[Mefustae]

Once again, the US seems to be content in starting another ****ing arms race. Space-based weapons systems are on the up-and-up in Washington, allowing force-projection anywhere in the world without the messy political implications of missiles or the dangers of a normal fixed-wing airstrike.

While the technological aspect is quite cool, it's still ****ing pitiful that these people would openly develop something like this when any moron could tell you it would prove disastrous to international relations. Do they think China or Russia (or even Europe, potentially) are just going to just sit back and do nothing after the US develops the ability to strike targets practically anywhere in the world with impunity?

[TrashMan]

There really is no stopping the arms race, since China and Russia won't stand still and not develop weapons if the USA did nothing.

[Mefustae]

There really is no stopping the arms race, since China and Russia won't stand still and not develop weapons if the USA did nothing.

There's no stopping it, but there's also no need to accelerate it by being the first to develop the technology to spark an arms race. It wouldn't be so bad if this were China, or even Russia, but the fact that it's the US - the nation that so often takes it upon itself to trumpet the virtues of global stability - that the hypocrisy becomes over-bloody-whelming.

[Kosh]

I think it would be bad if just one of those countries had space supremecy and not the rest. It's called balance of power.


EDIT: And you know, when the foreigners stop lending us so much money (which is already starting to happen, hence the slide of the dollar) programs like this will have the legs cut out from under them. The US military is built on the dollar, which right now is on pretty shaky ground as is.

[karajorma]

To be honest I think the US is playing right into China's plan to bankrupt it. What makes it really ****ing funny is that China stole the plan from the US after seeing them use it on the USSR.

[TrashMan]

Poetic justice?

[Mefustae]

To be honest I think the US is playing right into China's plan to bankrupt it. What makes it really ****ing funny is that China stole the plan from the US after seeing them use it on the USSR.

All of this has happened before, and it will happen again.

[Nuke]

the usa abuses its credit. therefore we should make weapons to shoot down foreign bill collectors before they can steal our stolen money

[TrashMan]

Money? What money? We don't have your money. We never had your money. It is a lie!

Try to take it from us and we will pull all of our products from you countries.
Think about it - no crapy TV shows, no Pepsi/coca-cola, no McDonalds, no big Brother, no crappy rap/gangsta music!

erm...

On second thought, if you try to take out money we will MASS import this stuff even more!

[colecampbell666]

We've been helping your dollar with all the over-the-border shopping that Canadians have been doing.

I agree with Mefustae. The US is only accelerating the problem by openly developing space weapons. Or maybe this is a cover up for the space weapons that they already have.

[karajorma]

Yeah but if they do try to start an arms race China will stop bankrolling them. I mean why on Earth would China give America the money to develop weapons to be used against China.

[NGTM-1R]

Yeah but if they do try to start an arms race China will stop bankrolling them. I mean why on Earth would China give America the money to develop weapons to be used against China.

That would, of course, bankrupt China too.

[TrashMan]

YAY! Mass bankrupcy for the masses! YAY!

[Nuke]

or we can just blow it all up

[BloodEagle]

Did the U.S. Government suddenly forget about MAD tactics!?

Lets see what the great clock says....

Five minutes to midnight.

Time to start looting. 

[MP-Ryan]

Yeah but if they do try to start an arms race China will stop bankrolling them. I mean why on Earth would China give America the money to develop weapons to be used against China.

Because China is quite possibly the most astute capitalist nation on Earth.

China can bury the US economically without a single shot fired, and they're going to do it as they proceed to democracy over the next 50 or so years.  The only real opposition the Chinese face for global economic supremacy are the European Union, which is the only political body with the financial clout to do a little fiddling of their own.

The Chinese measure time in centuries; the United States measures time by the date of the next election.  Who do you really think is going to come out on top?

[Kosh]

Yeah but if they do try to start an arms race China will stop bankrolling them. I mean why on Earth would China give America the money to develop weapons to be used against China.

It's already starting to happen, but for different reasons, and it isn't just them. With the mess in the US credit markets, a lot of central bankers are concerned about it and are slowly stopping investing in the US, hence the large drop i nthe dollar against many currency's. This was inevitable, though I'm glad I don't hold any dollars.

The other reason for doing it is the inflation that's been happening over the last few months, mostly with food.

Because China is quite possibly the most astute capitalist nation on Earth.

Ironic considering that its run by a bunch of communists.

China can bury the US economically without a single shot fired,

I think the US is digging its own grave, but China and the other foreign lenders are just providing the shovel.

[MP-Ryan]

Ironic considering that its run by a bunch of communists.

I know, the irony is beautiful - the self-professed capitalist utopia buried economically by the self-professed Communist utopia.  China is Communist in name only; today, it is a nation of capitalists as cut-throat as any Wall Street trader.

I think the US is digging its own grave, but China and the other foreign lenders are just providing the shovel.

Even were the US actually acting in its own economic self-interest, China has far greater natural and population resources.  When you consider that China was essentially a backward, agrarian nation with virtually no industry at the outset of the Second World War, the speed and efficiency of their economic development has eclipsed every Western nation on the planet.  It took them basically 50 years to do what took Britain, France, and the USA nearly 150.

Part of the reason the USA rose to economic dominance over Europe was courtesy of its position with natural resources (that's also what allowed the the US to mobilize and make a significant contribution to the Second World War in less than 5 years).  The only two countries that eclipse Chinese natural resources are Russia (in Siberia) and Canada.

[WeatherOp]

Am I the only one that sees how diabolically sweet this would be. All you would have to do is load it with rocks strong enough to survive re-entry, and toss them. Would likely have the force on impact to flatten just about anything. Of course if you didn't aim right it could overshoot a few hundred miles and hit your ally. Then thats when you just blame it on an asteroid.

[Agent_Koopa]

Am I the only one that sees how diabolically sweet this would be. All you would have to do is load it with rocks strong enough to survive re-entry, and toss them. Would likely have the force on impact to flatten just about anything. Of course if you didn't aim right it could overshoot a few hundred miles and hit your ally. Then thats when you just blame it on an asteroid.

Umm... no. That's why we're all discussing the implications. If everyone thought it was a sissy weapon, why would they be concerned?