Why do you think so few countries are dumb enough to try it?

Why do YOU think they crash airliners into your biggest buildings?

What you or I think is irrelevant. The bottom line is that when anyone
has yanked America's chain hard enough, they have always lost...always
-- even when they "won".

And this isn't just true of America, by the way. It's the old "don't
tug on Superman's cape" rule that pretty much defines the geopolitical
world -- and has for millenia.

Don't believe it? Ask Germany's Hitler, Italy's Mussolini, Japan's
Hirohito and Tojo, Iraq's Saddam, Al Queda's Al Zarqawi, Panama's
Noriega, Serbia's Milosevic...the list goes on and on.

Even the few apparent "winners" on the short list of those who have
gone toe-to-toe with America -- the North Vietnamese, Cuba's Fidel
Castro, and Osama bin Laden, to name three -- lost so much in the
process of "winning" as to dissuade most people from even attempting to
rile America.

For example, the Vietnamese won the war, but lost two (three?)
generations of young men -- and, in the end, America accomplished its
long-range strategic goal of stopping communism.

Fidel Castro has stuck his tongue out at America for 45 years -- but
has been forced to live his life in a gilded cage, in constant fear of
assassination. And, with the fall of communism worldwide, he's
watched his power and prestige evaporate to the point where no one in
America (well, outside of Miami) has taken him seriously for at least a
decade.

And then, of course, bin Laden has attacked America and (thus far)
evaded capture. To accomplish this he is probably holed up in a cave
in Tora Bora, dodging the elite special forces unit that recently
brought down Al Zarqawi. Sound like fun?

I wouldn't characterize any of these supposed "victors" as having lived
anything approaching a fulfilling life -- and most thinking people see
their fate, and come to the same conclusion: Don't screw with America.


It remains to be seen if America can accomplish its long-range
strategic goals in this current war -- but I wouldn't bet against it.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"