When press releases attack

PRESS RELEASE: Global HeavyLift Holdings, LLC, Cites "Absolute Need" For Boeing C-17-Based US Industrial Base Supply, 20 June 2009

I don't really care to comment on such obvious product-hawking-masquerading-as-analysis, but since my thinking is invoked as some sort of goofy strawman, and strangely misconstrued at that, here goes:

This crap is fear-mongering junk at its best. My favorite bit being China aiming to disrupt all our supply chain lines throughout Asia in the manner of the Germans attempting to weaken England in WWII (the Operation Sea Lion reference) in--apparently--anticipation of actual invasion! Op Sea Lion was Hitler's plan to invade Britain. We are also led to believe that a Taiwan crisis will trigger this oceans-spanning, cargo-ships-sinking extravaganza by the Chinese navy.

First off, the U.S. Navy couldn't pull off something of this insane magnitude in any meaningful way if it tried. To seriously go after supply chains throughout Asia (much less around the world) would be an astronomical undertaking. We're talking massive amounts of naval firepower supplied day after day after day after day, targeting hundreds upon hundreds of ships.

As for the Chinese navy . . . well, in somebody's hare-brained fantasy all right.

This hilarious hard-sell is to convince American companies/US Government to pursue big buys of heavy airlift platforms to permanently augment our global supply chains, because China's naval power, we are told, can disrupt our East-West supply chains (most of which are with China, by the way!) at will all around the world!

The logic here is so queerly disconnected from any real sense of global economics as to be laughable. The military analysis is sophomoric--as in, I'd smack either of my high-school kids up side the head if they presented me with a term paper of this sad analytical quality.

If you're the head of a company and you're listening to this sort of advice, then my opinion is, your company is already screwed for having half-wits up on top.

Comments

[Louis Heberlein]

Irony that someone wants to build and operate more military transports at a time that airlines would love to get logistics contracts because of the drop in both passenger and freight traffic.

[Steven J.]

Definitely a press release for a wanna be government contractor stoking the fire under the mantra of an eminent resource war.