America is the sole superpower in the world today.It has

[Veggie Meathead]

unchallenged economic and military power.Yet, the current administration acts as though we are a weak nation on a par with
a Banana Republic.Does anyone really believe that Iraq was capable of inflicting any damage to us?

Are we simply creating enemies just to indulge in war games for the fun of it?Why do we seem unable to live peacefully knowing fully well that there are no competing forces that can challenge us.

Doesn't it seem odd that the strongest power in the world is the most afraid of real or imagined enemies?

[shraby]

1. This administration is

making war in order to do three things...control oil, spread democracy at the point of a gun, control the world. It's just that they didn't count on Iraq giving them so much trouble.

[Arianrhod]

3. Point #2 is incorrect.

This administration has no interest in democracy, anywhere. * has himself said that his choice of Supreme Court Justice would follow the model of Scalia--a man who is on open record as holding democracy in sheer contempt. His appointments so far demonstrate that he was not kidding.

As pointed out in Eloriel's thread, our two closest allies--Britain and Canada--are going the same way we are. Soon there will be no democracy left anywhere in the world.

America, under *, is certainly not spreading democracy. It's killing it.

[cornfedyank]

5. that's right..they did not count on so much trouble.

their foreign policy was learned on drunken weekends over a RISK board. screw the people that have to suffer.


the way for the last super power to be the last superpower is to gain the trust of the world.

if rr had waged peace in afghanistan after ....ten years later obl may not have had a home.. old trade routes could be reopened to the subcontinent

[w4rma]

9. spreading democracy and controlling the world are mutually exclusive. (nt)

[charlyvi]

2. Our President is Paranoid

He used 9-11 to justify a worldview where violence is around every corner and everything is black or white. His foreign policy is based on fantasy, his domestic policy is based on greed. He does not know how to live without an enemy--either real or imaginery. He is a schoolyard bully--a schoolyard bully with WAY too much power and wealth.

Edited for spelling

[aljones]

4. I am gonna say this even if it does get me in trouble.

America looks at real damage from a warped point of view. We are outraged as a country if one American is killed by some other nation or group on purpose. Murder and death are both things that the world has always had to deal with. We shouldn't think that just because we are American that those rules of human nature do not apply to us. Our sense of nationalism impedes us in this area. We should look at the world and history with more understanding and enlightenment. Instead of just thinking we are the biggest kid on the block and that nobody will mess with us. It is impossible to make all of the people like you all of the time. We are loved nor liked internationally for the most part we are hated and loathed. That is something that our generation is gonna have to deal with. It will take decades to heal all the wounds that we have made throughout the Arab world and beyond.

So the answer to your question is yes, I think that given the American mind set Iraq was capable of inflicting damage on us. All that would have had to happen was one Iraqi kill one American and we as a nation would have been in emotional turmoil.
Don't get me wrong I don't think that the Iraq war was justified in anyway, nor do I think that our War on Terrorism has any true propose. If I had my choice there would be no war at all anytime any place for any reason.

smile ally

[Pepperbelly]

6. I really don't know that superpowers actually exist anymore ....

Let's face facts. The cluster-fuck in Iraq has our military strained to its limits. They cannot keep a hundred thousand troops deployed for an extended basis. And actually, to pacify one little third world country will take more than a hundred thousand troops.

The nuclear weapons are not really usable so that renders them pretty much irrelevant so far as military advantage goes.

:shrug:

[Cleita]

7. Our problem is that there is no one to stop us. When the Soviets

were a threat, there was a balance of power. We had to be nicer. I guess now we can be bullies because no one can stop us. I think we are going to be in for a rude awakening.

[Dirk39]

8. Your current administration is right

America IS weak, it's a kind of papertiger, not just economically but military, too, despite all the propaganda.
Despite all the weapons, the Americans hopefully don't want to die for God's own country and they never wanted too.


Their military has nothing to offer but teenage computer games from above, and Lyndie England's on the ground.

Not quite the way to go to "liberate" countries. Before the illegal occupation of Iraq, Rumsfeld, Bush and their comrades were claiming, they could lead about 3 different wars at the same time, now they are on their knees regarding the mess in Iraq, begging the UN to support them.


A country like Germany - with 80 million people - is exporting the most gods in the world, while the USA has a 20% trade deficit. The dollar is under attack, too. The OPEC has already changed to the Euro as the leading currency.
The only way out for the U.S. elites seems to be to attack weak and defenseless countries to provoke the world to believe in two things:

1. The unchallanged military power of the USA
2. The necessity for the western "democracies" to rely on the USA, 'cause there's an universal terrorist threat against us all

Bush and his administration aren't simply idiots. If so, they would never ever have gained their positions.
Although it seems that even corporate America has enough of Bush and his comrades now, don't be naive.


"Doesn't it seem odd that the strongest power in the world is the most afraid of real or imagined enemies?"

To me it seems, the opposite is true and makes sense:
Without those "imagined enemies", Northamerica would have to come aware, that it isn't the strongest power in the world and would loose about 20-30% of it's wealth from one day to the next. And this is what Bush and his gang is about. They might be idiots, but there's a bit more to it, they were usefull idiots, "elected" to do the dirty work, others didn't want to do. Now they failed.


Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[Veggie Meathead]

10. From what you say,the reality is we are not the superpower we claim to be

but a paper tiger which cannot even subdue a third world nation like Iraq.If this is really the case would our paranoid assumption that we will be victimized by terrorists on our soil be accurate?

In a sense what you are saying is that we are not strong, but weak
economically and militarily.So our fears may well be justifiable.Is that a correct way to interpret your post?

[Senior citizen]

11. Paranoid assumption is right.

When democracies fail, when people can't elect whom the majority wants, whenever there are tyrannies and dictatorships, there will be "terrorists." Unless people have a voice in government, they will fight for freedom and democracy, and despots will label them terrorists. Imagine living in a Scandinavian country with a king who can walk freely anywhere without bodyguards or any protection whatsoever. Can you imagine a head of state who doesn't need protection from their own citizens? If not, you have never known what democracy is about. A Constitutional monarchy can be a democracy and a "representative republic" might not.

I'm looking forward to seeing Fahrenheit 9/11, because the simplistic view that 9/11 was the work of terrorists is likely to be shown to be as false as the lies that Iraq was responsible for it or had WMD.

You ever see Superman pick on somebody small and weak? You'll never see a true superpower do that either. Only bullies do stuff like that, and we all know there's nothing super or powerful about bullies, they're just cowards who never pick on anyone their own size.