A retired admiral from the U.S. Navy made an extraordinary intervention in Taiwan’s political and military debate today, excoriating delays to military preparedness.
Mark Montgomery is back in Taiwan, participating in a tabletop wargame that simulates Chinese pressure on Taiwan. In an audience question-and-answer session before the games started, he asked a panel that included senior Taiwanese leaders whether Taiwan is prepared to make the necessary sacrifices needed to reform its military reserves.
That was when Montgomery fired back from the floor.
“You’re fiddling while Rome burns,” he said.
Such_Journalist_3991 on
Isn’t it true that veterans, and to some extent the military’s leadership, are politically closer to the KMT than the DPP? I could very wrong
TF_dia on
> This was when Montgomery raised his hand and delivered his “Fiddling while Rome burns” blow. Finland and Estonia are not talking about esoteric legal issues, he said, they are taking action. He questioned whether Taiwanese children think about military service in the same way that Israelis or Finns do.
To be fair to the Taiwanese, the Israelis and Finns are probably quite confident on resisting their foreign threats with only material help while Taiwan will almost definitively need actual foreign intervention to tip the scales on their favor.
datums on
I mean, in the current environment it doesn’t seem all that far fetched to imagine China somehow ending up helping Taiwan defend itself from a US invasion. Who the fuck knows.
Even if the US tried to come to their rescue they would probably have another Strait of Hormuz moment and just make things worse.
Taiwan has no choice but to play ball, though they have a lot more leverage now that China has watched the other two military superpowers get wrecked when they decided to go on the offensive.
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A retired admiral from the U.S. Navy made an extraordinary intervention in Taiwan’s political and military debate today, excoriating delays to military preparedness.
Mark Montgomery is back in Taiwan, participating in a tabletop wargame that simulates Chinese pressure on Taiwan. In an audience question-and-answer session before the games started, he asked a panel that included senior Taiwanese leaders whether Taiwan is prepared to make the necessary sacrifices needed to reform its military reserves.
That was when Montgomery fired back from the floor.
“You’re fiddling while Rome burns,” he said.
Isn’t it true that veterans, and to some extent the military’s leadership, are politically closer to the KMT than the DPP? I could very wrong
> This was when Montgomery raised his hand and delivered his “Fiddling while Rome burns” blow. Finland and Estonia are not talking about esoteric legal issues, he said, they are taking action. He questioned whether Taiwanese children think about military service in the same way that Israelis or Finns do.
To be fair to the Taiwanese, the Israelis and Finns are probably quite confident on resisting their foreign threats with only material help while Taiwan will almost definitively need actual foreign intervention to tip the scales on their favor.
I mean, in the current environment it doesn’t seem all that far fetched to imagine China somehow ending up helping Taiwan defend itself from a US invasion. Who the fuck knows.
Even if the US tried to come to their rescue they would probably have another Strait of Hormuz moment and just make things worse.
Taiwan has no choice but to play ball, though they have a lot more leverage now that China has watched the other two military superpowers get wrecked when they decided to go on the offensive.