Korean Job Discussion Forums

[igotthisguitar]

Ok ... it's been close to 5 years now since ( according to the official line ) "Bin Laden's Al-Quaeda network" pulled off a stunning, simultaneous, perfectly executed, early morning - multiple target attack on the US

If you follow the news it's hard not to see the carnage, hear of the horrors, and wonder why it's happening.

So, what d'yall think? Has the "WAR" on "terror" had a net positive or negative effect? Are there MORE Jihadists and radicals ( including JEW, Gentile or what have you ), OR are there less?

[igotthisguitar]

U.S. Predicts Bumper Year In Arms Sales
By Jim Wolf
Mon Dec 4, 6:38 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is on its way to brokering about $20 billion in arms sales in the fiscal year that began October 1, steady with last year's near-record total, the Pentagon official responsible for such sales said on Monday.



"We're forecasting in the $20 billion range" for fiscal 2007, Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington.

In fiscal 2006, which ended on September 30, foreign military sales notified to Congress reached $20.9 billion, nearly double the $10.6 billion the previous year.

Last year's total was second only to 1993, which topped $30 billion, swollen by sales to the Middle East after the first Gulf War.

Regional security concerns tied to Iran and North Korea were helping drive current sales, Kohler said.

He said Saudi Arabia, for instance, was talking to the United States about shore-hugging littoral combat ships that could cost billions of dollars in coming years.

The ships were of particular interest to the Saudi Navy's Eastern Fleet "that would first confront Iranian aggression if there is any." The Eastern Fleet also was largely responsible for protecting Saudi oil infrastructure in the Gulf, Kohler said.

Such ships, costing some $220 million apiece, are designed to counter submarines, small surface attack craft and mines in heavily contested areas near shore. Different versions are being built for the U.S. Navy by teams led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics Corp.

The United Arab Emirates also was considering purchases designed to boost its naval capabilities, missile defense and command and control, Kohler said.

Sales to Iraq, including armored personnel carriers, plus equipment for Afghan government forces would total about $3 billion in fiscal 2007, about the same as last year, he said.

North Korea, which defied global pressure this year to test-fire missiles and carry out a nuclear test blast, is also spurring arms purchases, Kohler said.

Japan had been seeking to buy Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles faster than its original plan, and the United States expects South Korea to follow suit, he said.

"We're hoping that will be in their next budget," Kohler said. South Korea needs extra Patriot missiles, which could cost $50 million to $300 million, to deal with "the threat from North Korea."

India, for its part, may be moving closer to becoming a U.S. arms client, Kohler said, citing among other things relationships he had built in as many as 11 meetings over time held with some of his Indian counterparts.

Last month, he wound up "probably the best visit I've had out there," thanks to those relationships, he said.

Kohler made clear the United States was balking at Taiwan's interest in buying up to 66 advanced Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 fighter aircraft until it follows through on a package of weapons it requested more than five years ago.

At issue is refusal by the Taiwan legislature, controlled by the political opposition, to purchase up to eight diesel-electric submarines, 12 P-3C Orion anti-submarine aircraft and Patriot anti-missile systems offered by President Bush in 2001.

"Until we see some movement on that, the U.S. government is reluctant to endorse an F-16 sale," Kohler said.

Taiwan has sought the F-16C/D fighter jets over a five-to-10-year period, in a deal that could be worth as much as $5.5 billion.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/aero_arms_summit_arms_sales_usa_dc

[Green Tea]

There is no war... americans lie about everything!

[ddeubel]

Here is a good read about this very subject. Very adroitly, matter of factly, points out that "the war" on terror can never be won, was but an ill conceived notion and we should just "declare victory" (as James Fallows declared in his well thought out essay this year in the Atlantic).

It begins by saying....

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19657

[W.T.Carl]

Who is "we" CANADIAN?

[Green Tea]

^ Hoo Yoo Talkin Too?

[W.T.Carl]

Not some Canadian who is making a living he or she (or it) couldn't make at home on the blood of US troops who died 50 or so years ago.

Mod Edit: Removed flame.

[ddeubel]

This is why we have mods, a perfect test case ......

Just for arguements sake, I don't define myself as Canadian.

I also lost a lot of family in both wars and think the pretense of the present one......is throwing disgrace on the notion of war and all those who REALLY fough for freedom. So get your orientation straight...

I'm also on leave from my position in Canada. I have years of teaching experience and don't worry for my job or seniority.

I have nothing against the soldiers but rather the manipulative present administration which used the shock of 9/11 to opt for revenge and their own self aggrandissment. A disgrace that they used this event for profit, political play and power, power, power...... I do have something against all those who didn't and continue not to, raise a more raucous voice of protest against this abomination. American or otherwise.....


DD

[Green Tea]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

Let's leave the Can vs. US bit out of this. I don't think Ddbeubel had this in mind at all. We're all affected by war.

Good text excerpt. I think this is one aspect we don't hear about often-- the idea that there's a 'war' at all. One commentator has noted that we should classify this conflict as a series of criminal acts and treat them that way; terrorists do not comprise a country, they have no regular army, and they have no declaration of war. But, without pulling out the tinfoil hats, it is much more effective in riling up the population and keeping them distracted from domestic problems to call terror a war. But that bluff doesn't work forever, and when Bush keeps saying "We have to do X because we're at war!" it sounds increasingly desperate.

There's no doubt that war is good for business. But to say that the 'war' on terrorism has been successful or negative in world politics is impossible now. These are the sorts of judgments that we can maybe make in fifty years. Who knows how the invasions will change the middle east in half a century?

Personally, I wish the next president would declare 'war' on global warming, or on domestic issues. As many people die in a few days or weeks from hurricanes or auto collisions or from smoking as in 9/11, and hopefully, inevitably, the public will begin to notice this.

Ken:>

[thepeel]

Is that your girl in your avatar?

[Moldy Rutabaga]

Yes, my girlfriend used to be quite the metal guitar player!

Ken:>

[Bulsajo]

[Hollywoodaction]

That's it. If North Korea attacks, I swear I won't share with you any of my Canadian Armed Forces training. Not to divulge too many secrets, but I can disarm a tank with a hockey stick, a can of beer and a tuque, and baby seals and dynamite make great booby traps (since baby seals are rare in Korea, they can substituted with lap dogs, preferably poodles with pink or blue dyed ears).

[deadman]