OK. Sorry. 
[quote=âDangermouseâ]Lets not talk about the delayed deployment of US made Apache helicopters into the Army Air Corps because of problems with Engines, avionics and general safety issues. The Lynx, a 1960âs aircraft, still performs better than the Apache Longbow without the modifications currently being installed to the Apache.[/quote]Oh really?..The Apache in it various forms has done quite well in a variety of theaters. In its newest form it is even better. And the AH-1W was/is a real winner.
Living in the 80âs? Not anymore! Improved radar, a helmet-mounted display system, increased payload and performance: Welcome the newest chapter in the AH-1 Cobra-USMC story. The AH-1Z Super Cobra era is about to begin. The AH-1Z, or âZulu,â is essentially a technology upgrade to the Corpsâ existing fleet of 180 AH-1Ws. (Image from USMC Website).
military.com/soldiertech/0,1 ⌠a,00.html
[quote]without the modifications currently being installed to the Apache.
[/quote]
Oh, Iâm not denying that it is extremely good - itâs just that the ones we have just ordered for the UK are not up to the specs we asked for, which is why some of them have been sent back to the US and the rest have been delayed from entering service life for nearly two years.
Also we have had some problems with the powerplant and avionics which are being refitted by BAe systems.
Alot of the avionics and engine problems were sand related anda coupleof others, would you believe, rain related.
I think the weapons systems and available payloads are superb and as far as I know no problems have been discovered.
Some of the problems may have arisen because of the UK asking for a âbasic versionâ so our own stuff could be added which better caters for the current needs of the military, but I still maintain that it should do what it says on the box upon delivery.
War in Europe when Eu falls apart?
Germany on the other side again?
Can I surrender right now ? ⌠seeing the picture above 
I will be busy now to get rid of my German accent and ask my English realtives to adopt me later âŚ
there were lots of countries in support of USA after the attacks in 2001. I know for one thing Canada is still in Afghanistan, even though the USA drops bombs on us. I know we arent much, but its something we beleive in and support. there was evidence of a problem in Afghanistan so we supported the action, as well as other nations. if iam not mistaken France sent troops or equipment. so there were allies. only when USA decided to act unilaterally, sorry iam forgetting poland, did the rest of the world object especially since weapons inspectors were doing their job.[/quote]
itâs confusing that you consider sending a few troops as proof of support from allies and yet completely dismiss the troops sent by britain, australia, and poland in iraq. it seems you created a new definition for the word âunilateralâ that means âwithout french supportâ.
[quote]in dealing with americas influence, read The Paradox of American Power by Joseph S. Nye jr. talks about how there are two kinds of power, hard power (militray) and soft power (influence). americas soft power under Bush has gone dramaticaly down. all over the world anti-American sentiment has grown. if some American politician were to stand up now and say some country has plans to attack the USA with wmdâs, the rest of the world would laugh at them.
[/quote]
lol. and what about all the soft power that europe and the un have? what has that huge reserve of soft power accomplished in the last 20 years?
soft power means NOTHING if you donât back it with hard power. us soft power(negotiations) has increased temendously because of our willingness to use hard power. witness libya and the current rumblings in lebanon. even though most of the middle east strongly opposed the iraq war, the us actually has more negotiating power there than before.
if anything, france, germany, and the un have lost huge amounts of soft power in the last 5 years because of their unwillingness to use hard power.
china does not have the #2 military nor does it have the #2 economy. wishful thinking on your part.
china has voiced repeatedly their willingness to invade and take over taiwan.
china has hundreds of missles pointed towards taiwan at this very minute.
very few other countries post-cold-war have had high ranking military commanders make veiled threats about nuking us cities.
itâs really sad that someone on a taiwan board has to ask why selling arms to china is bad. :help:
[quote]soft power means NOTHING if you donât back it with hard power. us soft power(negotiations) has increased temendously because of our willingness to use hard power. witness libya and the current rumblings in lebanon. even though most of the middle east strongly opposed the Iraq war, the us actually has more negotiating power there than before.
[/quote]
I think you just might be right here, Flipper. Negotiations,coffee around a big table and a handshake infront of the press mean nothing if there is no intention to back up what you say or carry out what you threaten.
when i use the term soft power, i wasnt refering to the ability to negotiate. its more of a respect thing. people dont always do things because they are under threat, but because they want to or are positivly influenced. all these kids out there trying to dress and act like rappers, its not because they have a gun held to their head and forced to do so (hard power), but because they think its cool and want to follow that lifestyle they see (soft power). so soft power is the abilty to influence without needing to use the threat of violence or retaliation.
here is just a little bit of info about members who support afghanistan and numbers too.
you can read info about nato nations sending troops on this site
nato.int/issues/afghanistan/ ⌠tributions
on the following site is more info about countries supporting war in afghanistan state.gov/s/ct/index.cfm?docid=5194
[quote]Russia offered to share information and the use of their airspace for humanitarian flights.
China offered to share information.
India offered to share information and pledged support of U.S. actions.
Japan offered diplomatic and military (logistical) support, and assistance to Pakistan.
Australia offered combat military forces and invoked Article IV of the ANZUS Treaty, declaring September 11 an attack on Australia.
South Korea offered military medical and air and naval logistics support.
UAE and Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic relations with the Taliban.
Pakistan agreed to cooperate fully with the request for assistance and support.
Secured overflight and landing rights from 27 countries.
Obtained 46 multilateral declarations of support.
19 nations of NATO invoked Article V declaring an attack on one as an attack on all.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously enacted a binding resolution requiring all member states to pursue terrorists and those who support them, including financial support systems. [/quote]
here is some more for you from the following web site centcom.mil/Operations/Coalition/joint.htm
[quote]In Afghanistan alone, our coalition partners are contributing nearly 8,000 troops to Operation Enduring Freedom and to the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul
[quote=âtroy_westpointâ]when I use the term soft power, i wasnât refering to the ability to negotiate. its more of a respect thing. people dont always do things because they are under threat, but because they want to or are positivly influenced. all these kids out there trying to dress and act like rappers, its not because they have a gun held to their head and forced to do so (hard power), but because they think its cool and want to follow that lifestyle they see (soft power). so soft power is the abilty to influence without needing to use the threat of violence or retaliation.
[/quote]
Actually, I think the misinterprertation of your point makes the stronger point. Teddy Roosevelt didnât say âSpeak softly, and carry a big stickâ for nothing.
The most powerful person in Iraq today has no army and rarely leaves his home. Anyone who believes that the sword is mightier than hearts and minds has yet to be truly tested in this life.
Hearts and minds is one thing.
Pretending to negotiate and bring on a softly softly approach (to pretend to have the moral high ground), to get back at another country (the US) and open up a questionable arms export policy (to China) like the EU has been doing over the past few years is completely wrong.
Well all the hearts and minds did not have a chance when Saddam was putting bullets through their brains. Thanks to the Americans for giving Iraqis with hearts a chance to use their brains and live.
how many have been killed since iraqi freedom has begun and how many were killed in the same amount of time before it happend? i would like to see those figures.
Those figures have already been given Troy.
Go back to the earlier threads on this subject and check it out.
If my memory serves me, the followng are estimates of the total number dead:
3 million Iraqis and Iranians in the war
1 million killed, gassed, deliberately allowed to die, tortured, etc. by Saddam
5 million exiled from the country (one fifth of the population)
500,000 to 1 million from corruption (France/UN) from the Oil for Food program which allowed Saddam to rearm and build palaces while his people starved
AND
15,000 to 18,000 (most reliable estimates of total civilian deaths in Iraq since the invasion). Others have put this as high as 30,000 but it most likely includes Saddamâs soldiers and coalition soldiers killed in the war and ongoing occupation as well. Again, most of these 15,000 to 18,000 deaths were NOT at the hands of US troops but insurgents and deliberate actions by Saddam to put military installations in heavily populated civilian areas. Witness the insurgents in Fallujah who deliberately used mosques and hospitals to fight from.
So, I would say gosh 4 to 5 million on the one hand with 15,000 on the other most of which are attributed to the terrorists, insurgents, criminals Saddam deliberately released and Baathists and I would say things are going pretty well for the average Iraqi, especially the Kurds and Shiites. No? But then perhaps thatâs just my view.
One thing that never fails to earn my complete and utter contempt for the leftist activists was the Peace Marches. Hello? What peace? Hundreds of thousands were dying under Saddam for decades? Peace? What the fuck?
are you using the term âsoft powerâ to refer to politics or culture? because, culturally, the us has never had more influence amongst more people than it does today.
iâd be interesting in hearing an example of what you consider a successful application of âsoft powerâ.
This makes for depressing readingâŚ
[quote]http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | A week ago, the conventional wisdom was that George W. Bush had seen the error of his unilateral cowboy ways and was setting off to Europe to mend fences with Americaâs ââallies.ââ I think not. Lester Pearson, the late Canadian prime minister, used to say that diplomacy is the art of letting the other fellow have your way. All week long President Bush offered a hilariously parodic reductio of Pearsonâs bon mot, wandering from one European Union gabfest to another insisting how much he loves his good buddy Jacques and his good buddy Gerhard and how Europe and America share
Sigh, I AM depressed these days. My old EU dream gets perverted to some kind of âEU = Switzerland in large extendâ (make business with anyone if you can make some money, no matter if dictator or not).
EU/Germany supporting China to nuke Taiwan.
Germanies unemployment rate rising 12.5 and more and no-one cares anymore.
Opposition not able to replace the governement (or where is Angela Merkels great speech?).
âOld Europeâ became a positive term to us (unlike in US, the term âoldâ has a positive value in Europe), but ⌠if no action done in Germany I rather call it âexpired Europeâ. Sigh.
When will Germany free itself from the Schroeder Fischer disaster? When will it come to its senses? Wake up? Re-embrace the Atlanticist position? Reward free enterprise? Starting thinking and acting rationally?
[quote]Germany risks becoming the new sick man of Europe as the Continentâs one-time economic giant sinks deeper into malaise and falls further behind the rest of the EU, experts warned yesterday. The country whose post-war recovery was hailed as an economic miracle is no longer basking in prosperity but increasingly languishing in poverty, especially when compared with rival nations. The turnaround is likely to prove a huge blow to a nation which prided itself on its high standards of living and looked down on the rest of Europe as workshy, inefficient and technologically backward. The era when its car industry symbolised the countryâs formidable mix of innovation and engineering skill is now over and the future seems to consist of a long period of managed decline.
By 2011, per capita income in Germany will have been overtaken by Spain, until recently one of the poorest in the European Union. Most startling is the finding that Germany has fallen way behind Britain in economic performance and individual purchasing power. While Germany was eight percentage points ahead of Britain just a decade ago, now Britain is nine points ahead. If that trend continues, Germany, which has had the lowest growth rate in Europe for almost 10 years, will eventually be close to the bottom of the EUâs established 15 members (excluding the 10 new members who joined last May), just above Greece and Portugal.
Even Italy, which is considered one of the weaker links in the euro currency zone, is likely to reach parity with Germany by 2007, new figures show. The study, commissioned by the newspaper Die Welt and backed by economists from the Cologne-based Institute of the German Economy and the New Social Market Economy Initiative, will be released today as new unemployment figures are expected to show the jobless total to have risen yet again to around 5.2 million.
Germany could soon be receiving more money from the EU funds which support economically-disadvantaged regions, than it pays in, Stefan Bergheim, from Deutsche Bank Research, told Die Welt which published the findings under the headline âFrom Master to Mediocreâ. Experts from the New Social Market Economy Initiative recommend that the German government follow Britainâs example and concentrate on tackling problems in the highly-regulated labour market in order to pull Germany out of its malaise. They argue that the reforms Chancellor Gerhard Schr
At least the opposition is attacking now. Hopefully Merkel and Stoiber have sorted out this thing who is candidate.
Schroeder is the first of our chancelors to question the atlantic integration of Europe. I dunno why he seems serious to break with US. I mean, what else do you want as a partner?
US is strong, powerful economy, lots of chances to do busines, wants to defend us etc. What else does Schroeder want? A free blowj⌠?
[and US is entertaining, important qualification of a good friend! Death punishment/last meals on the internet, policemen putting housewives in handcuffs who where speeding with 27 miles instead of 25 always on our TV, sigh âŚ]
Nono, do not send Condy on a suicide mission for that bl⌠And Schroeders 2nd First lady with the horse teeth is too dangerous âŚ
Finally, the press in Germany seems to focus on problems again. Over 5 million unemployed / a rate exceeding 12.5% have taken over the headlines in some media now. Replacing the old âGreat, Bush loses in Iraq / see, we told youâ headlines.
First time Spiegel mentions the protests in Taiwan against EUâs war-driving action in Asia.
The threat of US congress to employ a high tech-ban on EU if they drop the weapon-sales-ban against China have achieved this attention.
The article also mentions, even now German and French companies sell like crazy to PRC even now, which would make the weapon-ban meaningless anyway.
Who is Euâs next friend? Araft is dead, so they must find someone new I guess.
Well, it looks like many in the EU are voting with their feet.
[quote]
Iowa Goes Dutch
Parkersburg, Ia. - Dutch dairy farmer Gerben ten Hoeve likes Iowa.
Milking at Verlyn and Betty Finkâs 100-head dairy farm near here, ten Hoeve, 24, has become a walking advertisement for Iowa as a dairy destination.
âThereâs a lot more opportunity here in Iowa than in Holland if you want to do something,â ten Hoeve tells other dairy producers back in the Netherlands, the homeland he and his wife, Julie, left in September.
Last month, Iowa took a huge step toward becoming the promised land for several thousand Dutch dairy farmers like ten Hoeve who are thinking about selling their cows and farms in the Netherlands and milking elsewhere.[/quote]
desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs. ⌠28003/1030
And this from the New York Times:
[quote]
More Dutch Plan to Emigrate as Muslim Influx Tips Scales
AMSTERDAM - Paul Hiltemann had already noticed a
darkening mood in the Netherlands. He runs an agency
for people wanting to emigrate and his client list had
surged.
But he was still taken aback in November when a Dutch
filmmaker was shot and his throat was slit, execution
style, on an Amsterdam street.
In the weeks that followed, Mr. Hiltemann was
inundated by e-mail messages and telephone calls.
âThere was a big panic,â he said, âa flood of people
saying they wanted to leave the country.â
To Mr. Hiltemann, the emigration consultant, what is
remarkable is not only the surge of interest among the
Dutch in leaving, but also the type of people
involved. âThey are successful people, I mean, urban
professionals, managers, physiotherapists, computer
specialists,â he said. Five years ago, he said, most
of his clients were farmers looking for more land.
Mr. Buysse, who employs a staff of eight to process
visas, concurred. He said farmers were still
emigrating as Europe cut agricultural subsidies.
'âWhat is new,â he said, âis that Dutch people who are
rich or at least very comfortable are now wanting to
leave the country.â[/quote]