Should we send US troops to Taiwan?

The case needs to be made. I did volunteer for Vietnam and do a tour there. I regret it. They were a nation of too many cowards when it came for fighting for their own freedom.

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My uncle did the same in the Korean war in a UN alliance. Initially, the South Koreans were a useless military. Then they were mixed in with Americans in the KATUSA program, which continues to this day and was successful. We had ROKs in Vietnam. They seemed less interested in seeking out the enemy than Americans, but they were there and seemed to be a highly disciplined Army.

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I regret that we sent troops to Afghanistan. That was another nation of too many cowards unwilling to fight for their own freedom.

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Then there is Ukraine. They ARE willing to fight for their freedom. And neither I nor anyone else has advocated sending US or NATO troops to Ukraine.

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So what is Taiwan analogous to? UK in WW II. It is a large island (14,000 square miles—Hawaii is 6,400 square miles) which is more difficult to invade than U.K. (96,000 square miles) U.K. has not been invaded since 1066. They had US troops after Pearl Harbor and they were flying missions over Germany. But mainly U.K was defending itself with our materiel.

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I do not know if the Taiwanese are willing to fight for their defense like Ukraine. If not, to hell with them.

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They were invaded and subjugated in WW II by the Japanese, as was mainland China. We helped China big time in WW II. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a thank you.

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Taiwan needs materiel as U.K. did in WW II. I am not sure they have insufficient troops to defend themselves. Taiwan has 24 million people; Communist China, a 2M-man military. I am not sure Taiwan has been spending adequate amounts on their own defense. Even if they have, you would not expect them to be able to win against a nation as big as Communist China without help.

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Islands are very hard to invade. U.K. has not been invaded successfully in a thousand years, and they are only 20 miles from France. Taiwan is 81 miles from China. Much of Taiwan has a cliffs of Dover type coast. There is also thick vegetation in Taiwan like Vietnam.

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The 81-mile wide strait is an excellent nuclear weapons target. Using nuclear warheads in the ocean within the territorial waters of Taiwan kills only enemy sailors and enemy navy ships. No homes destroyed or innocent civilians killed.

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Would that cause China to use nukes against us? Hard to tell. If we are not using them to hit the mainland, seems like they would not have justification to hit our mainland. They could hit our naval invasion force attacking Cuba or someone, except we are not doing any such invasion. If they retaliated against our sinking their invasion force with nukes by attacking our territory, we would surely attack their territory and they cannot want that.

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We should have a NATO of the Pacific, but those countries are all so racially hostile to each other that they will not die for each other. If the Taiwanese will not fight for their own country, and/or the Japanese and South Koreans and Australians and Fillipinos and so on will not fight for Taiwan as seems to be the case, then I think getting Americans to fight there is a non-starter.

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But I suspect maybe the Taiwanese WILL fight and I am sure we should provide materiel as we did U.K. and Australia and New Zealand and the Philippines in WW II. I doubt non-Taiwanese will be necessary if we and other nations in the Pacific give Taiwan materiel. The only way I could see Americans fighting in Taiwan is in the context of a WW II democracies against the dictators alliance.

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As with Ukraine, neither I nor anyone else has advocated sending US troops to Taiwan. The Congressman was careful to say he would only vote for it if the American people wanted it. At present, I suspect they do not.

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If the Taiwanese fight like the Ukrainians, I suspect you might see American volunteers as were seen in the Spanish Civli War in the 1930s, Canada and UK before Pearl Harbor and the American Volunteer Group in China before Pearl Harbor. If there are volunteer American fighting in Taiwan, American draftees may follow as the did in WW II.

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My wife lived in Taiwan as a child from around age 8 to around 13. Many of her friends here in CA are Taiwanese. He college roommate for a while in Philadelphia was Taiwanese. A disproportionate percentage of Chinese-Americans are Taiwanese and that goes back to 1945.

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1. US troops may not be necessary.

2. US and allied war materiel IS necessary and should be sent including nuclear warhead missiles.

3. Whether Americans volunteer and we subsequently order American forces there will be determined by events and the Taiwanese people. If they conduct themselves like the South Vietnamese or Afghans, better red than dead, let them lie in that bed without any American KIA.