Bannon: the US is going to war with China this decade

[The_Doctor]

What exactly would be the rationale for us to go to war with China? And what kind of reward would we get from going to war with China? Put it in opportunity cost terms and cost-reward ratios, and it doesn't make sense for the United States to go to war with China over a) trade b) China expanding into the South Pacific Sea. It makes sense for us to put pressure on China, but not go to war.

Trump is many things but the people around him will definitely be pushing him towards an assessment of opportunity cost, cost-reward, etc. Same thing with Iran. The United States has little reward for waging an intensive war with China or Iran over very, ultimately, little. 

[Person Man]

What exactly would be the rationale for us to go to war with China? And what kind of reward would we get from going to war with China? Put it in opportunity cost terms and cost-reward ratios, and it doesn't make sense for the United States to go to war with China over a) trade b) China expanding into the South Pacific Sea. It makes sense for us to put pressure on China, but not go to war.

Trump is many things but the people around him will definitely be pushing him towards an assessment of opportunity cost, cost-reward, etc. Same thing with Iran. The United States has little reward for waging an intensive war with China or Iran over very, ultimately, little. 

It will keep Trump in power. At least that is what a war with Iran will do.

[The_Doctor]

A war with Iran or China would probably spiral out of control, and probably wreck the GOP. If you thought Iraq was bad, try a war with China or Iran. We don't have even a fig leaf to stand on. Trump's popularity might be temporarily boosted but if the war becomes a stalemate, or whatnot, the GOP is going to face a crisis that makes Iraq look like a dance through the fields of Kansas.

The Chinese have their own problems and don't want a war with us, either. They aren't equipped to fight us. But we're not equipped to take out a country with 1 billion people and be mired into a long war. Bush tried a war with a 4 million population country the size of I don't know, Virginia and it wrecked his presidency.

For all the bluster, Trump and the GOP don't actually want a war that would be a millstone around their necks. Iraq is definitely something that haunts the GOP and was a big reason for Trump's rise to the nomination as many Republicans tried to rid themselves of the Bush legacy. Remember, this man has claimed proudly that Bush went to war based on false pretexts in a Republican presidential debate and said he opposed Iraq from the start. It proved a selling point in South Carolina.

[Green Line]

If you value human life at all, you oppose a war with China.  Millions of people would have to die.

[politics_king]

It was kind of strange, Hillary seemed to want to start a war with Russia while Trump clearly wants one with China. The rhetoric from the Tillerson, Mattis and Bannon have spewed, Mattis has a more pragmatic approach but still a stance against China.

First thing Trump does getting elected, takes a call with Taiwan. It was a strategic move to agitate China and lend a supportive hand to Taiwan. I actually fully support Taiwan also and the issue will come to a head one day. China is stubborn and a growing power, Trump is trying to bully them to see if they take the bait.

It's pretty scary to think about. I can't see how this Adminstration will last 4 whole years, heads will roll once a lot of these policies backfires.

[Badger]

"Hillary is the hawkish candidate!"

Well, she is, but that doesn't mean Trump is good when it comes to foreign policy.

Yes. Because undoubtedly Clinton's top advisors would've been predicting war with China.

(and a special single digit salute to the mod who deleted my entire post for my implying MT was a moron instead of simply removing the TWO WORD offending sentence)