war just fine; it's already survived one. (And believe me, if in the upcoming war even 1 nuke is dropped, they'll be calling it a 'nuclear war' for decades, so I think WWII qualifies.) Funny; growing up during the cold war, I was never afraid of global thermonuclear war. I knew the U.S. wouldn't start an exchange of missiles, and there was no reason to think the communists would start one while they were winning the war. (And for those too young or liberal to check the score card, the Soviets lost, the communists are winning.)
The way to deal with the possibility of a nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India is to tell both countries that if either drops a nuke, the U.S. will nuke both capitals. Both. And remind them that we're the only people with a track record of using nukes.
I agree that U.S. foreign policy is a shambles; for decades we've sent dollars where we should have sent bombs and occupation troops. For decades we've fought for other people's freedom, spending the fruits of our labor, creativity and blood, in some misbegotten realisation of Kipling's "White Man's Burden".
Bush's poll ratings are not slipping, are not in danger of slipping any more than FDR's were during WWII. His mistake, completely understandable if not forgivable, lies in stalling. He should already have acknowledged that Islam is at war with the West, and formulated a battle plan to conquer the middle-east and place the oil fields in Western hands.
The general problem with the United States is that it needs to behave like an empire, but loathes to be identified as such. But, if we are to spread democratic ideals, at least some of the time the preaching will have to be done with guns rather than dollars. Or we could just leave everyone alone, in which case the gap between the wealthy West and the impoverished rest would simply grow.
It's depressing to see that youngsters are still being indoctrinated in the terror of nukes. Look at it this way; your personal universe will end just as thoroughly whether it be by drunken driver or by nuclear holocaust, and the former is much, much more likely than the latter.
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