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Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

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111–120 of 228 posts

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Serious question: Would you rather the US had started this war or Iran obtained nuclear weapons? The former existence of the JCPOA "Iran nuclear deal" is what indicates that this is a false dichotomy, not a serious question.

As I pointed out elsewhere, the "Iran nuclear deal" was very similar to the "North Korea nuclear deal" that prevented the North Koreans from building nuclear weapons.

The deal with North Korea fell through because the USA didn't keep their side of the agreement to build LWRs in exchange of NK decommissioning their dual-purpose reactors, Kim Jong-Il then escalated it all after Bush's admin said they would cut oil shipments. It was another sequence of events from hawkish behaviour, the USA does not have the patience (nor the political system) to deal with long, drawn out diplomatic solutions.

> There are a myriad of indications the Iranians are building nuclear weapons, the most obvious of these being the enrichment of uranium far past the purity you'd need for any other purpose.

Of course, that's the whole point of Iran creating this lever, it needs to be plausible enough to force negotiations, as I said before: Netanyahu has been screaming about impeding Iranian nukes for 30 years, they never materialised.

Do you know what will materialise a nuclear program? Getting attacked and having your government decapitated while in negotiations, after a previous agreement was reneged on.

I need to state this before someone comes with a strawman: I don't support the Iranian regime at all, it's absolutely brutal, and tyrannical. I have friends who are exiled Iranians, I've been around their families and heard their stories many times.

I'm plenty aware of how bad it is but they aren't stupid or irrational, the only levers for international negotiations they had were keeping their nuclear program in limbo, and the strait. Those levers weren't enough to deter Israel and the USA so their only rational option left is to pursue a nuclear weapon if they hold power for a few more years.

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#112

This feels like the 1920s all over again. Germany is riddled with structural and economic failures, yet instead of addressing them, politicians are pivoting toward a war footing. The economy has been trapped in a cycle of recession and stagnation since the pandemic, but the current political response is to debate cuts to social benefits and tax increases. This is compounded by a self-inflicted energy crisis, shutting…

If we’re comparing Nazis, can we include both sides of the Atlantic?

Why would I care what others do or don't do, know or don't know, like or don't like, when it comes to Germans serving other right-wing extremist Germans talking points and votes on a silver platter, because they cannot be arsed to actually read and take seriously the accounts and warning of historians who lived through those times? I can't even figure what point you think you are making.

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#113
post #109
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you certainly don't know how belligerent the Hapsburgs were

Weren't they supposed to marry, not war?

that's just a myth, there even is a black book on them (in German). one of the many examples is the Magnate Conspiracy, from WP: "Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan (Francesco Cristoforo Frangipani) were ordered to the Emperor's Court. The note said that, as they had ceased their rebellion and had repented soon enough, they would be given mercy from the Emperor if they would plead for it. They were arrested the moment they arrived in Vienna, and put on trial. They were held in Wiener Neustadt and beheaded on April 30, 1671."

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[flagged]

Serious question: would Iran obtaining nuclear weapons make my gasoline more expensive?

Would the US war make life better for anyone except the US military industrial complex and Netanyahu personally? I mean, even the goal of liberating Iranians from their regime has been abandoned.

> now everyone in the region periodically submits to nuclear blackmail

Are China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore at this moment cowering to nuclear blackmail? Is North Korea ruling over them and having them submit to its demands?

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#115
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is definitely truth that Europe has relied on US defense for too long, That wasn't the problem for the USA, on the contrary. «The U.S. is lobbying against SAFE because it mandates contractors from the EU/EFTA/Ukraine. One reason why Tusk is speaking candidly about how shaky the U.S. is as an ally: Washington says it wants Europe to arm itself and take its security into its own hands, but then it demands Europ…

Even before Trump, and the invasion of Ukraine, it was transparently obvious that the idea of minimum spending commitment to NATO was intended to prop up the US arms industry rather than actually achieve anything military. To a certain extent the US occupation of Germany was intended to prevent Germany rearming on its own.

> it was transparently obvious that the idea of minimum spending commitment to NATO was intended to prop up the US arms industry

...to Trump. European leaders took it literally: since the USA stopped being a reliable partner, Europe needs to depend on itself for protection. It makes zero sense to buy American weapons if you can produce/purchase them on the continent.

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#116
post #41
post #2

It's still baffling to see the US lose so much face in so short a time. There is definitely truth that Europe has relied on US defense for too long, but what the US got in return is hard to put into words and economic terms. We bought your tech, culture, defense and so much other stuff. This rift won't close anytime soon

It's a classic case of falling for your own BS. The world's rules were written by them, for them, and their allies notably european countries were willing to go along for the ride for all the side benefit of said safety and stability, both pretended it was a gift out of niceness while it was actually massively profitable But then a portion of the US started believing the whole gift part, and now they're destroying th…

> But then a portion of the US started believing the whole gift part, and now they're destroying their own control of the world order and forcing other to realign out of their control

I'm still not sure whether Trump actually believes it or if he's just using it as a propaganda tool. I remember how he reported a conversation with Macron telling him that Macron will have to increase the cost of drugs for French citizens. It was so completely out of touch as drug pricing works completely different in the EU. But he definitely likes to directly imply that all positive aspects of life in Europe are being sponsored by the USA (rather than citizens paying higher taxes). Who knows, maybe he believes it, I wouldn't be surprised really.

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re right that European nuclear is not "independent" if that means "mined entirely inside Europe". But the dependency profile is not the same for Russian pipeline gas. Uranium is globally traded, compact, cheap to stockpile relative to the energy it contains, and available from several non-Russian suppliers (Kazakhstan, Canada, Namibia, Australia...). The harder choke points are conversion, enrichment, and reactor…

Europe managed to get off Russian Gas, but didn’t manage to get off Russian uranium industry. You correctly identified the chokepoints and Russia can’t be replaced fast there.

> Europe managed to get off Russian Gas, but didn’t manage to get off Russian uranium industry.

Only Slovakia and Hungary. They will need to find a way. (Finland planned it but cancelled after Russia invaded Ukraine.)

There is zero chance that new nuclear plants in Europe will use any Russian tech or fuel.

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#118
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is teetering on the edge of a financial abyss. These are all just foreshocks.

If this is true, it's more true of the larger European countries.

I don't believe it's true about the USA, and it's even less true about Europe.

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We didn't 'rellied on US defense'. We have a different policy... We have Mauser, Carl Walther, Sauer & Sohn, Haenel, DWM, Krupp, Reinmetall, Hckler & Koch and more. We know how to do military

I hope you're French, otherwise you are still relying on US defense.

I'm german and as you just read in the article, Rheinmentall is a german company.

And from whom do i depend on US defense? Against Russia? Who can barely make it in Ukraine? Middle east were everyone is fighting everyone and were Iran is very very pissed at the USA?

Tell me what defense do i need against whom?

Re: Germany Overtakes US in Ammunition Production Capacity

#120
post #62
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The more shocking thing might even be that this whole mess is allowed to continue and that there is no way to stop an out of hand situation. The whole US system can't be trusted even when this administration is gone, it's just broken.

This is the truth. It would only take half a dozen Republicans to stop the madness now so the obvious question is why don't they? The political system and elite institutions have failed their country. Does the US self correct with the next two election cycles? Hard to believe right now.

> It would only take half a dozen Republicans to stop the madness now

Well, the alternative for now is Vance. Hard to say which one is worse.

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