Exchanging These Down, Here
19 minutes ago
Friday, March 1, 2019
Pakistan and India
The conflict between Pakistan and India is troubling. I was pretty concerned when they started shooting down each others jets. By the way, was anyone else surprised to see that old MiG 21s could go toe to toe with F-16 jets?
It does look like things have calmed down a bit but tensions could easily escalate. India is having an election right now so that complicates matters. My main concern is that they are neighbors with nuclear missiles. They are so close that there’s very little time to figure out if a launch is real or not. The use it lose it risk is high.
Pakistan has some serious problems in any conflict. For example, India could park its aircraft carrier off the coast of Pakistan and choke off trade. The conventional forces of India could dictate terms of any settlement. That puts Pakistan in a touch situation. Either they accept Indian terms or use their nuclear trump cards.
Of course, the 500 pound gorilla in the room is China right next door. How will they react?
For that matter, what will the US do? We’ve been in fairly tight with Pakistan when we needed the country as a base for operations in the area. Now that we are pulling out of the region, do we need to be such good buddies with the authoritarian regimes of Pakistan? One would think our natural ally would be India, the world’s largest democracy.
Why be concerned about a local conflict half a world away? When nuclear weapons are used anywhere on planet earth, everyone feels the effects. Even if they have just a conventional war, it could set off world wide economic collapse. All the major economies are connected.
Interesting times.
-Sixbears
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I'm not hearing anything on MSM about this; everything is about Cohen.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you have expand your news sources? When there's a DC circus I always look to see what else in the world is going on.
Deletea really skilled mig driver can eaasily hold his own against an average or poor f-16/17/18 driver.
ReplyDeleteit's the crew not the equiptment that is importanrt. and the ONLY way to have skilled crews is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. trainers do not count. you HAVE to have the air/seat time in the real thing to get and stay proficient at your job.
I was surprised to see exactly how fast those MiGs really can go. I can see that in the hands of an experienced and well trained pilot it could do the job.
DeleteIf these two are next door neighbors, aren't they worried about nuclear fall out and consequences of the drop ? My guess is anywhere a bomb drops and detonates, the survivors will flee directly away from blast.
ReplyDeleteBorder or no border, you will have refugees crossing the border. Chaos - likely a lot of blood spilled. Its almost as if destroying them is destroying you.
There is no way that it would not expand into a horrific humanitarian crisis.
DeleteThose 2 have been saber rattling at each other for 100 years. I think their like an old married couple that like to bicker .
ReplyDeleteThey've also killed each other in amazing numbers. The countries have had a pretty bloody divorce from each other at the end of the Colonial period.
DeleteAs long a there are humans alive on this Earth, there will be "wars and rumors of wars".
ReplyDeletePut religion in the mix and it gets even nastier.
DeleteI remember clearly the last time they were close to nuking each other, was an unsettling time. And you're right we will feel the economic impact if they go to war.
ReplyDeleteIt would only take one miscalculation to set the world on fire.
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