It is 'liberal mishmash' unless you provide some logic and data to support why you think world opinion is important to the security of the United States of America. I can point you toward a wealth of articles explaining why it was important in the past for America to heed world opinion, but that was pre 9-11. Thw WTC attack changed many things and one of them was the axiom that alligences were neccessary to America's security. Since you are posting on a military oriented web site, I'm assuming that you follow military affairs to some degree. The Owener/operator of this web site has published several interesting books on military affairs. In 100 years "How to make War" will be looked on as a classic on military thought during the cold war. From a military POV, the USA has what the business people call an insurmountable advantage. We are so good and so far beyond the rest of the world that they will never catch up, UNLESS WE LET THEM. If it came down to America vs the rest of the planet, it would be a draw right now. In 5 more years it will be an overwhelming victory by America. Once a business secures a nich and takes care of it, it is almost impossible for the competition to capture market share. That is the position the USA is in right now, militarily. We are 10 to 15 years ahead of our closest competitors and pulling away. For Russia and Europe to get where we are today, they will need to quadruple their defense spending for the next 10 years. And we will still be 10 years ahead of them. In the Air, the most modern European and Russsian designs are barely superior to what we are retiring now. On the Sea, the trend is toward stealth. In seapower terms, Stealth means submarines. We have the best AND the most. While I consider Aircraft carriers to be targets and as obsolete as battleships, I might be wrong. Only one nation operates large nuclear powered carriers. America. On land, the newest MBT from Germany is almost as good as the 10 year old MBT being used by the USA. And as Iraq proved, the MBT is still the heart of most offensive operations. About the only place where we are weak is in the rifle carried by an individul soldier. And that will soon change. I'll stop now because my typing finger is tired. I can get into the economic and moral reasons why America doesn't need to be concerned about what the third world thinks later. America has gone beyond the 'superpower' stage. And no one else has reached it yet.

I don't think the USA is less secure for the invasion in Iraq, on the contrary: 1. Libya has reconsidered its position. 2. Iran is reconsidering - how few admission can they get away with?? 3. Syria has toned down its profile. There is no longer the apprehension about a possible war with Turkey. No Iraq was a debacle to be taken rather sooner than later. About the popularity of the americans, I will quote Golda Meir: "I do not want a pacifistic, tolerant, DEAD jewish people." Cops with good arrest records are hardly likely to be popular among criminals.

another thought. Most of the current unpopularity is due to an estensive media campaign to discredit President Bush. So the 2nd battle of Iraq has been portrayed as an expansionist war to further the goals of an Imperial America. As time goes on and it becomes obvious to even the Michael Moores of the world that America has no intention of turning Iraq into a soviet style puppet state, the fears of the 3rd world will be replace with a yearning for regime change in their neck of the woods. Then the popularity of America will swing the other way. It still won't matter so far as American security goes. America has intentionally gone beyond the point where we need allies to survive. Allies are a good thing and America wants them, but we don't NEED them. They need us, which of course adds to the resentment. I can easily make the case that everything since 1941 has been part of an evolving strategy to make the world safe for Democracy. The last 60 years can be divided into sections based on the Operational methods used to reach that goal, but the basic objective has remained the same. And in any Political effort, the objectives dictate the methods. So to seperate by method is basicly false.

"As time goes on and it becomes obvious to even the Michael Moores of the world that America has no intention of turning Iraq into a soviet style puppet state" this is pure delusion, dude. After this 3 years of Goebbels-like propaganda, in Europe (for not to mention the Arab world...) Americans will remain as the world's "villains" for years and years and years. There are, obviously, people who see things in different ways, but they are the typical screaming-in-the-desert guys.

While I consider Aircraft carriers to be targets and as obsolete as battleships, I might be wrong. Only one natio ........................................... Only until VTOL fighters catch up in effeciency, to the regular ones which require space to land. The only problem with carriers(and battleships) is that they are not expendable. When someone figures out a way to provide a large number of small carriers that can provide equal power to a few large ones then the "carrier question" will be mute, subs or no subs. But this subject is really for a different category.

Your name wouldn't be Cebrowski would it?

I have to say this. The US does need the World, contray to some peoples opinion. The huge US economy that allows the US to have such are large military is in a period of dangerous instability. Much of the the US economy is supported by the fact the the US Dollar is the base currency for all others to be judge. As a result, many countries like Saudi Arabia Japan and China hold large sums of it a suposed to gold. Since the US Dollar is the bechmark currencey and such vast sums of it are held over seas it allows the US to do something no other country can. HAVE A TRADE DEFICIT. No other country could sustain this kind of deficit and normally this wouldn't be a problem for the US either. Accept that the current US Adminstration is trying to devalue the US dollar. Some Say to as low as 20% weaker than it curently is. Now having a Dollar this low might make those countries I mentioned want to sell those US Dollars they in favour of another curency (Euro?). Thus the US Dollar would no longer be the benchmark and the current trade deficit would destroy the US economy.

it's a bit more complex than that ollie. the us trade deficit is offset to a goodly extent by the fact that american companies bring home large amounts of dollars from their overseas operations each year. there is also the fact that the US is a very considerable generator of wealth which allows them to run a trade deficit without really damaging themselves. on the downside however is that there are many many billions of dollars outstanding because the US dollar is the de facto currency for international trade. If people lose faith in the US dollar and switch to Euro's for instance those dollars migrate home which leads to serious inflation and the rise of interest rates etc which leads to a rapid devaluation of the currency which just feeds the cycle. things could get very ugly very quickly if that happened as its a positive feedback loop.

True Ethran it is more complex than that. The last figure I heard about the trade deficit was 660 billion US Dollar (good thing that is current US Dollars LOL). Yes, some of it is from US companies. Which are a problem themselves, as I doubt very much that their aligence goes any further than where they can make the most money. After all that is their primary responsibility. They serve no national interest. Yes the US is the only remaining Superpower, some would say a Hyperpower, but I question how long that is going to be the case, if the US continues to ignore the rest of the world.

whatever goes up always comes down. the