From: Phil Payne 

> Indeed you should. America now is not the America of the 40s, any more than
> IBM now is the IBM I joined 27 years ago. "You're" already a
minority in
> world population and becoming one in world trade and politics (the wheels
> are falling off NAFTA, the MAI, the WTO, the IMF etc as member countries
> realise how badly they've been shafted). As your political and economic
> force weakens, the only way you'll get what you need to survive will be
> military force. Even with that, would you care to estimate how well your
> economy will do once the rest of the world hates you?

The USA can no longer afford its current armed forces.  The arms race broke
the Soviet economy, but the USA has failed to realise that it can now stop
running.

Obviously, if you have overwhelming global military superiority, there's a
temptation to use it.  To a man with only a hammer, every problem looks
like a nail.

There are around 1.5 billion Muslims on the planet.  57 members of the OIC
have just demanded that the USA leave Iraq.  The main effect on the US
economy will come as existng contracts come up for renewal - Muslim nations
will be reluctant to renew contracts with US companies.  Unless, of course,
at gunpoint like in Iraq.  The US economy is in dramatic decline - close to
free-fall.  The real problem is that the coming downturn is not technical -
like 1929 - but endemic.

One reason the USA does not want to hand power back to Iraqis is that those
Iraqis will immediately void all contracts with US companies.  It's hardly
worth Halliburton people getting on a plane - for the next six months
they're likely to get shot and thereafter they'll be deported.

--
  Phil Payne
  http://www.isham-research.com
  +44 7785 302 803
  +49 173 6242039

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5