Patton’s Army would have reached Belin before Christmas of 44 and thus ended the war long before the Russians got to Germany is the general consensus of the vast majority of historians, not to mention Patton’s peers among both the Allied and German Militaries.

              It was the treason of Eisenhower that allowed Russia to reach Berlin First, not the prowess or success of the Russian Armies.

      2. ZhongHua says

        Sounds like you’re still butthurt about the Korean War, white faggot. A China that has suffered a century of pain and humiliation by white and Jap subhumans was able to fight the most powerful military force in the world to a stalemate. Also caused the most humiliating and longest US military retreat in history. They did it without an airforce, navy nowhere near the firepower the UN forces had.

        If you sick, pathetic, white LGBT pedo cucks couldn’t even defeat China 70 years ago then what makes you think you can win against China today?

    4. Frank frivilous says

      ROTFLMAO…………Dr. Gerbs has spoken for “The Chinese People”, who were notoriously used in human wave attacks in the Korean War then later in their brief engagement with Vietnam. The only group that can be considered “Cannon Fodder” these days is Antifa and BLM but they are just ideas, right?

  5. ddearborn says

    Hmmm

    And yet the American people have been forced to pay nearly 10 Trillion, suffer over 120,000 US soldiers/sailors/airmen dead (including the returning suicides) many millions of innocent Men, Women and Children killed and 10’s of Millions turned into refugees and our military and economy left in shambles all so that a relative handful of rabid racist, war mongering zionist separatists that now make up 2/3’s of the Jewish Israzeli population can enjoy one of the highest standards of living, lowest levels of government debt and an ever increasing empire built over the rubble of destroyed Nations in the Middle East.

    Taiwan remains a hypothetical exercise. Instead of worrying about what might happen we should be trying to defend ourselves and our country from the decades long tyranny of living under the boot heel of the zionist’s stranglehold over Washington DC. It is so bad that a long held common refrain amongst the elite is that Washington is “israeli occupied territory!”

    1. James Scott says

      Writing about Zionists will never change anything. The word needed is jew. Zionist is a big shield for jews. Jews are what is wrong with the USA not Zionist’s. Ask yourself this question. Would there be any Zionists in the USA if there were no jews? Zionists are a smokescreen hiding the jew banker media mob.

      1. ddearborn says

        Hmmm

        I must respectfully disagree considering that there are in point of fact more non-Jewish members of the zionist party world wide than Jewish members. And considering that “zionism” is a political, not religious ideology, focusing on a specific religion is both disingenuous and practically speaking, counter-productive. IMHO of course.

        I have no more issue with “Judaism” than any other organized “religion”. On the other hand, zionism which is by definition a separatist, supremacist based, bigoted and hateful political ideolgy which dictates the sacrificing of the many for a chosen few is is an order of magnitude worse, and in 2020, far more dangerous threat than fascism. And like fascism, communism and totalitarianism, zionism is a political ideology that has no place in the world in the 21st century.

        Though I will not argue that many evil acts are done under the umbrella of “zionism”.

        1. James Scott says

          How many American Zionists would there be if there were no jews in the USA? You ignored that part because you have no reply. Your whole diatribe is meaningless and more than a little dishonest.

          1. ddearborn says

            Hmmm

            It is your attempt to deceive by introducing a painfully transparent logical fallacy in the form of a straw man while comically professing to be a mind reader that clearly identifies you as the one peddling contemptibly dishonest and meaningless rhetoric, not I James.

            1. James Scott says

              Another non reply to my question. My question is simple and logical. there is no fallacy except of course your own. My question stands. how powerful would Zionists be if there were no jews in the USA?

            2. ddearborn says

              Hmmm

              Any way you slice it, paint it or look at it, your posing a question, which in no way shape or form impugns, let alone impeaches my comments, and and then proceed to answer it yourself in my name using it as evidence against my argument is the definition of a Straw Man fallacy.

              Bottom Line: It is not necessary for me to answer that question (simple and logical or not) unless/until I wish to engage in the new topic of discussion your “question” introduces. Given your tactics this far, that simply is not going to happen. But just so we are clear, your willful ignorance is not a defense for you bad behavior. And that bad behavior can be summarized in just 3 words: Attack, deflect and redirect.

            3. James Scott says

              More gibberish from you. Anyone else reading this with an above room temp IQ will see what you are doing. you are avoiding the FACT that without jews the USA would not have a Zionist problem.

              Giving me opportunities to write the above sentence is great. You have nothing so you want to argue about straw men. History is not over and it will end the same way for the jew mob this time like it did all the other times. Count on it.

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