Beware empires in decline...

[bridgit]

'The common wisdom circulating in Washington these days is that the United States is too bogged down in Iraq to consider risky military action against Iran or - God forbid - North Korea. Policy analysts describe the US military as "over-burdened" or "stretched to the limit". The presumption is that the Pentagon is telling President George W Bush that it can't really undertake another major military contingency.' http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HJ19Ak01.html

[Kiouni]

1. will they call our bluff?

if north korea does more tests what will we do? obviously a millitary solution is off the table.

[bridgit]

10. all bush has is 'crazy for crazy'...

:freak:

[bamacrat]

2. Will chimpy care?

He'll probably quote a verse and head into to Iran, and N. Korea at the same time. Fuck it we're Mrrkkka we win, that's what we do.

[SharonAnn]

3. "A sick elephant can kill a healthy dog, just by rolling over on it"

This was a quote by NCR CEO Chuck Exley about why he didn't think that AT&T should buy NCR to combine their sick computer business with NCR's healthy computer business, and that NCR couldn't necessarily fix what was wrong with AT&T. And that proved to be true.

Anyway, it seems apropos now.

[bananas]

4. Beware of "the common wisdom"

During the 80s there were countless stories denying Reagan's dirty little war in Central America, saying that they hadn't heard about it and you can't keep secrets in Washington so it couldn't be true.

edit: reading the article I see he his skeptical of the common wisdom too.

[bridgit]

5. common sense ain't so common after all...

[PerfectSage]

6. Do you think...

...George Bush activates the 'tyrant' pole of the 'king' archetype for most of the people on DU? lol

Love your sig line
"Whoever speaks in primordial images speaks with a thousand voices..." - CG Jung

[bridgit]

7. wannabe tyrant-boy king-caesar is my guess...

and a square or two of shit talking texas TP, cause texas toilet paper don't take no shit off'ah no one...that's why they had to take it off the shelves :)

[atommom]

8. Very interesting piece.

Just as an empire on the rise, like the United States on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, is often inclined to take rash and ill-considered actions, so an empire on the decline, like the British and French empires after World War II, will engage in senseless, self-destructive acts. And I fear the same can happen to the United States today, as it too slips into decline.

The decline of an empire can be a hard and painful thing for the affected imperial elites. Those who are used to commanding subservience and respect from their subjects and from lesser powers are often ill-prepared to deal with their indifference and contempt. Even harder is overcoming the long-inbred assumption that one's vassals are inferior - mentally, morally and otherwise.

The first malady makes the declining elites extraordinarily sensitive to perceived slights or insults from their former subjects; the second often leads elites to overestimate their own capabilities and to underestimate those of their former subjects - an often fatal error. The two misjudgments often combine to produce an extreme readiness to strike back when a perceived insult coincides with a (possibly deceptive) military superiority.

Scary stuff.

[bridgit]

9. they'll be clawing & scratching their way all the way down imo...

it won't be a pretty thing to witness at all