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Trump Blockade of Huawei Fizzles In European 5G Rollout (bloomberg.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Last summer, the Trump administration started a campaign to convince its European allies to bar China's Huawei from their telecom networks. Bolstered by the success of similar efforts in Australia and New Zealand, the White House sent envoys to European capitals with warnings that Huawei's gear would open a backdoor for Chinese spies. The U.S. even threatened to cut off intelligence sharing if Europe ignored its advice. So far, not a single European country has banned Huawei. Europe, caught in the middle of the U.S.-China trade war, has sought to balance concerns about growing Chinese influence with a desire to increase business with the region's second-biggest trading partner. With no ban in the works, Huawei is in the running for contracts to build 5G phone networks, the ultra-fast wireless technology Europe's leaders hope will fuel the growth of a data-based economy.

The U.K.'s spy chief has indicated that a ban on Huawei is unlikely, citing a lack of viable alternatives to upgrade British telecom networks. Italy's government has dismissed the U.S. warnings as it seeks to boost trade with China. In Germany, authorities have proposed tighter security rules for data networks rather than outlawing Huawei. France is doing the same after initially flirting with the idea of restrictions on Huawei. Governments listened to phone companies such as Vodafone Group Plc, Deutsche Telekom AG, and Orange SA, who warned that sidelining Huawei would delay the implementation of 5G by years and add billions of euros in cost. While carriers can also buy equipment from the likes of Ericsson AB, Nokia Oyj, and Samsung Electronics Co., industry consultants say Huawei's quality is high, and the company last year filed 5,405 global patents, more than double the filings by Ericsson and Nokia combined. And some European lawmakers have been wary of Cisco Systems Inc., Huawei's American rival, since Edward Snowden leaked documents revealing the National Security Agency's use of U.S.-made telecom equipment for spying.

280 comments

  1. Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Huawei is still a tentacle of the Chinese Communist Party regardless of what Orange Treason says.

    1. Re:Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When Trump hangs you'll understand how little you faggots matter, really. :D

    2. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol. But seriously, what specifically is the US afraid of? Competition? Come on you can tell us. We all friends here. Don't get your knickers in a wad.

    3. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, the Democrats hate the Chinese more than Trump but he'll take the rap for this.

      I'm going to buy a Mediapad M5 right now, beotches.

    4. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Chinese tech companies receiveorders; U.S. tech companies receive National Security Letters.

    5. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Complete vulnerability of the cell network to a single command from emperor Xi. No big deal, right? If you think the Chinese won't exploit this for economic and informational warfare, you're a naive idiot

    6. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really - "US intel doesn't steal trade secrets"?
      are you still in your moms basement, all grown up and no where to go?

    7. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please cite technology stolen by NSA, CIA or other 3 letter agencies, who is was stolen from, when, and which American company was given that tech by 3 letter agency.

      No? Ok. Stfu then, idiot.

    8. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's plenty here.

    9. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
    10. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Sique · · Score: 1

      Before that, the network was in the hand of the NSA. Apparently, the U.S. is fearing to lose access to some very important intelligence, if Huawei equipment is interspersed with Cisco and Nortel/Avaya.

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    11. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      That's an oil company, are you sure it is about theft of technology?

      I'm not going to click the link, but I already know that it is about a US investigation of financial donations made to known terrorist groups by a Petrobras executive, because there is a continuing propaganda misinformation effort around it.

      I hope you got paid at least a couple rubles for you post, jeeze.

    12. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      Whats the problem when there is a security risk in the Whitehouse already - just wait until Trump wants personal help from China

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    13. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      I hope you got paid at least a couple rubles for you post, jeeze.

      His family will at least stay alive for another couple weeks.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    14. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      End all socialists in self-defence.

    15. Re:Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Still better than Trump.

    16. Re: Trump fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The revolving door between the CIA/NSA and certain private IT security companies (especially in the Bay area) and how they operate sure bring up a lot of question in my mind. Mind you these companies are selling products that could only be the result of past intelligence work.

      Let's also not forget what the US spying agencies have been doing to Venezuela for a long time. The action here is literally using US corporations to steel Venezuelan oil, profits, industry and market all while these companies doing the espionage are profiting greatly from the activities causing great harm to the Venezuelan people.
      https://www.mintpressnews.com/snowden-leak-rzuela-oil-firm/211432/

      And then there are the obvious front companies that the CIA has been running for years. Talk to Jeb Bush about how he was the bag man for carrying cash back and forth to fund is father's Panamanian drug operation that wound up putting cocaine on US city streets. Here we have 3 letter agencies literally owning the companies and those agents personally profiting from it.

      There is a long history of US espionage helping US industry, if you don't see it then I must ask, are you in a 3 letter agency writing this thru the PRISM database?

  2. "even threatened to cut off intelligence sharing" by rmdingler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In some European circles, this threat from the Trump administration may have seemed to resemble 50 lashes with a wet noodle.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  3. Well well wells... by calebb · · Score: 0

    I, for one, welcome our new Communist overlords.

  4. Re:The US will support its friends by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 5, Funny

    Time for the US to find new friends it can trust to keep secrets and who will support the USA.

    We already have them - Russia and North Korea.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  5. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Trump doesn't get basic shit. You don't threaten people to get what you want except as a last resort - not a first resort. This is why he sucks at "dealmaking" and has basically failed at every opportunity to do so.

    This was a very winnable objective.

  6. We should ban cisco by aussie_a · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We know Cisco devices cant be trusted because the US government has already been caught installing backdoor spyware into Cisco devices at customs. We should ban Cisco as well as Huawei.

    1. Re:We should ban cisco by mspohr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We know Cisco is compromised. Has there ever been any proof that Huawei is compromised or is it all just speculative paranoia?
      I say we just ban Cisco until we have some actual evidence that Huawei is spying.

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    2. Re:We should ban cisco by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the words of Lionel Hutz:
      We have hearsay and conjecture - they're KINDS of evidence!

  7. ha ha by edris90 · · Score: 1

    Take that Bossy Betty. I mean USA. Threw a big old hussy fit and nobody rewarded it. Finally cried wolf one two many times.

    1. Re:ha ha by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Time for the GCHQ and BND to put in a budget for a lot more spy satellites this year.
      Got the mil budget for a rush build on lots of new spy satellites this year?
      Got the experts to design, place and use US grade spy satellites? Locations globally to get spy data in real time?
      When the US raw data stops Germany and the Uk will have to fit in the collect it all gaps.
      No more US tax payers giving away billions of $ each year in free mil/spy data to Eu nations.
      All the EU nations with shared US bases will revert to US only use.
      EU nations top staff will have their security clearances removed.
      No more visits to the USA for the EU tops spy experts.
      No more data, hardware, upgrades for EU spies from the USA.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re: ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The US won't cut off intelligence sharing with the EU. You still need our intelligence in return (US wins the SigInt war, but sucks at HumInt) and military bases in the EU to refuel/rearm your planes.
      This is just bluster from the Orangutan in Chief, it'll blow over in a week and he'll forget about it

    3. Re: ha ha by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Re AC " You still need our intelligence in return"
      What from? French, German and UK HumInt?
      Most nations that can spy can detect other nations HumInt attempts.
      Embassy staff, tourists, think tank workers, NGO workers, charity workers, people trying to proselytize will not offer the perfect cover once expected.
      Thats what real time US collected intelligence is always so wanted by the EU nations.
      HumInt cant cover everything and most EU nations do not have the mil budgets for their own global real time HumInt.
      The US was what covered for the most nations mil budgets and lack of any global HumInt ability.
      Ask France to share its collection globally and risk its collection when sharing with all of the EU?

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    4. Re:ha ha by aybiss · · Score: 1

      Man this is just like your earlier reply. You really have drunk ALL the "Murrica, Fuck Yeah!" Kool-Aid haven't you?

      --
      It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
    5. Re:ha ha by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      The UK and Germany will have to find some support for their security services after the US alters the mil/gov sharing of raw intelligence.
      They can collect their own intelligence globally with no new mil spending?
      Find another nation with the ability the USA has to share with?

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    6. Re:ha ha by aybiss · · Score: 1

      No no, you're totally right. There's no way we could collect that information without you. Your dicks are totally bigger. You have the most freedom.

      --
      It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
    7. Re:ha ha by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Got that money to look after NATO and an expanded global BND collection?
      The UK will have to find the money for the GCHQ to replace what the US no longer gives.
      Maybe France can be asked to risk its own spy networks to help?
      A new EU wide tax to pay for spying?
      How much more new tax can be extracted to pay for new mil/gov/spying in each EU nation?
      NATO still needs to be supported every year too :)
      Got the budget growth for some new global spying?

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    8. Re:ha ha by tsa · · Score: 2

      Please stop it and grow up you idiot.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    9. Re:ha ha by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      No no, you're totally right. There's no way we could collect that information without you. Your dicks are totally bigger. You have the most freedom.

      Except what you equate to "dicks" are actual capabilities that are expensive and take decades to build out. We've built that out. Biggest in the world.

      Are you too jealous to even admit that US military data collection is actually bigger? Are you unable to say so, simply because you already compared it to dicks? LOLOL

    10. Re:ha ha by gtall · · Score: 1

      USA? Try that Knob in the White House. He lost the popular vote and his approval rating is below 40%. The only idiots still supporting him are the Evangelicals.

    11. Re:ha ha by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      No budget to replace US collection?
      No budget to fully support NATO?

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    12. Re:ha ha by tsa · · Score: 1

      Hasn't stopped. Hasn't grown up.

      --

      -- Cheers!

  8. Let's recap by Guspaz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    USA: Caught and proven to be bugging US-made routers for spying.
    China: Accused of but not proven to be bugging China-made routers for spying.

    Remind me again why we shouldn't trust Chinese hardware?

    1. Re: Let's recap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because you must have been living under a rock for last 35 or more years? if you think china can be trusted....

    2. Re:Let's recap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cold War mentality, duh. Only WE are allowed to be the good guys.

    3. Re:Let's recap by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You should not trust Chinese hardware because it likely is insecure. You can still use it as the alternatives are known to be insecure. Hence Huawei just has better quality at better prices.

      Cisco had a good reputation once, but they blew it. Like pretty much any major US player. Boeing was one of the last ones to do so.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    4. Re:Let's recap by Can'tNot · · Score: 1

      You shouldn't trust Chinese hardware because China recently passed a law which some people have interpreted as giving the Chinese government power to compel Huawei to compromise security on their products for the purpose of Chinese intelligence. That the law can be utilized in this way is disputed.

      You shouldn't trust US hardware because the US passed a similar law some time ago (the Patriot Act). Except that law, like the Chinese law, applies to telecoms and not to manufactures of telecom hardware.

      Of course, the US seems to have done the spying anyway (Don't know the details of this particular Snowden leak, they could have just been exploiting a bug for all I know.) so the implication might be that it's better to buy from any of the other manufacturers listed in the summary. Or you could make note of the fact that the US has been transparently disingenuous about it's actions against Huawei, and suspect that this is not really about Huawei or spying or telecom security at all.

    5. Re:Let's recap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should not trust Chinese hardware because it likely is insecure. You can still use it as the alternatives are known to be insecure. Hence Huawei just has better quality at better prices.

      Cisco had a good reputation once, but they blew it. Like pretty much any major US player. Boeing was one of the last ones to do so.

      Yes, I'm sure you do not use google or amazon.

    6. Re:Let's recap by gweihir · · Score: 1

      I use them. But do they have a good reputation? Hell, no.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    7. Re:Let's recap by nonBORG · · Score: 0

      If you first take the word Trump out and then say US Intelligence agencies believe that China is snooping here. Banning US routers is up to the countries in question, the US has not asked them to, banning the Huawei ones will reduce a vulnerability. The US know what they are doing as they did the same.

      Ignoring this advice is just like shooting yourself in the foot, China wants all your secrets for technology and national purposes. Telco's don't want to do it because they want the path of least resistance and most profit. It is sometimes better to guard yourself and put up a wall to protect yourself.

      When it comes to anything with the inference of politics /. seems to break down into unreadable nonsense (not in particular the comment I am replying to.)

      How about don't trust the US w.r.t. routers but in general they will use most of the information gathered (in the short term) for vague national intelligence purposes (which is probably how they know that the Huawei gear has got spyware.)
      Also don't trust Huawei / China.

      The best way is to deploy robust encryption for things like email (and everything else) which has actual real stuff in it but is sent on weak crappy protocols email is an example of how slack most companies are, we don't really bother with protecting our secrets since it takes actual work or is not the default. This is the same reason the Europeans want Huawei 5G. We should be using encryption for everything end to end and using OTP encryption for anything that we are serious about. That would at least put things like bugging the routers a waste of energy since you only have encrypted traffic and need to put in real work to actually get something useful.

      --
      You can't handle the truth! - Because I don't post left all my comments get modded down, bye bye Karma.
    8. Re:Let's recap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      USA: Caught and proven to be bugging US-made routers for spying.
      China: Accused of but not proven to be bugging China-made routers for spying.

      Remind me again why we shouldn't trust Chinese hardware?

      Ideally you want defence in depth, so that even if one layer is compromised the next layer mitigates it, to some extent. It might be possible to design infrastructure using a mixture of hardware layers and gain greater security than possible with a single brand.

    9. Re: Let's recap by Sique · · Score: 1
      I trust chinese equipment equally to U.S. made equipment, e.g. not at all. I'll use Cisco and Huawei in layers, so every data packet from a Cisco device has to cross at least an Huawei device, and each Huawei origin data packet has to cross at least one Cisco device.

      I wonder what happens next. Singularity?

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    10. Re:Let's recap by Freischutz · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You should not trust Chinese hardware because it likely is insecure. You can still use it as the alternatives are known to be insecure. Hence Huawei just has better quality at better prices.

      Cisco had a good reputation once, but they blew it. Like pretty much any major US player. Boeing was one of the last ones to do so.

      So your case boils down to: You should not trust Chinese hardware because it likely is insecure. You should trust US hardware even though it is proven to be insecure ? And I vividly remember Boeing being only one beneficiary of the US government spying on European companies (in this case Airbus) and handing their sensitive business communications to Boeing. When it comes to spying I don't trust the Chinese any farther than I can throw them, I don't trust the Americans even as far as I can throw them.

    11. Re:Let's recap by thegarbz · · Score: 0

      You should

      Let me stop you right there. The parent never made a case of what you should do. Reading comprehension is important when having an online argument.

    12. Re: Let's recap by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      Only "insightful" if you draw a moral equivalency between the US and China.

      Do you, really?

      --
      -Styopa
    13. Re:Let's recap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because you shouldn't trust *any* hardware, and Chinese hardware is a subset of hardware. If you care about data security, encrypt the data and monitor for and block any unexpected "back channels" that could be leaking metadata. And avoid homogenous architectures where the monitoring equipment might fail to report malicious behaviour by equipment made by the same company, etc.

    14. Re:Let's recap by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Pretty clearly I suggest that you cannot get hardware you can trust, so you should buy the best with regards to the other characteristics. I have no idea how you can not see that in my statement.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    15. Re:Let's recap by Freischutz · · Score: 1

      Pretty clearly I suggest that you cannot get hardware you can trust, so you should buy the best with regards to the other characteristics. I have no idea how you can not see that in my statement.

      Well, it's kind of implicit in Trump's Huawei blockade that US hardware is trustworthy but Huawei's should be banned because ... alternative facts ... and you seemed to be echoing that sentiment. I've discussed this Huawei ban with a number of you Yanks for a while now and it is amazing how about 75% of Americans see nothing wrong with Trump's logic here. In effect the US is saying that the EU should trust US hardware which is known to be compromised but ban the Chinese stuff even though the US stuff is known to be compromised but nobody can prove the Chinese equipment is too. From my European point of view I trust neither Cisco nor Huawei very far but I'm more inclined to trust Huawei than Cisco based on what I know at the moment. Since no equipment can now be trusted I suppose I'll have to get busy soldering up my very own Europe wide 5G network this evening in preparation for my 2020 summer vacation :-)

    16. Re:Let's recap by dyslexicbunny · · Score: 1

      So given the American obesity epidemic, who can you throw further?

    17. Re:Let's recap by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      USA: Caught and proven to be bugging US-made routers for spying.
      China: Accused of but not proven to be bugging China-made routers for spying.

      Remind me again why we shouldn't trust Chinese hardware?

      Because China is interested in maintaining absolute dictatorial power over a billion and a half people, and tangling with freedom abroad, while the US is spying on those who would end your freedom without a second thought.

      You'll note nobody in China is permitted to wring their hands worrying about their dictator spying for the purpose of ending freedom.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    18. Re: Let's recap by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      Us government spying on Us citizens does not hurt American economy. Chinese govenment spying on Us companies hurts American economy.

      Now shove that into flat China ass and piss off.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    19. Re:Let's recap by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Concern over dictator consolidating his power permanently over 1.5 bilion people, jailing dissent, censoring everything, and issuing you a "good little communist" live rating that disallows you from doing everything from loans to renting to getting on a bus as punishment is archaic, out of date thinking?

      Remind me never to vote for you, assuming you aren't in a room somewhere in China as a paid troll shitstirring in the west for your lord and master who will disappear your wife if you disobey him.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    20. Re:Let's recap by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Pretty clearly I suggest that you cannot get hardware you can trust, so you should buy the best with regards to the other characteristics. I have no idea how you can not see that in my statement.

      Well, it's kind of implicit in Trump's Huawei blockade that US hardware is trustworthy but Huawei's should be banned

      Only if your mind is broken or you live in a reality exclusion zone. This is obviously a protectionist move, which strongly imply Huawei is superior and the US cannot compete on merit. Obviously "known to be compromised" is far worse than "suspected to be compromised". I really do not advise against Huawei here in any form. In all likely hood they have the superior offering and we just have to live with the network being not trustworthy with regards to spying because nobody has a better offer.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    21. Re: Let's recap by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Well, no, but if someone that I know is a crook calls someone that I suspect to be a crook a crook... well, ok, takes one to know one, I guess you're right.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll take that over the US going Full Retard and then wondering why your country is turning into a third world shithole.

  10. I know what happened by viperidaenz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Cisco couldn't compete on a level playing field with Huawei, so they asked the Government to help them out.

    1. Re:I know what happened by Freischutz · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Cisco couldn't compete on a level playing field with Huawei, so they asked the Government to help them out.

      Not just Cisco, the whole industry from network equipment manufacturers on to mobile phone manufacturers including Apple, Google, Microsoft and every US company that makes mobile devices based on Android & Windows. Huawei is a fierce competitor for all of them and the main purpose of bullying the EU into banning Huawei is about eliminating Huawei as a competitor to US corporations, spying is just a pretext. If Trump had any shred of evidence Huawei is spying for China he'd already have banned Huawei from the US market completely and shouted his evidence from the roof of the White House with a bull horn. Just wait until Xiaomi starts underbidding Google/Samsung/Apple on the US market and the latter's profits start to nosedive. I'll bet you good money that the White House will alluvasudden start claiming Xiaomi is spying for China, and I'll bet more money they'll not present a shred of evidence for it.

    2. Re:I know what happened by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They've got Devices of Mass Communication. DMC!!! DMCs!!! America's biggest issue is everything they make is in China

    3. Re:I know what happened by Freischutz · · Score: 1

      They've got Devices of Mass Communication. DMC!!! DMCs!!! America's biggest issue is everything they make is in China

      America's biggest issue is that America's much worshipped moneyed classes moved America's industrial base to China.

    4. Re:I know what happened by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huawei competes only with price and volume.

  11. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The US doesn't have allies, it just has bitches it bends over at every opportune time.

  12. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The UK allows the US to operate military bases on its territory. That's a gift that is worth a pile of gold.

    The US is revealed to operate illegal spying operations on its allies.

    What's all this "full Communist" nonsense? I think your view of world politics might be a bit off-balance - perhaps read some current affairs? Or just increase the soma dosage...?

  13. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When the USA turns off the flow of raw real time data what will EU nations do?

    Get a copy of it from the Chinese ?

  14. Buy American.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...or die American

  15. @superzar2000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This twitter has the facts about Donald Trump.

  16. The ban never made sense by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, except to the US domestically. But spying-wise, all telco equipment is compromised, and the US, having no honor whatsoever, is not above spying on allies. Those "allies" do remember that now and are reacting accordingly. Also, there is talk about removing the US ambassador from Germany, because some feel he is behaving inappropriately by directly threatening allies.

    As a security expert, the whole thing is basically a non-issue. You always need real end-to-end encryption with no "backdoors" or any such totalitarian and moronic nonsense for a connection to be secure. But as soon as you have that, you do not care about a compromised network, as long as it still transmits your data. Other things, like location, are compromised anyways, no matter who delivers the equipment, because the network tech is not really secure against that anyways. The solution here is to know that and simply switch off your phone when you do not want to be tracked. As extra protection, have a removable battery, something I insist anyways. (No, I will not buy your crap design with planned obsolescence by not removable battery. Does not matter what shiny new feature it has or how great it looks. Go defraud somebody else.)

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:The ban never made sense by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That "ear in the room" costs you dearly. It makes it blatantly obvious to everybody that you cannot be trusted. And that comes back to haunt you. Nobody has forgotten that the US compromised Merkel's phone and that will stay with the US for a long, long time.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:The ban never made sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're forgetting, that Trump still honors the republican connection to the Saudi Prince, and that Huaweii was single handidly building Network infrastructure in Iran. Look at it under the light, that Trump just cancelled the Obama-era Iran-deal and many companies ignored the newly imposed Embargo. They did/do so by proxy companies or daughter firms, with which they keep honoring the fulfillment of existing contracts. Very much to the dismay of these guys (https://melvecsblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/donald-trump4.jpg

      The concern with Chinese firms drying up certain niches and killing lots of companies is nothing new. The did so with steel, paper, solar panels, electronics and, most prominently, in the area of carrier grade network equipment

      While you're right about end-to-end encryption protecting the content of communication, the NSA proved, how much you can do with meta-information. The biggest strategic concern with Huaweii's relatively new dominance in that sector, though, are kill switches

    3. Re:The ban never made sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a security expert, the whole thing is basically a non-issue.

      Oh wow. You don't really believe that do you? The comments you have made here have not even risen to Sec+ levels of competence.

    4. Re:The ban never made sense by gweihir · · Score: 1

      The comments you have made here have not even risen to Sec+ levels of competence.

      Hahaha, funny. Certifications are for the clueless, I have stopped getting them. No, I do actual security, not paper-pushing. You know, that stuff that protects you, not the stuff that makes management feel good. And to blow your mind a bit further, I also teach IT security on the side.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    5. Re:The ban never made sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And nobody has paid attention to the fact that Germany was also caught spying on the US Ambassador at the same time - because it was a fucking obvious thing to do.

      Germany has always been one of the US's least reliable allies, only a half-step better than France. And they've demonstrated their reliability repeatedly - most recently, when they reneged on their promise to repair their military and increase spending.

    6. Re:The ban never made sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the US, having no honor whatsoever, is not above spying on allies

      This is how you know someone is retarded or has an agenda.

      Of course allies spy on allies; if you're so inclined, there's stuff called books and reports you can read on the subject.

      You always need real end-to-end encryption with no "backdoors" or any such totalitarian and moronic nonsense for a connection to be secure.

      Fun fact: Savvy, well-funded organizations with a vested interest in decrypting your data will indeed decrypt it. Encryption can be defeated; otherwise, there'd only be one type of encryption, everyone would be using it, and newer versions/types would not be in development.

      The fuck is /. smoking these days?

  17. Stop lying idiot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.networkworld.com/article/2223272/60-minutes-torpedoes-huawei-in-less-than-15-minutes.html - There's mountains of evidence, you're just a moron. If you think this has anything at all to do with Trump, doubly so.

    1. Re:Stop lying idiot. by Freischutz · · Score: 2

      https://www.networkworld.com/article/2223272/60-minutes-torpedoes-huawei-in-less-than-15-minutes.html - There's mountains of evidence, you're just a moron. If you think this has anything at all to do with Trump, doubly so.

      Gee your mama should wash your mouth out with soap. All that article claims is that Huawei copied US corporation's designs, that is IP theft. What that article is basically describing is what the US did to build up it's economy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, stealing IP from European companies shielded by the US courts who did not see any reason to punish US citizens for stealing IP from a bunch of foreigners. Now China is doing it to you, so stop yelling **UNFAIR* like a whiny little bitch, suck it up and start out innovating them. The Trump admin is wants to ban Huawei because it is claiming Huawei is using their products to conduct a NSA style spying and eavesdropping operation on behalf of China who they seem to think is warehousing the data like the US govt. does with the NSA and it's multi billion dollar datacenter. Apparently Europe should be alarmed at Huawei spying on them (even though the WH can't prove it) but they should buy lots of off the shelf US network equipment that gets loaded up with spyware at a NSA facility before it is shipped over the pond. If anything the Europeans have more of an incentive to ban Cisco over spying (since the NSA has already been caught with its pants down installing malware on Cisco equipment) than they do banning Huawei. If the Chinese intelligence evert gets caught spiking Huawei gear with malware like their American colleagues are so fond of doing they'll be banned until that can be proven the Chinese have a leg up on the US in this regard.

  18. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Time for the US to find new friends it can trust to keep secrets and who will support the USA.

    We already have them - Russia and North Korea.

    link

    "Everything's off its axis, it's a little unusual," he continued. "Apparently now Putin and Kim Jong-un are noble, intelligent role models, and Canada's a bunch of giant assholes. You're redoing the post-war alliances, only this time we're with the Axis powers.

  19. Re:The US will support its friends by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The US does not have friends. It takes honor and integrity for that and the US does not even understand that concept. The US has vassals. Looks like Europe finally found some backbone, because they do not actually _need_ US support for anything. They can screw up things all by themselves. (Judging from all that really stupid Internet legislation recently.) And they can buy cheaper and better Chinese equipment, because the security of that equipment is not actually a factor as it all is compromised. If we ever see a major war (I really, really do hope not...) all that shiny infrastructure will stop working.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  20. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The BND needs the flow of US data everyday.

    Can you clarify this? Exactly who is going to attack Germany if they miss a day of American supplied data?

  21. LEARN TO READ CHI-COM FAGGOTS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.networkworld.com/article/2223272/60-minutes-torpedoes-huawei-in-less-than-15-minutes.html

  22. Stop apologizing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.networkworld.com/article/2223272/60-minutes-torpedoes-huawei-in-less-than-15-minutes.html

    1. Re:Stop apologizing. by gweihir · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Basically everybody does that. There are countless examples of the US doing that as well. It does not matter. "Trade secrets" are valid only for a few years, even if empires in the downward cycle (like the US) often try to artificially change that. Fact is that after a few years, the competition can do it as well and better. Or do you really think Huawei would sell enterprise products they do not understand and hence cannot support? Think again. Copying the designs is not actually a sign that they cannot do it themselves (even though non-engineers and bad engineers often take it for one), it is just a sign that the original design was pretty much finished and that another, independent design process would have arrived pretty much at the same end-point. So why not make it a standard ans make it the same end-product, so customers can directly replace one with the other without having to analyze the differences in detail? And at that time, it is not a trade secret, it is the state-of-the-art. Mass-produced things, like screws, connectors, etc. are standardized at that point and enter the public domain. It is the only sane thing to do.

      The utterly hilarious thing is that the US, that "heaven of capitalism" suddenly becomes protectionist and opposed to a free market when they are not the ones doing it to others, but somebody does it to them. Talk about double-standards and ignoring reality.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:Stop apologizing. by gweihir · · Score: 1

      You seem to be a propaganda shill. Despicable.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    3. Re: Stop apologizing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Scumbag, you are on here shilling for the Chinese all over this thread and spewing your Hate America First crap in every post.

      You never actually back up your shit posting with citations or facts but you probably convinced some other echo chamber dwelling Marxist sheep of your righteousness.

    4. Re:Stop apologizing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not "The US" it's "Greedy people who got hold of control of the government". It happens to every nation at some point. We will scrape this muck off at some point and return to a better version of ourselves.

    5. Re:Stop apologizing. by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Last time I checked, the US was a democracy...

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  23. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It will have no effect. Or maybe it will have a positive effect because all that moronic, incompetent focus on "data" has yet to catch a single terrorist before the act. And the main purpose of that data, spying on innocent citizens, is basically a slow road to fascism, to the less that works, the better.

    Hence I think it would be hugely preferably to not have that data, even if it was completely free. Also note that a lot of the data-taps are on EU (or British) soil, would be a shame if something were to happen to them...

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  24. You don't know what you're talking about. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.networkworld.com/article/2223272/60-minutes-torpedoes-huawei-in-less-than-15-minutes.html

    1. Re:You don't know what you're talking about. by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Propaganda is propaganda. You know, "lies" and misdirection. But how would you understand that...

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  25. Re:GAY NIGGERS GNAA FELCH PATROL SNOODLE LICKER FU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Sure. Just ask /. nicely if they would like to block anonymous posting.

    I'm sure it's just that nobody asked them before.

    Heh.

  26. Not proven? by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    China: Accused of but not proven

    We aren't talking about China the overall entity (though if we were that's still enough reason for concern).

    No, we are talking about a company the serially does whatever it can to steal trade secrets from other companies. Even if you didn't believe whatever they captured was going back to China proper, why would you trust anything confidential to their gear?

    It's not proven that I, personally, will die if I jump in a Yellowstone hot spring. But damned if I'm going to do it when others have died before me.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  27. Re: GEOTUS Trump NEVER fizzles generally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    lord geotus trump is right about everything. including you. you are fake news. you are a liar. you are a slanderous libelous seditious treasonous traitorous pig. people like you need to be imprisoned for life or worse for treason. we will find you eventually. and the sad thing is if you win (which you wont) you will get to live in a shit version of venezuela you fucking pig. and then we will take over again once that low point is reached.

    you should kill yourself. you are a traitor and a subhuman pig who deserves to be long-pig bacon you subhuman.

  28. Re:So stupid you believe it's about competition? l by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Known, huh? And you failed to provide any links to the evidence because? Oh, only 'known' to you and your healthy imagination?

  29. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... threat from the Trump administration may have seemed to resemble 50 lashes with a wet noodle.

    Or as Melania calls it: "date night". :-)

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  30. wolfpack CAPTCHA: project by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With Britain withdrawing its nuclear shield, France too spastic to rely upon, and NATO positively hostile to Europe's defense, the way is clear for Germany to develop a full spectum of nuclear weapons to counter Putin's aggeressions.

  31. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by rmdingler · · Score: 2

    There's little doubt, as your post implies, that Western Europe is by design beholden to the Americans for access to the most current information surreptitiously acquired by our usually efficient TLAs.

    Now, let's say you're the nation who embraced the job of world's policeman (I know, cavalierly risking gender bias accusations) since the end of WWII.

    Strategically, do you now abandon those generational alliances because European leaders mock your fearless leader, who is, quite fairly, a rather easy target?.?.?.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  32. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by rmdingler · · Score: 1

    ... threat from the Trump administration may have seemed to resemble 50 lashes with a wet noodle.

    Or as Melania calls it: "date night". :-)

    Damn. I'd prefer that joke in the morning, when I'd be wasting coffee pressure-washing the keyboard, instead of half decent scotch in the evening.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  33. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

    How else are they going to get copies of Angel Merkel's phone calls in exchange for nudes?

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  34. Europeans being cheap on Telecom Equipment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In addition to Huawei telecom gear, they can also buy equipment by Ericsson AB, Nokia Oyj, and Samsung Electronics Co. . Each offering will probably just cost somewhat more, but the European companies are cheap and shortsighted. Sort of like American companies moving production to China in the 90s. Idiots.

    1. Re:Europeans being cheap on Telecom Equipment by Highdude702 · · Score: 1

      the European companies are cheap and shortsighted. Sort of like American companies moving production to China in the 90s. Idiots.

      Serves them right for snubbing their noses at us back then. I guess Europe is as dumb as me and has to learn the lesson their self. Can't just take other peoples experiences at face value.

  35. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by gweihir · · Score: 2

    You really do not understand how that works. You think you can tap an internet cable without it actually running over those bases? That cable will just find a new route. Or/and it may get link encryption. The whole threat is utterly empty and just a show for people without a clue.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  36. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Germany thanks the USA by going Communist.
    Having universal health care does not make you communist, moron.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  37. Some of the things what I learned today by youngone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Most of these posts read like they're from the 1950's era UnAmerican Activities Committee
    FULL COMMUNISM! FULL COMMUNISM! FULL COMMUNISM!
    AMERICA PROTECTS! YOU OWE US!
    Nobody quite does propaganda like the United States, but it only really works on Americans who have never traveled outside the awful Midwestern shithole state they live in.

  38. blame it on anybody, everybody else by l3v1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So, given the state of US cellular networks and coverage and their old, sick, narcolepic turtle pace in expanding, maybe they'd be quite happy to see the rest of the world get delayed in 5G deployments - maybe then US networks wouldn't look that bad and and the other hand they could blame their slow pace and lacking coverage on the Chinese, oh my:)

    --
    I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
    1. Re:blame it on anybody, everybody else by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      It might turn out to not actually be faster, but merely be cheaper for the telecoms to operate. Don't just assume, 5 is bigger than 4 so the new tech must be faster.

    2. Re:blame it on anybody, everybody else by Highdude702 · · Score: 1

      Its faster if your'e close to a tower, if you're not you don't get signal. I can get gigabit from sprint if I'm within a couple hundred meters of a sprint tower even with walls in between.

  39. In Europe we have LAWS! by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    A country can not simply ban a company from the market.

    How exactly would that work?

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    1. Re:In Europe we have LAWS! by tsa · · Score: 1

      Of course they can. If said company only sells stuff that doesn’t adhere to European safety and other standards it can’t sell it’s products in the EU.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    2. Re:In Europe we have LAWS! by tsa · · Score: 1

      Its, dammit! Its products.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    3. Re:In Europe we have LAWS! by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Surely that was not the mistake, but there was a missing semicolon!

      If said company only sells stuff that doesn’t adhere to European safety and other standards it can’t sell; it is products in the EU.

      Clearly the person was saying that if a company can't sell its products in Europe, the company becomes a product in the EU!

    4. Re:In Europe we have LAWS! by tsa · · Score: 1

      That must be it. Because, if it is a product it CAN be banned!

      Problem solved!

      --

      -- Cheers!

  40. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1
    The excuse:

    The U.K.'s spy chief has indicated that a ban on Huawei is unlikely, citing a lack of viable alternatives to upgrade British telecom networks.

    ... is pretty lame.

    I mean, it isn't as if Huawei hasn't been caught spying on people through their phones, and stealing others' inventions.

    To me, that's the equivalent of saying, "We don't know how to build the phone infrastructure ourselves, so we'll just buy it from Russia."

    Where's the difference?

    I wouldn't let Huawei build my phone infrastructure any more than I'd voluntarily feed my private phone conversations to the NSA.

  41. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The EU has taken careful note of how the US treats New Zealand, Japan, Poland.

    New Zealand: no defensive alliance with the US, not covered by the US nuclear umbrella. No free trade agreement, since Trump torpedoed TPPA. No actionable intelligence provided to prevent terrorist attack. Thanks a lot, USA.

    Japan: not consulted in US negotiations with North Korea. Indirectly and directly targeted in trade war. Thanks a lot, USA.

    Poland: still reeling from US rapprochement with Russia, now told (by Trump) that US no longer regards NATO as an absolute commitment. Targeted (as part of EU) by US trade war. Thanks a lot, USA.

    That's how the USA treats its friends. And we should want to be in that company - why, exactly?

  42. So why the big rush to 5G anyway? by Picodon · · Score: 2

    the ultra-fast wireless technology Europe's leaders hope will fuel the growth of a data-based economy.

    Every time I read this “argument”, I wonder: what’s with the big rush? Frankly, is 5G going to change our lives compared to 4G? I doubt it.

    I understand that there are actors who stand to benefit (and may therefore be impatient):

    • - Governments will harvest a few billions licensing 5G spectrum to wireless operators, and that'll help with budgetary difficulties.
    • - Wireless operators will deploy 5G in select situations where they can profit: crowded places like airports and stadiums, major urban arteries prone to traffic jams, etc; that will help slightly increase consumption and reduce customer frustration. They might be slightly more competitive against cable and fibre residential ISPs in very-high-density urban areas. And they will probably try to sell their service to corporate customers like automakers in the hope of connecting everything all the time, which could, theoretically at least, turn into a nice cash cow for them (mostly, at our expense, in the form of indirect added costs and lost privacy).

    But for the bulk of ordinary consumers? Yes, when visiting very crowded places, they'll get acceptable connectivity in conditions where 4G might be subpar. But that will concern a fraction of people, a fraction of the time in their daily life. Aside from that, nothing terribly new and exciting. If so, 5G won't really be a game changer for consumers or even for the overall economy.

    And in that case, why not keep improving the current 4G network until better, cheaper, more trusted 5G options become available, instead of taking risks rushing with the cheapest hardware offering from a problematic supplier?

    1. Re:So why the big rush to 5G anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is certainly no extra speed with 5G. Although the minimum(*) speed requirement for 5G is higher than for 4G, there is nothing to prevent RF transmission features that boost speeds for 5G to be used in 3G. Indeed, 3G and 4G co-existed for a number of years, with new features being available in both. The whole point of 5G is instead the refined QoS abilities - which net neutrality regulation is looking to ban anyway.

      (*) That is to say, the maximum speed that a link must be able to reach must surpass that minimum, to be able to call itself 5G.

    2. Re:So why the big rush to 5G anyway? by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

      Every time I read this “argument”, I wonder: what’s with the big rush? Frankly, is 5G going to change our lives compared to 4G? I doubt it.

      Exactly. Most people wouldn't know the difference and wouldn't care. You could tell them it was 97G and they'd believe it.

      The breathless move to 5G is partly an excuse to sell new phones and telecom gear, and partly an excuse to have an opportunity to slip in some serious spy-goodies along the way.

      Imagine having an entire country's communication service completely penetrated at the core level for your use...it's the wet dream of dictators and autocrats everywhere.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    3. Re:So why the big rush to 5G anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The move to 5G will free up currently in-use bands (iirc 2.1-2.3 GHz) and the new licenses are, at least in Germany, tied to having to provide basic connectivity in rural areas. The telcos themselves are hoping to render their services to the industry; for instance, to provide IOT services for supply or logistics chains. There's also hope for future business with the advent of autonomous driving.

    4. Re:So why the big rush to 5G anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      5G isn't just about phones. Its being written to support all forms of data currently in existence along with almost all products currently and planned to be in existence. Think all content distribution, the financial system, self driving cars, future internet protocols, etc. This isn't just about 3-d fortnite skins, all of your money...and thus the economy...may live in a 5G protocol. Its in our interests to get it right.

  43. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can assure you their is little love for trump here in NZ.

  44. LOL Windy, your secret slam dunk evidence was a fi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When will you answer for your lies?

  45. Re:The US will support its friends by hdyoung · · Score: 1

    Oof. Maybe just a tad harsh on the US? It's not exactly the shining beacon of white nobility that nationalists like to claim. But wow. Talk about vassal states first. The US has some imperialist tendencies but they're quite mild compared to other empires, both current and in the past. If you think being aligned with the U.S. is a vassal situation, try being under the thumb of China or Russia for a while, or Iran, or Britain about 150 years ago. Similar arguments for telecom equipment. Use US gear and the US will listen in. That's been shown. Use Chinese gear and the Chinese government will listen. 100% quaranteed. Use European equipment and .... well those governments are less likely to spy, but the gear will be billions more and years late. Not great choices, but.... well, we live in the real world. Pick your poison.

  46. Lol you are struggling to defend yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Against the Chinese. But you will help Germany? Even after you were caught spying on their leaders?
    Your rantings are quite amusing.

  47. Re:The US will support its friends by gweihir · · Score: 2

    I don't think so. Harsh, yes, but also realistic. Look up "American Exceptionalism". It basically says they are top dog and better than everybody else. With that mind-set, you do not have friends, because friendship implies some level of equality. That some others are no better does not impact that state of affairs at all.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  48. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by leehwtsohg · · Score: 1

    Not catch terrorists?

  49. History lesson by hackingbear · · Score: 1

    Because the US has forgot the history lessons:

    Wars that fought on falsified or exaggerate accusations are doomed to fail, even if every battle was won.

    Countries running on populism and getting too greedy are doomed to be defeated.

    The Europeans (and the Russians) should have passed their Chinese classical literature class.

    1. Re:History lesson by gweihir · · Score: 1

      I agree to most of that. Nice collection of reasons how humans as a group screw up again and again.

      Although China is likely not a threat anymore, now that they have effectively a totalitarian dictatorship with a single infallible leader. They are polite about it, the leader is trying to appear restrained, but it is the same thing. And that is also one of the lessons from history: If things depend on a single person, that person gets corrupted (if not already) and things fail. China just has done away with their big chance for the next 100 years or so.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:History lesson by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Wait, the Korean War? Are you sure you read up on that one, Ivan?

      Do you get full pay for half-ass propaganda you posted drunk, or is it a sliding scale?

    3. Re:History lesson by hackingbear · · Score: 1

      Read these replies on Quora for your own education.

    4. Re:History lesson by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Sorry Boris, that's really weak. No, I'm not going to click stupid links. No, Quora is not where I go for education.

      I have a better idea. I use my sources for data that I trust, and you use your sources of data that you trust.

  50. Trump and Intelligence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It was generally considered that Trump barely has enough intelligence to make coherent sentences, so he certainly did not have any to share.

    This is all about FUD to try and keep sales for US companies.
    Trump is such a joke that he is making the US a laughing stock too which is making America worse.

    1. Re:Trump and Intelligence by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      It turns out, it is military intelligence, not political intelligence.

  51. You're a liar. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can't point to a company that got caught both spying and stealing IP secrets for a foreign country 6 times in 10 years. Sorry, you're a liar falsely equivocating, and badly so.

    1. Re:You're a liar. by gweihir · · Score: 1

      You have no case. You did not even understand what I was saying. But what can you expect from an AC moron...

      Also, since when is that standard for moral behavior "having gotten caught in the last 10 years"?

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  52. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    USA is not the center of the universe, and is not the power it thinks it is. With Trump as the President, no one has respect for that uneducated idiot that commits treason against his own country..

  53. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are a pussy. American exceptionalism IS AN IDEAL. Don't confuse that, the American Dream, or anything else with longstanding inter-democratic national alliances that your johnny-illiterate-lately ass isn't thankful for.

    Nobody asked you personally if you're thankful for the alliances that kept your country free and democratically determined. Nobody cares if you are or not. Fuck you. That was a gift given by men who died already.

    If you don't want it, fuck off. It's not for you then. Go march into China and pretend it's the same thing as America. Fuck you.

  54. Re:GAY NIGGERS GNAA FELCH PATROL SNOODLE LICKER FU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go crawl into a hole and die, faggot.

  55. KNOWN, you retardo-cunt. LEARN TO READ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.networkworld.com/article/2223272/60-minutes-torpedoes-huawei-in-less-than-15-minutes.html -OR JUST WATCH THE DAMN VIDEO LOL? MORON

  56. Re:KNOWN, you retardo-cunt. LEARN TO READ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well that says it all - i suppose we'll just have to live with American made equipment. At least we know of their back doors.

  57. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As usual your Marxist world view is both wrong and weâ(TM)ll just plain stupid.

    The US has never more powerful than it is today. It grows in power daily. Only Marxists, fascists and morons who never touched a history book would think otherwise.

    Name the country that is going to surpass the US anytime soon. You are going to say China. This mean you have never been there and know nothing about China nor their ridiculous new dictator and how he is unwinding their capitalist clone successes of recent decades and going back to state controlled shittery like all broken socialist (but I repeat myself) countries. Socialism and state controlled economies only leads downward to corruption and economic failure which goes hand in hand with total loss of freedom in all Marxist shitholes.

  58. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not center of the universe. However, the US is the center of this planet. As far as Trump goes, a lot of people like âtrump. They just dont take the same classes your Marxist trash professors run. I was going to say teach but indoctrinate is more appropriate.

  59. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Supporting a Communist nation after the advice USA is Germany going Communist.

    Advice isn't enough. America also needs to provide evidence. So far they have none.

    If the Trump administration continues to lie about this, they may even start to lose their credibility.

  60. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't let Huawei build my phone infrastructure any more than I'd voluntarily feed my private phone conversations to the NSA.

    I would let Huawei build my phone infrastructure to protect my private phone conversations from the NSA.

  61. Germany prefers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Telecom equipment from a nation that didn't invade them, destroy them and doesn't have a history of spying on them. Is there really a big surprise here?

    Or is the news that a violent nations lies about a peaceful one are no longer believed?

    America land of the not quite free and not quite democratic. LoL.

  62. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by AHuxley · · Score: 0

    Why does the US need to risk its own intelligence to provide evidence to nations that are been given US intelligence?
    Thats a US tax payer funded collection of data given to EU nations.
    The US can set limits on who and why any nation gets US intelligence support for any reason.
    TO grant more access. To totally stop access. The US gets to set the terms as its their risk and their global collection.
    Why should the US have to talk about any "evidence" in the open?
    Thats a security risk to US methods and ability.
    That can happen in a secure gov to gov setting.
    No nation would talk about mil/gov "evidence" in then open for any reason.

    Evidence relating to mil and security matters is what historians request approval to write about in about 50 years.
    Should EU governments still select to go Communist, they can.
    The US can then select to share its intelligence with nations that are more secure and much more response to actually keeping US secrets.

    When a nation is sharing its own intelligence it can give any advice it wants to nations getting that intelligence.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  63. Danes choose Ericsson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Though on a technical note rather than anything else... I think most people in Europe mainly see what comes out of the US today as some sort of reality show and watch with bittersweet sorrow in their hearts and just waiting for better times hoping the US won't implode on itself because it has such great potential

  64. Either way, it's proof of EU weakness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The obviously best path would be to order European 5G equipment. That would strengthen the domestic companies and have no spying potential. Neither US or China could complain since both apply and urge similar restrictions. But the EU is too far behind, and simply can't order European equipment - so the choice comes down to who gets to do the spying, and either choice is proof of weakness.

    Saying 'Nah-uh' to the Americans doesn't change the fact it should have never come to that.

  65. What "success" in AU/NZ ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For NZ: all the fibre rollout runs on Huawei equipment. My home's receiver box is a Huawei, the ISP's router behind that is more than likely a rebranded Huawei or other Chinese-made one. No other options are on offer. You can bet Australia's broadband rollout is also filled with Huawei kit. So, what 'success'?

    1. Re:What "success" in AU/NZ ? by jonwil · · Score: 1

      Actually, the Australian government banned Huawei kit from being used in the National Broadband Network (probably at the behest of the US)

      I wish Australia would stop being the lap dogs of the US and doing stuff just because the US happens to want us to do it.

  66. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why does the US need to risk its own intelligence to provide evidence to nations that are been given US intelligence?

    If the US could demonstrate a Huawei router collecting and transmitting data, or show how the firmware is compromised, how would that "risk" US intelligence? It would be disclosing facts that China would presumably already know.

    They haven't demonstrated anything because they have no evidence.

  67. Re:KNOWN, you retardo-cunt. LEARN TO READ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's a bunch of accusations, innuendos and opinions, not evidence. The settled court cases don't show much either - it is well known that American companies use the legal system and their deep pockets to stop competition.

    Try again.

  68. Arrogant as hell... by bradley13 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, well, Trump attempts to dictate "Thou shalt not purchase from company XYZ". No proof, just an assertion that they are not trustworthy. Because the country caught intercepting Cisco shipments and introducing backdoors into them is soooo trustworthy.

    He's being an arrogant ass, continuing the usual foreign policy of the American government. Individuals Americans may be nice, but the US government is full of itself (and has been for decades, nothing to do with the current president).

    --
    Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
    1. Re:Arrogant as hell... by Freischutz · · Score: 2

      Yes, well, Trump attempts to dictate "Thou shalt not purchase from company XYZ". No proof, just an assertion that they are not trustworthy. Because the country caught intercepting Cisco shipments and introducing backdoors into them is soooo trustworthy.

      He's being an arrogant ass, continuing the usual foreign policy of the American government. Individuals Americans may be nice, but the US government is full of itself (and has been for decades, nothing to do with the current president).

      Well Trump's alternate imaginary facts outweigh your 'theoretical facts'. You must not forget that the man is probably the most stable genius in the known universe ;-)

    2. Re:Arrogant as hell... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      the man is probably the most stable genius in the known universe

      Compared to the other animals in the stable, maybe.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  69. the hole in the dragnet enlargens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    USA spooks want EVERY bit of data.....to protect and serve or something.

    Around the world, the world listened to Snowden likely MORE after watching how USA responded to this single opposing voice.

    Europe and Asia are kinda big. As more and more countries say "Fuck off USA/NSA" the usefulness of dragnet decreases as the hole gets larger.

    NSA spying, if USA people are going to allow this bullshit, should only be imposed on USA citizens within USA sovereign borders. The rest of the world has borders and they are entitled to pass their own laws, govern their own people in their own way, not subject to USA paranoia and whims.

    Good for europe and asia for flipping NSA the bird.

    Although i doubt USA spooks will like this, the totalitarian of their surveillance is massively flawed, and with these gigantic holes, increasingly useless.

  70. Americanism and leftism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... success of similar efforts in Australia and New Zealand ...

    About the only thing these countries will fight the USA on, is trading partners. In fact there's an Australian show Pine Gap (referring to the US spy-satellite ground relay), exploring the idea of the USA declaring war on Australia's biggest partner, China.

    The reason the rest of the world likes Australia: Its stable blend of Americanism and leftism, plus its British heritage.

  71. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by tsa · · Score: 1

    They can’t lose their credibility because they have none.

    --

    -- Cheers!

  72. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 0

    And another oh-so-superior Europe supremacist jumps in the conversation to crap all over Americans and remind them just how stupid and culturally backwards we are. We know, we've heard it a million times. If anyone wonders why NATO failed, just refer to this comment. Have fun with your new buddies in Communist China. Bet they won't pay for your defense or let you rip them off for $150 billion a year in unfair trade agreements. Good riddance.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  73. Can't be WindBourne, not enough lies. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you're a naive idiot

    No it's not WindBourne this time. There aren't any lies in the comment.

  74. Can't lose what you don't have by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump, like WindBourne here doesn't have any credibility left to lose.

  75. Re:The US will support its friends by gweihir · · Score: 0

    Funny. You did notice you are posting as an AC, did you? Are you aware what that means and what that makes you?

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  76. Punish them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Punish the Europeans by denying them access to American intelligence, as a result of their complicity.

  77. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Cipheron · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yeah, not quite. Power is always relative, not absolute. Money is the ultimate power, and USA GDP is currently 24% of world GDP. That sounds like a lot, however GW Bush inherited a USA with over 30% of world GDP. USA isn't growing as fast as the rest of the world, and this is making the USA much less relevant on the world stage. We've really moved on from a bi-polar world to a tri-polar world: USA, Europe and China are the three big players. And when it goes from 2 to 3 players it's much easier to exclude any one player from any one game, such as how USA failed to stop Europe from working with China in this case. The fact is, EU+China can do their own deals now and ignore America. That's why going from 35+% of world GDP down to under 25% of world GDP is in fact a game-changer for the USA. People are more free to ignore you.

  78. I like trump however.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .... you sound like someone running a script.

    (You see that both for and against the guy) What a time we live in.

  79. Re:GAY NIGGERS GNAA FELCH PATROL SNOODLE LICKER FU by Barsteward · · Score: 0

    Unfortunately you'll just have to get used to the fact that these kind of posters have a shoe size bigger than their IQ. They crop up with this shit every now and again

    --
    "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
  80. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    Naw, they'll whine and cry, and then their next administration will pay the companies to replace all the devices.

  81. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

    This. Show us the proof or sod off. Huawei has been more open than any US 5G manufacturer, offering access to source code and CAD files for verification. All Cisco has done is swear that the NSA isn't intercepting its hardware to install backdoors any more, probably because they hard coded enough of their own in that it need not bother any more.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  82. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    The data includes information about international shipping and trade security, what is likely to happen at an upcoming OPEC meeting, etc.

    Germany's need for the data is economic, not military.

  83. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    I agree; if they need "evidence" they're not a close military ally, they're an arms-length ally, and they should get their shared data at an arm's length.

    If they want cheek-and-jowl access, they need to show cheek-and-jowl trust.

  84. Re:The US will support its friends by Aighearach · · Score: 1, Informative

    Use US gear and the US will listen in. That's been shown. Use Chinese gear and the Chinese government will listen. 100% quaranteed. Use European equipment and .... well those governments are less likely to spy, but the gear will be billions more and years late. Not great choices, but.... well, we live in the real world. Pick your poison.

    With the equipment in question, there are only 3 suppliers, and that is unlikely to change. One supplier is from China. The other two are from Europe.

    The US doesn't make this equipment. The US is demanding that European countries buy from one of the European suppliers if they want to continue information sharing. It won't be late, it is already developed.

    The funniest part is the Chinese shills who are pretending to be Very Superior European Bigots, while arguing against the idea that European governments should be able to trust European companies more than Chinese companies. Whuuuuu?

  85. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by gtall · · Score: 1

    "all that moronic, incompetent focus on "data" has yet to catch a single terrorist before the act" Wrong, at least in the U.S. There was the recent case of that fellow that worked for the Coast Guard collecting ammo and guns for what he hoped would be his assault on the Democrats. Had a kill list and everything.

  86. Re:The US will support its friends by gtall · · Score: 1

    Allies spy on the U.S. as well. It is a good thing, it prevents surprises.

  87. Re:The US will support its friends by gtall · · Score: 0

    Judging from Europe's military prowess, it seems they rather do need the U.S. Were it not for that Knob in the White House, relations would much better. His latest scheme is to shake down Euro NATO members for the cost of U.S. troops + 50%. He's nothing more than a grifter and thinks if he can get that money, he can piss it off on the Great White Wall to make all the Evangelicals over here giddy with the love of Jesus Christ, i.e., they get to keep it all for themselves since Jesus doesn't love immigrants.

  88. Re:The US will support its friends by Luckyo · · Score: 1

    Nations do not have friends. Global hegemons do indeed have vassals, as do local hegemons.

    And Europe without outside security umbrella is Europe where history goes back to what it was before it. Warring empires fighting for survival against neighbours. It's quite possible that China might be able to replace US if need arises to fill this role in a century or so, but considering Chinese culture, demands placed on its European vassals would be several orders of magnitude harsher.

  89. Just Remember.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sometime in the next 2 or 3 seconds someone in China is going to consider leaving China that has been banned from doing so. Maybe the scumbags will think twice now that they know passing through anywhere in Europe will out their location to the Chinese agency tasked with 'recovering' all those organs that are wasted on the assholes that would DARE have a religion or be of a race that isn't native to China despite being born there.

  90. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    And another oh-so-superior Europe supremacist jumps in the conversation to crap all over Americans and remind them just how stupid and culturally backwards we are.

    Well someone has to. You seem to forget it in your superiority.

    If anyone wonders why NATO failed, just refer to this comment.

    Huh? It failed? As far as I can tell the USA wants more money put into it.

    Have fun with your new buddies in Communist China.

    Your brain doesn't appear to be working. If you've already had your morning coffee then may I suggest calling 911, you may have just had a stroke.

    Bet they won't pay for your defense or let you rip them off for $150 billion a year in unfair trade agreements.

    You repeat this ad nauseum despite having been told with references all over again that the figure is bullshit. Your inability to learn from the falsehood of your fox and friends talking points is precisely why it is important people constantly remind you of how moronic you guys can actually be.

  91. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by xenobyte · · Score: 0

    Germany thanks the USA by going Communist.
    Having universal health care does not make you communist, moron.

    No, but claiming that it is better than the insurance-based healthcare the US has, tend to make you appear dumb.

    If you dig deeper you'll see that it is horribly expensive and the prime target for 'cost reductions', making it sub-standard at best in real life.
    At least that is how it works here in Denmark - long waits for non-emergency treatment, severely understaffed, way too early release after treatment... and a tendency to host lingering department-wide infections due to rushed daily routines and sub-standard cleaning.

    --
    "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
  92. Damark just dumped Huawei and signed with Ericsson by xenobyte · · Score: 1

    So much for fizzling. Our defense intelligence service neither couldn't nor wouldn't guarantee that Huawei would not be using their technology to spy or disrupt vital areas of infrastructure, so nobody wanted to take a chance. It's as simple as that.

    One of the big points were that despite the whole thing hinged on the fact that a Chinese company would have to submit to total government control in case the government wanted to, and the blatantly obviously solution would be to move Huawei out of China to cut that control, nobody even considered that at Huawei which made it obvious that the government control was a central part of business, and thus that it is a core goal to place technology everywhere that the Chinese government could control easily if it so desired.

    --
    "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
  93. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > Nobody asked you personally if you're thankful for the alliances that kept your country free and democratically determined. Nobody cares if you are or not. Fuck you. That was a gift given by men who died already.

    What, you mean the tens of millions of Russian allies who died grinding down the Nazis on the Eastern Front? Yes, I'm pretty grateful to them. And to the much smaller numbers of other nations who fought alongside the UK on the Western Front.

  94. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    The GCHQ needs US support globally and US support in Ireland.

    Ummm, what?

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  95. Cisco = Backdoors with a router by stooo · · Score: 1

    >> And some European lawmakers have been wary of Cisco Systems Inc

    Yeah. The motto of Cisco is: "A backdoor a day keeps your data far away."
    Cisco = Backdoors with a router
    Nobody needs that.

    --
    aaaaaaa
    1. Re:Cisco = Backdoors with a router by ixs · · Score: 1

      I'd agree that it's a bit concerning to see that Cisco announces newly found hardcoded credential every month.

      On the other hand the reason they are announcing these constantly is that they are actually auditing their devices and their firmware and find these. So that is a good thing as they seem to care about security nowadays and do training etc. to teach their developers _not_ to hardcode shit anymore.

      At that point, I am more likely to trust Cisco than the other random vendor who never has any backdoors they fixed...

  96. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    And another oh-so-superior Europe supremacist jumps in the conversation to crap all over Americans and remind them just how stupid and culturally backwards we are. We know, we've heard it a million times. If anyone wonders why NATO failed, just refer to this comment. Have fun with your new buddies in Communist China. Bet they won't pay for your defense or let you rip them off for $150 billion a year in unfair trade agreements. Good riddance.

    You seem quite upset to no longer be getting as shafted as you imply you were.

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  97. Expensive Data Plan by stooo · · Score: 2

    >> I wonder what happens next.

    What happens next is that you have tu upgrade your data plan or your internet connection, because all of your data gets replicated to at least 3 different destinations, so you use 3x more bandwidth in general.

    --
    aaaaaaa
  98. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    Germany thanks the USA by going Communist. Having universal health care does not make you communist, moron.

    No, but claiming that it is better than the insurance-based healthcare the US has, tend to make you appear dumb.

    If you dig deeper you'll see that it is horribly expensive and the prime target for 'cost reductions', making it sub-standard at best in real life. At least that is how it works here in Denmark - long waits for non-emergency treatment, severely understaffed, way too early release after treatment... and a tendency to host lingering department-wide infections due to rushed daily routines and sub-standard cleaning.

    It is better. Your particular example might not be the most efficient but would you rather blow through your life savings because you broke an arm and picked up an infection?

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  99. Re:Damark just dumped Huawei and signed with Erics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Denmark picking a Swedish product over a Chinese OR an American one doesn't sound desperately like kowtowing to Cheeto-in-Chief's demands. That just sounds like buying local.

  100. Re:The US will support its friends by pjt33 · · Score: 1

    But in tit for tat, if the UK kicks the US off its soil then it's going to need a new carrier group to replace the Diego GarcÃa base. If the whole of the EU kicks it out, that's probably a long-term saving for the US Army because of the reduction in maintenance costs, but it's a bit short-term cost to restructure. It's a lose-lose scenario.

  101. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Re "It would be disclosing facts"
    Has any nation ever talked openly about its actual spy methods?
    All the US has to do tell the EU governments what will be needed for them to keep US secrets safe.
    If EU nations can't meet that then the US no longer has to share its intelligence with any EU nation.
    The US does not have to talk in the open or "demonstrate" in any way what it understands is a risk to US methods.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  102. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Did the UK ever give up on spying in Ireland?
    Ireland is still getting collected on by the UK and USA to ensure the "peace process" works.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  103. That claim is still paranoid nutbar speak. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's no more true than claiming Cisco or Microsoft are a tentacle of the US government. And based on evidence so far known, the latter case is far more the case than the former. If you want to be trusted, you have to stop being untrustworthy, merkin. And after you stop being untrustworthy, you still have to wait and keep being trustworthy until you have rebuilt that trust.

    Unfortunately you're not, as a country, trustworthy, and the president is 100% untrustworthy.

    1. Re:That claim is still paranoid nutbar speak. by Shaitan · · Score: 1

      The US government is bad but it doesn't even begin to compare to China with their great firewall, public shaming of citizens, massacre in the square, annexation and burning alive much of Tbt, and on and on. The US might poke their noses into the data of Europe, unlike others I won't pretend we haven't had revealed what was revealed. But the US still pursues common interests with Europe.

      This US is like the Russian spy on Turings team when cracking Enigma. He served to send valuable intelligence to an ALLY. Letting China in out of spite because you dislike Trump is like bringing a German spy in on the same project.

    2. Re:That claim is still paranoid nutbar speak. by Highdude702 · · Score: 1

      I personally find this shit hilarious I thought the YouTube videos of people crying was gonna be the end of it. Boy was I wrong, the last 3 years have been great.

    3. Re: That claim is still paranoid nutbar speak. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, Devin Nunes suing his mom and cow for $250,000,000 sure is a crybaby move. So many hurt snowflake Republicans. Back in the eighties, Republicans were the tough guys. Shame they caught McCain Derangement Syndrome and turned into pussies.

  104. Huawei hasn't been caught spying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The only link you give you CLAIM shows evidence, but all it is are the CLAIMS of people that Huawei did stuff, nothing actually true. Can we claim Trump HAS colluded with Russia because there's a lot of people who claim he has, and even investigations into him doing it...?

  105. Re:The US will support its friends by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Any nation that rejects a long term US offer of support will not get further access to US intelligence.
    The US is not going to risk methods to work with nations that won't support the USA. Politically, in terms of decades of shared base access.
    Once a nation selects not to work with the USA, then the US will not support that nation.
    What the US gave from any shared base/site globally, the US can stop giving any nation access to.
    The UK was clear on its 1960-1970's Diego Garcia agreement.
    The US was also very clear in the 1970's with the UK on what happens when such agreements are altered.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  106. Every company tries to "steal secrets" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's why there's "non compete agreements" and actual laws punishing stealing trade secrets. The USA has stolen secrets. Therefore we should ban USA? And let me say that PROVE does not actually provide proof. And, no, that doesn't include a link to other people claiming that they did wrong but not provide proof themselves either.

  107. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is all a secret plot by the European Union countries to create an economic stimulus in Europe to fix up some of our crappier economies and to further advance the domination over the rest of Europe by the top few, whilst ensuring the US doesn't need to spend anything at the moment. Its a public way for the European powers to get approval for their budgets and plans without having to work too hard.

    The jist of it is that by pretending that the US will withdraw all sorts of services, Europe will have to develop their own capabilities. It's already happened with GPS and the Galileo constellation, and now it's starting to happen with snooping too. Europe will soon be launching a new generation of spy satellites which surpass US capabilities. These will require lots of government spending to create (thus: stimulus), and will ultimately provide a revenue stream when we sell the data to the US (either collecting actual currency, or more likely services in return).

    This sort of thing wasn't possible when the US had actual politicians in charge - they were far to clever to ever 'threaten' anything directly. Now that JarJar Binks is in charge, a modest amount of manipulation (saying things like "if only there was a president with the balls for the job. Not like that wet fish, Obama!" and such like) is all it took to get the plan in motion. Clever, huh!?

  108. Still only FUD claims against Huawei. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Use US gear and the US will listen in. " is a proven historical fact
    vs
    " the Chinese government will listen." is a claim based on paranoia and expectation. Add it's a well known truism that the untrustworthy thinks everyone else is untrustworthy. It's a protection for the self image and ego: you're not bad, you're just no worse than everyone else, you are CERTAIN of it! No proof allowed (or wanted).

    1. Re:Still only FUD claims against Huawei. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      China is a good boy, they dindu nuffin!!

  109. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Even when the US betrays that trust?
    Germany rembers that the US spied on their current chancellor.

    The US claims that the chinese could spy using Huawei equipment, yet have been caught doing the same with US equipment. I wonder why the US isn't taken at their word?

  110. Two of the best armies in the world are EU. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Britain and France. USA is not among them. When you overspend and get shit quality, you will always want to use amount spent as your metric of contribution, because

    a) it's EASY to look at that number, you don't need to prove it means anything
    b) pork is part of that misspend, making it politically correct to overspend at home, even if it bankrupts you

    but what you need to do is see RESULTS, not the amount spent. And you don't look so good at that. Hell, you have hidden criminals at home to hide from possible war crimes (the Apache/Civilian war crime and the A-10 shooting UK Challenger tanks, along with a US jarhead wanted for a civilian crime in German evac'd to the USA before the warrant could be issued, and refused to be sent to Germany). So tell me why we want you on our side? We get shot up enough from the enemy without someone who does so and demands we thank them for it!

  111. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by jbengt · · Score: 1

    I agree; if they need "evidence" they're not a close military ally, . . .

    On the contrary, if they don't need evidence, then they are fools, not allies.

  112. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by jbengt · · Score: 1

    At least that is how it works here in Denmark - long waits for non-emergency treatment, severely understaffed, way too early release after treatment... and a tendency to host lingering department-wide infections due to rushed daily routines and sub-standard cleaning.

    So it works about the same in Denmark as in the US, then.

  113. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I agree; if they need "evidence" they're not a close military ally, they're an arms-length ally, and they should get their shared data at an arm's length.

    If they want cheek-and-jowl access, they need to show cheek-and-jowl trust.

    Let's not forget however, that the USA is at present at war with it's own intelligence agencies.

    So the threats are sort of weird - threatening to withhold intelligence that the CinC claims is all false anyhow. Isn't that helping our new enemies that used to be our allies?

    Christ, this reads like schizophrenia world.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  114. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

    And another oh-so-superior Europe supremacist jumps in the conversation to crap all over Americans and remind them just how stupid and culturally backwards we are. We know, we've heard it a million times.

    Did you ever wonder if our big mistake was lend-lease, and fighting for the Euro-supremacists? They could be under NatSoc rule right now, and apparently much happier for it.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  115. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    He's used to people kissing is ass because he's rich. He's used to being above normal laws and paying to make problems go away, because he's rich.

    Doesn't work in international politics though. Not least because at the pace economies and negotiations move the rest of the world can just wait for 2020. Realistically he's got a year left to do anything and there are some big problems headed his way during that time.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  116. Why does only tech count? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, that's because you want it that way. Sorry, if the NSA is using their spying to aid COMMERCIAL interests, then that still counts, bud. And what is with the hate for Russia? Your president LOVES Putin and Kim!

    1. Re:Why does only tech count? by Shaitan · · Score: 1

      How is the NSA looking after terrorist concerns is any way related to looking after commercial interests? Because there was a company involved somewhere?

  117. Yeah, USA is worse. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    China hasn't extraordinary renditioned anyone. They just fuck over their own people and, not being chinese, I don't get affected by that.

    1. Re:Yeah, USA is worse. by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      Yet you live here, not in China.
      Hm.
      I'll take actions over words for 1000, Alex.

      --
      -Styopa
  118. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Shaitan · · Score: 1

    One is an example of a democratic ally having had access to something you didn't intend. The other is a regime opposed to democracy and with a train of human rights violations in their wake to make African dictatorships blush.

    The issue isn't just that someone will have their hands in the cookie jar, that is a given. The issue is WHO you are letting have their hands in the cookie jar.

  119. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And Germany spied on the US as well. Trust goes both ways, but evaporates quickly especially when it comes to economic wellbeing of ones voters. If anyone thinks Germany doesnt run with a Germany first mindset they are delusional. There is a reason Germany runs with a positive trade balance with every other country it has ties with.

  120. Re: GAY NIGGERS GNAA FELCH PATROL SNOODLE LICKER F by aliquis · · Score: 0

    My problem with it is that I can't copy the URL and clicking share just show something which is then immediately removed on phone (fix Slashdot don't censor to encourage socialist fucktards.)

  121. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Shaitan · · Score: 1

    "Well someone has to. You seem to forget it in your superiority."

    Says the inferior and arrogant backward culture. Seriously you can just go back and forth on this nonsense all day.

    "Huh? It failed? As far as I can tell the USA wants more money put into it."

    I believe that is merely wanting you to pay your equal share or dissolve it.

    "Have fun with your new buddies in Communist China.

    Your brain doesn't appear to be working. If you've already had your morning coffee then may I suggest calling 911, you may have just had a stroke."

    No, you are deciding it is a better idea to hand your intelligence and networks over to the intelligence industry of the country that runs the great firewall, opposes democracy, and burns peaceful monks alive alongside mowing down students with tanks. As far as I can tell it is purely out of petty spite. You demand proof they will spy as if it isn't petty and naive to pretend that whoever you buy from is going to do that, that was a given the minute you didn't develop your own chips for sensitive purposes like this. The question isn't whether or not they are going to spy but WHO you are giving the data to. Your long standing allies with common interests or the guys who won't speak to you if don't pretend Tibet was always part of their nation.

    "You repeat this ad nauseum despite having been told with references all over again that the figure is bullshit."

    And you are nitpicking.

  122. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The US has plenty of friends. A lot in the EU. Just because you personally hate the US doesn't mean most of your fellow country men agree with you. I travel to Europe quite frequently. I have quite a few friends there. I have kicked up many conversations with Europeans in pubs across the continent. Very rarely have I ever come across people who have any real animosity with the US such as you apparently have.

  123. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Shaitan · · Score: 1

    "No, but claiming that it is better than the insurance-based healthcare the US has, tend to make you appear dumb."

    Please stop talking. You are making us all look horrible. Continue not being willing to help others and wanting a short line in the form of denying others lifesaving care. But stop pretending the insurance-based healthcare even remotely makes economic sense, it doesn't. We spend more tax dollars failing to provide government health care in the US than other nations with comparable overall quality of care spend paying for that care entirely with house calls.

  124. Huawei is Compromised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ergo the firmware is compromised. Chain of trust is already broken. If Huawei and China were REALLY STUPID (which they are not)... firmware 1.0 would already have these issues. Obviously you would wait until you have a nice installed base and then issue a minor firmware update down the road (v.14.0.101a.01g) that "Fixes various bugs." Current versions of course are clean. China can later ask the company for the LOVE OF COUNTRY, to make a change to the firmware to restore China back from the "century of humiliation". Huawei will gladly do it.

  125. Re:The US will support its friends by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

    My god you have an over-inflated sense of your country's importance. Just keep chanting "murica, murica" to yourself, I'm sure you'll feel better. You might be more convincing if you were clever enough to put more than one sentence in each paragraph. It must be that amazing American education system.

    Go manifest destiny somewhere else.

  126. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's no such thing as a free lunch. You can bet your bottom dollar that the US is getting at least as much value out of information sharing as it gets back. The US isn't giving away this data.

  127. Re:The US will support its friends by Shaitan · · Score: 1

    How exactly are they actually going to make the US leave short of an act of war? Currently they are pushing. Once upon a time the UK had a mighty British empire and the American colonies needed an ally to defeat them but today I think an act of aggression against the American military is a shoving match nobody sane would want. Even if it were the entire EU, which it no longer is, militarily they wouldn't stand a chance and that is without nuclear weapons considered.

  128. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by mjwx · · Score: 2

    Trump doesn't get basic shit. You don't threaten people to get what you want except as a last resort - not a first resort. This is why he sucks at "dealmaking" and has basically failed at every opportunity to do so.

    This was a very winnable objective.

    We joke over this side of the pond, if Trump had negotiated Brexit then we'd have already adopted the Euro and German as the national language.

    The problem with Trump is that his money and family connections meant he was able to walk over smaller people with impunity. That power matters for nought in international trade and diplomacy and you need to actually work with your opponents to secure a good deal. Bluster and impudence will get you at the very best, ignored.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  129. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

    That's why going from 35+% of world GDP down to under 25% of world GDP is in fact a game-changer for the USA. People are more free to ignore you.

    The US hasn't had wise leadership for over two decades. It's not surprising that things have declined. The sooner we pull back and let the world go to hell the better. It's not like we're loved for keeping the peace. Let Japan re-arm, let the EU and South Korea figure out how they want to handle it, and move out over a ten year period so they have time to adjust. We have our own things internally to take care of.

  130. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by mjwx · · Score: 1

    Supporting a Communist nation after the advice USA is Germany going Communist.

    Advice isn't enough. America also needs to provide evidence. So far they have none.

    If the Trump administration continues to lie about this, they may even start to lose their credibility.

    What do you mean by "start to"... As an Australian born Brit, I can assure you that the Trump Administration started with very little credibility (mainly due to the way Trump ran his campaign) and has been trying as hard as they can to lose whatever shreds of credibility they started with.

    They wont stop lying though. They're people with no dignity, as long as their lies are believed by someone they'll keep saying them.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  131. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

    Not least because at the pace economies and negotiations move the rest of the world can just wait for 2020.

    The current crop of Democrats doesn't look like they have anything catching traction. When Biden is supposed to be the adult in the room you know they're in trouble. The world may very well have to wait until 2024.

  132. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

    Strategically, do you now abandon those generational alliances because European leaders mock your fearless leader, who is, quite fairly, a rather easy target?.?.?.

    Who cares about mocking Trump. Pulling back from Europe makes sense because footing the bill for their defense is just not worth it. Spend the $$ locally in the US and focus on ourselves for a change.

  133. Re:The US will support its friends by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

    Looks like Europe finally found some backbone, because they do not actually _need_ US support for anything.

    Sweet, we'll be heading out ASAP then.

  134. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    That power matters for nought in international trade and diplomacy

    To be fair, you're actually kind of amusing.

  135. Silly Yurotrash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Enjoy being HACKED BY CHINESE. You guys can have some 0wned jelly for your crumpets and croissants.

  136. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

    Without the American market to absorb every piece of crap the world can shit out, who are they going to sell to? American money pays for the entire planet. Add to that the free-as-in-beer naval protection for the world's exports. EU profits handsomely from trade with the US, not so much from with China.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  137. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone is still trying to spread old news around...

  138. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone has been watching F** News or listen to only those right wing extremist talk show hosts and never want to look for what really out there or use the brain to do some reasoning. And then wanted to spout all conspiracies they heard from to the world as fact. It is sad that there are many of this kind of people...

  139. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This. So much this.

    Big Giant Orange Head has only one mode of dealing with people. There are peons (all of us) and dictators like himself (he's only a wannabe, but he wants it so bad). Peons get threats and insults unless the peons are obsequious ass-kissers. Then the obsequious ass-kissers are eligible for a dismissive pat on the had. Dictators get worship, praise, respect and envy. Dictators are the coolest to BGOH!

    The mystery is that there is also a collection of Not Cool Dictators for BGOH. He appears to need a Lex Luthor in his life and the Not Cool Dictators fill that role for him.

  140. Yay! Trump is defeated and a dictatorship has insinuated itself into the free West's Internet hardware on a massive scale!

    Yes!

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  141. Re: GAY NIGGERS GNAA FELCH PATROL SNOODLE LICKER F by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To be fair, it is trivially easy to block 90%+ of that by automatically matching the patterns and then blocking AC posts from that IP for a day/week. Trolls aren't going to spend $5/month per IP to shit post.

    My VPNs all require port knocking to get a valid login and then tarpit any failures on a minute, ten minute, hour, day, etc. Unless it is a whitelisted IP because I got annoyed after remotely locking myself out after a key change once and had to drive in.

  142. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, the thing would be that the act of war would be on the US side, assuming the UK boots/wants to boot the US military according to the leases, this would be clearly a case of unwanted foreign troops in sovereign land. Of course you are right that any conventional war would be won by the US, if somebody would be fool enough to try invade the US mainland. On the other hand, guerilla tactics against troops that have overstayed their welcome would be quite efficient. Unless the US carpets bomb London as retaliation. But then they clearly, definitively would have lost the worldwide "battle for the minds" and the UK could feel justified to use nuclear weapons as retaliation.
    Speaking of nuclear weapons, this would be a dilemma for teh US should they ever be at war against Europe, because France has an independent dissuasion nuclear system, and, as we used to say during the cold war, "France can kill 50 million Russians. The USSR can kill 500 million French, that is, if there were 500 million French..." Replace USSR with USA and the thinking can still apply.
    All this to say, a "war" between the US and the UK and/or Europe should not be welcomed by the US, and it is not quite as simple as "we have more troops/missiles/tanks", wars are complicated and messy, outcomes are uncertain, and especially a nuclear one would leave no victor.

  143. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fuck off ivan and go kill vladimir putin

  144. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pubs are not on the continent.

  145. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    assassinate vladimir putin

  146. Re:The US will support its friends by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Chinese trolls stirring dissent in the west: "Goood...gooooood...let your rage at allies get stirred up and the useful idiots buy into our rhetoric about China not so bad US worse...goooooooood....."

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    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  147. Re:The US will support its friends by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    You guys understand the trolls fight both sides of this argument to divert from the issue at hand, right?

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    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  148. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you are a stupid frightened little boy pissing your pants now eh

  149. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Russian troll.

  150. Re:So stupid you believe it's about competition? l by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know, if you switch your first line to Russia then its about Trump.

  151. Re: "even threatened to cut off intelligence shari by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    And that other countries with most of their population literally living on dirt floors are now modernizing, finally, through more liberal economics (read: freedom to start your own businesses) doesn't mean the US isn't growing.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  152. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    No, but claiming that it is better than the insurance-based healthcare the US has, tend to make you appear dumb.
    I think the one who looks dumb is you, after all in Germany we also use an insurance based system ... obviously.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  153. Re:The US will support its friends by gweihir · · Score: 1

    Please do so.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  154. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

    Indeed, prior to Trump shitting on them for 3 years, the EU was our ally in international conflicts (e.g. the Iranian sanctions, dealing with Russia, etc.) They easily could have bought into a Western Countries vs. China war (based on spying, IP protection, environmental and labor rights, etc.). But Trump cannot coordinate that. Hell, the TPP, whatever you thought of it, was in large part a unified way of containing China.

    But Trump doesn't understand how teams work, so instead he's holding up China buying soybeans as a victory while losing at, well, everything that isn't selling agricultural output. Which, to be clear, isn't a win: it's what they were already doing. This is just them announcing the same policy as the past decade as "due to Trump's brilliance".

    --
    Your ad here. Ask me how!
  155. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    "Cutting off intelligence sharing" essentially means that the US agrees to stop siphoning our secret service's information while they keep providing us with the same level of information they already do.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  156. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    In international politics that's still "tomorrow".

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  157. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    I know it's very en vogue to spout random bullshit and hope it sticks, I am an old fashioned guy, though, and as long as a claim isn't supported by evidence, I ignore it.

    In other words, you just posted an empty statement.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  158. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    A country where people seriously discuss teaching creationism as if it had any scientific merit IS backwards.

    Ya know, when I was young, the US was the country. It was the future. You wanted to know what's gonna happen in 10 years, take a look at the US, because there, the future is already now.

    Today, the US is essentially the schoolyard bully of international politics. Strong, but incredibly stupid, so you suck up to him while he's looking but laugh about his blunders and utter stupidity whenever he's not looking.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  159. Re:Damark just dumped Huawei and signed with Erics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SHH Don't interrupt the america/trump hate!

  160. Re:The US will support its friends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Even if it were the entire EU, which it no longer is, militarily they wouldn't stand a chance and that is without nuclear weapons considered."

    HAHAHAHA! please cite the last war that the US actually won.

    Any strategist will tell you that fighting someone on their own soil is a very dangerous game to play and will be costly to the visitor. This has been shown time an time again from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan.

    The other point to consider is that the US doesn't actually want to win any wars as the majority of power and control of the US lies in the Military Industrial Corporations.

    Anyways, The US would leave any country it is asked to precisely because it is asked to. The strategic disadvantage of not leaving is having the local population turn against the Americans and start siding with the Russians or Chinese. Then there are the global economic implications of having more and more countries give their trading dollars to those other two nations and thus further reducing the purchasing and trade power of Americans.

    "but today I think an act of aggression against the American military is a shoving match nobody sane would want. "

    Talk to the Russians or the Chinese and you may find a different answer, sure they are not as blustery and brash as the Americans but they sure do have the people and the will and even the technology, not to mention being the constant target of American bogey man tactics gives them a good reason to come to the aid of any other country that may have issue with the Americans (like the EU).

    The problem that Americans don't seem to be picking up on is that the Geopolitical world has changed since the cold war, no longer are the Americans the sole superpower in the world. Instead, today we have a much more nuanced geopolitical arena where the power that the US used to wield is dwindling quickly, that is why your leaders threats and blustering weighs much less than a few presidents ago.... that and anyone who is in a position of power around the world knows that your leader is a self centered narcissist who would sell his own country up river for personal gain, that is an exceptionally easy flaw to take advantage of and probably already has several times over.

    Face it, Until Americans start holding their own leaders accountable for the problems they cause (banking, tech, environmental, etc) no one will really take you seriously any more. Your military is so large that getting it to do anything quickly is a hilarious ask from the beginning, you may have a couple small crack shot teams who can get in and out and complete their missions with ease but getting the might of your military anywhere for something such as and occupation would take forever! hell, look at how long it takes to get your military out of a country.

    Its the 21st century, dollars are way more destructive than bombs or bullets. America is not top dog on that totem pole any more, It would be incredibly hard to field an army when you cant afford to pay the supply chain that happens to exist mostly out of your country.

  161. Re:The US will support its friends by Shaitan · · Score: 1

    The first shot fired in your scenario would by the UK. As for going nuclear, that would be ridiculously foolish. It would be madness no matter who did it. Only the absolutely insane would go nuclear for real, those are for making serious threats not actual deployment. But if they are that crazy the UK doesn't have nuclear arms sufficient to tackle the US. There is no scenario that goes nuclear where a UK remains afterward and the US doesn't. And the winds involved are such that they wouldn't be likely to harm the US they'd create a near instant collapse for most of the rest of Europe within the space of hours.

    The UK and Europe aren't weak, they could blacken the eye of the US and in concerted effort maybe break its nose as well. That is enough to make the US hesitate. But they would be annihilated in the conflict. Actually playing hard ball and picking that fight would be suicide. Police here in the US are armed and we have an expression "death by cop." It is a suicide tactic in which someone points a gun at or shoots at police in order to force the police to kill them to protect themselves. That is the same thing you are suggesting here, that the UK and by extension Europe would kill themselves by pointing a gun at the US and forcing it to protect itself.

    You propose the UK destroy itself and Europe alongside it just to spite a longstanding ally. I know you guys like to come up with alternative dialogues over there but you'd all be Nazi's or more likely either Russians or USians right now without the "sleeping giant" having been woken and defending you rather than letting Germany finish you off and then splitting the carcass with the Russians.

  162. Re:The US will support its friends by Shaitan · · Score: 1

    "HAHAHAHA! please cite the last war that the US actually won."

    All of them? The US hasn't engaged in any actual invasions so withdrawing isn't defeat, success is measured by achieving the stated objective. Saddam is toppled kuwait liberated, Victory. The man himself found hiding in a hole and executed, check. Afghanistan liberated from Al Queda, victory. Bin Laden himself dug out and executed, check. Vietnam cost so much you could argue it wasn't a victory but the US successfully prevented the communists from advancing. That was really all a proxy fight with the USSR and the USSR doesn't exist today while the US does. Korea was part of that same fight.

    Before that we weren't really in any wars since WWII. Last I checked we defeated the Germans, saved the British and the Russians, and liberated the rest of Europe in that one. Now you could argue the British and Russians didn't need saving and would have been okay but you are definitely looking through rose tinted glasses if you think they had any hope of achieving better than a stalemate without the US and that is a huge stretch for the British because they only survived to the offensive and to the work of Turing because of US aid. The UK was a besieged fortress and US supplies are the only thing that prevented the Germans from starving them out.

    "hell, look at how long it takes to get your military out of a country."

    What on earth makes you think we actually want to be fully successful at getting our military out of a country? Are you really so blind that you can't see that "failure" has resulted in a network of US military bases around the globe which are within range of any target in the world if we are willing to cross airspace?

  163. Re:"even threatened to cut off intelligence sharin by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    Let's not forget however, that the USA is at present at war with it's own intelligence agencies.

    That makes as much sense as if you said, "Lets not forget that I'm at war with my nose!"

    First of all, it isn't a historical fact that we agreed to, so why are you pretending that we agreed to it in the past? That's a precondition of worrying that we might "forget."

    Second of all, it is really stupid. You obviously consume a lot of "alternative media."

    Christ, this reads like schizophrenia world.

    Yeah, lets just re-quote this one little snippet from earlier:

    the USA is at present at war with it's own intelligence agencies

    That's why you feel like you're experiencing schizophrenia. You're saying things like that.