The Canadian Navy

Unbelievable. Canada's entire working submarine fleet was put out of commission recently when their last working submarine was grounded.

That's right. Mighty Canada's submarine fleet was four ships strong, bought used from a mothballed British fleet. But only one was working, until it caught fire. Now Canada has no submarine fleet.

This on top of news last year that Canada couldn't send any troops on any overseas peace-keeping missions of any kind since they didn't have enough materiel to do the job. Nor the money to fix the situation.

They've also withdrawn from the DEW early warning network, because -- again -- they can't afford it. They also no longer consider Russia a threat to themselves and figure we can do the job by ourselves just fine, covering them in the process.

Why is this? Because, like European nations, Canada has downsized its military budget for years, relying on America's military prowess to take care of them. Yep, rather than do their own constitutional duty, they abdicate by default their own national security to another nation to handle for them.

And why is that? Because, again like Europe, the Canadians have a massive and expensive national public health system to support. I don't have the link any more, but a study showed that most European nations' military budgets, as a percentage of their total GDP and their own government spending is only a fraction of what we spend in America. They have let us take the brunt of military spending on their behalf so they can sink large sums into free health care. If America was to seriously reconsider its military presence in Europe, with an eye to making the European Union take care of its own borders and security, it would quickly bankrupt and ruin those nations. They simply can't afford it.

Take a look at NATO, where America is the muscle. Britain certainly has a large and dependable military, but after them nations like France and Germany are pitiful in comparison. Why do you think we got involved in Kosovo? (Remember that quagmire? We're still there, though you don't hear the "anti-war" Left ever talk about it. Where is Clinton's exit strategy? Someone ask him.) Two major reasons: First and foremost, only we had the technology and might to do the job. Second, but also important, is that we are frequently Europe's handmaid, doing their dirty work for them. President Clinton was especially bad at Euro-worship and kowtowing. It's why President Bush so enrages them -- he's not going to do Europe's bidding, nor pick up their tabs.

On the other hand, I suppose we should be glad that we are moving into a world where nations feel comfortable in foregoing robust militaries for defense. On the gripping hand, however, comes the clear historical lesson that such nations always come to grief, being crushed or defeated or moved into irrelevance by nations who see an opportunity.

China is paying attention. Thanks to their "one child" policy, that nation now has something like 20 million "excess" men, men who will never find a wife nor get married because there aren't enough women available. That's twenty million angry and repressed and idle young men needing something to do. They are perfect fodder for any foolish military adventure that may come.

Like Taiwan, which China means to return to Communist control soon. Thanks to President Clinton (again with that man!), they were able to buy enormous amounts of high-end military technology (via Loral - Hughes Aerospace) during the past decade that analysts are seeing being deployed right now. They have also spent the last decade piling up enormous forces along the Strait of China in preparation for a "lightning invasion" of Taiwan. They are gambling that they can send enough ships across the straits, with enough men, to force Taiwanese capitulation before America can even get a carrier group into the area in response.

Then it's just a matter of waiting out the outrage. China holds an enormous amount of American debt; they are a primary trading partner and a keystone of our economy. They are now our biggest competitor for oil and gas on the world market. They can, if they want, bring our economy crashing down, and the world with it.

If they choose. That's the rub of any response to their still-stated threats to annex Taiwan. Can we react fast enough to stop or slow an invasion? Can we diplomatically out-maneuver them after? People mistakenly see the world as "unipolar" with the mighty American military and our economy as the only "hyperpower" standing. But the truth is more subtle.

We are a regional world now and China is emerging very dramatically as the power in their region, with Japan, Korea and now India making their own plays for dominance. With our bases and forces spread all over the world (Did you know about America's military involvement in Columbia? Look it up.) and our involvement in the Middle East for the foreseeable future (Syria or Iran may be next.) the Chinese are beginning to calculate how successful a gamble they have in retaking Taiwan. They mean to, one day, and America now, thanks to lax defense from Europe and the other nations of the Anglosphere (Britain and Australia excepted), can't respond meaninfully.

Thanks Canada.