The Iraq War retrospective Thread

[kandrathe]

You certainly do seem to have an appetite for aggression. But rabid pit bulls usually end up getting put down.

:) Not aggression, more of an acknowledgment of responsibility. Unfortunately we are not Switzerland, who can shrug and watch the world collapse around us. Depending on if prosperity brings a more democratic China, you might find that the US is more of an ally than an enemy.

I dare say China's leaders are getting a grim sense of satisfaction in building up huge foreign reserves whilst the US impales itself on the middle east.

Economic power is essentially power, and having strayed from pure communism, China has realized how to wield its newly discovered power.

Clearly the next century is very uncertain (as it always is, I suppose) but energy will be an issue at the heart of it (as Cheney et. al. surely knew when they invaded Iraq). If there turns out to be one event that people point to which triggers the demise of the US and the ascendancy of China (if that's in fact what happens) I suspect it will be the Iraq war.

You are correct about energy. I think it is probably the #1 strategic resource. Without cheap and abundant power, our societies will fail. You are wrong, however, about the pivotal position of the Iraq war. China's ascendancy was assured by means of its vast population, and its embrace of capitalism. The US's and Europe's decline was assured by the continued embrace of socialism. Our crushing debts are not from the Iraq war, but from social programs run amok. As an example, the budget of the Iraq war (not reconstruction mind you) would be within the means of my meager state to fund. It can be turned around, but only by removing the attitude of entitlement with which our populations persist in deluding themselves.