He might have read Mahan, but he might be wearing the shoes of Willy 2.

Cheers

I don't get it JMH. My edumacation is rather incomplete, so to speak. I know it isn't funny if you have to explain it, but care to anyways?

can't say that *i* feel any safer now that Saddam is dead, but i do feel vindicated, and happy for the Iraqi's. they have GOT to feel safer now that he, and his sons, can't hurt them anymore. i do, however, have increased safety concerns due to backlash over Saddam's death.

- The most important political ramification to Saddam’s demise is the Sunnis no longer have a figure-head to rally around.
- So far, it appears that there will be no more or no less attacks in Baghdad…

Maybe I'm alone in this, but the whole Saddam execution thing seemed anticlimactic to me.

AFSis - I went over to Rogue Gunner, but I doubt he's pleased. I stepped in it over the repayment of the WWII loans between the US and GB.

Now the Chinese Navy thing.........that's scary and I've thought that for a while.

Ry - I don't know what Mr. Heinrichs means either. It must be an inside inside joke.

Willy 2 is Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. He was quite enthused by Mahan's ideas and decided he needed a fleet which could take on the RN. Unfortunately German Naval production never caught up to the UK and his dreams were rather dashed in WW1.

The Soviet Navy had a similar problem re the USN. Regardless of their efforts, the Red Fleet could not match the productiveness of the US warship industry; it also could not match the USN's deployability. I am yet to be convinced that the PLAN will be any different. I am not suggesting the PLAN is not a threat, I am suggesting that its threat not be inflated.

Cheers

China has a local source of petroleum now, in the Indonesian waters, but will soon rely on the Sakhalin Field up the western shore of the Pacific.

They may eventually build a pipeline to the Black Sea to get some of that oil, but their ships, if any, in the Black Sea would be very vulnerable (big ship on a very small ocean). If they only need a Coastal Navy to protect the supertankers which will be bringing them their Russian gas and oil, I don't see much of a need for a real Blue Water Navy, and my guess is that they won't build anything bigger than a DD. A dangerous fleet of the new quieter diesel subs is definitely a possibility, though, and with help from refuelling at Russian ports up the Kamchatka, such a fleet could pose a bad threat to shipping in the Northwest.

China can be enough of a problem with a large Littoral Navy, even if they never build a Blue Water fleet.

I get where you're coming from, JMH. But as we're seeing with OEF and OIF for land forces our ideas about what was necessary seem to be off. If, and its a big if, say a Hillary were to come to office and shoot ADM Mullen's plan to build back up to a 4-500 ship Navy again we could see exactly what the Sovs never did: parity in capablity.
I may have to send you some stuff from a guy I know who follow the PLAN seriously. He's done things about the PLAN carrier program and wrote something called 'Prognosis for China'. He might differ with you on CHinese capabilities, current, and have firmer sources to back it up. Give me a ring if your interested. And have a happy New Year either way, JMH.