The Fearful Superpower

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  • Posted By: lnlrothx3 @ 05/05/2008 2:08:28 AM

    Newsweek is losing circulation every month. It will soon go out of business. As for Fareed he uses every opportunity to be little the U.S... Most Americans care little for the rest of the world. I have traveled 3 continents myself and found most people to be lease than friendly to the U.S... Also we build things that matter now, flashy buildings are old hat. We make I-pod, I phone, computers, Robots, spaceships, new drugs, new better crops, New medical equipment, The internet, GPS, and.......on and on. Yes we should hold our heads in shame. We are such losers.

  • Posted By: PeaceScore @ 05/04/2008 9:21:46 AM

    I think that it says a lot about Republicans when they confuse "hope mongering" with "fear mongering." I for one would much rather spend my time and energy focusing on how we can grow, learn and improve our country and not on how we can protect, secure and defend ourselves. We've tried the latter option for seven years now and what has it accomplished? What kind of person would critisizes someone else because they wanted to hope for something better. Isn't hope what makes our country great? Hope, freedom and the pursuit of happiness are the core virtues of our country. I think that having hope is the ultimate symbol of patriotism. A soldier without hope is an oxymoron. Hope is not uniquely American though. Of the 6.6 billion people on this planet, the overwhelming majortiy are hopeful and peaceful. In fact, I'd venture to say that 95% of so called "foriegners" or "immigrants" are not looking to commit violence against us, or anyone else for that matter. The only way we're going to continue to be a global power is if we continue to act, work and trade globally. Isolationism is not in our nations' best interest, nor is it in our nation's DNA. Our prosperity and wealth are dependent upon our ability to be competitive, which requires innovation, creativity and knowledge sharing. We must continue to embrace the belief that the greatest asset of our nation and of our planet is our diversity.

    • Posted By: Dhurandhar Bhatawadekar @ 05/05/2008 1:08:37 AM

      The world does not hate Bush, its the muslims who hate Bush. Rest of the world just cant understand Americans who elected Bush not once but twice. How dumb can one get. They say lightening doesnt strike the same place twice. Looks like Americans havent heard of that phrase. Its the only country which fights "wars" outside of their own country be it Iraq or Vietnam. 9/11 is the only "war" that was fought on American soil after WW II. Americans who inflict wars on other countries, were sooo scared by Osama's video, that they elected Dubya once again. Its rare to find such a unique combination of being so dumb and so arrogant, and so many of them like Ms Rice, who blamed India's prosperity for food shortage in the world all at one place. Last week when Bush's dissapproval rating went close to 65% (It no longer called approval rating) he was seen and heard "advising" Zimbawe leaders, and blamig Mugabe of being "ineffective" leader and "failing" in his duties. There is one more phrase, that americans havent heard of - "Charity begins at home" Instead of helping others Mr.Bush and Ms Rice and rest of the coteries, can you just focus on US. Leave the rest of world to others, and it will be far better

  • Posted By: Dhurandhar Bhatawadekar @ 05/05/2008 1:07:44 AM

    The world does not hate Bush, its the muslims who hate Bush. Rest of the world just cant understand Americans who elected Bush not once but twice. How dumb can one get. They say lightening doesnt strike the same place twice. Looks like Americans havent heard of that phrase. Its the only country which fights "wars" outside of their own country be it Iraq or Vietnam. 9/11 is the only "war" that was fought on American soil after WW II. Americans who inflict wars on other countries, were sooo scared by Osama's video, that they elected Dubya once again. Its rare to find such a unique combination of being so dumb and so arrogant, and so many of them like Ms Rice, who blamed India's prosperity for food shortage in the world all at one place. Last week when Bush's dissapproval rating went close to 65% (It no longer called approval rating) he was seen and heard "advising" Zimbawe leaders, and blamig Mugabe of being "ineffective" leader and "failing" in his duties. There is one more phrase, that americans havent heard of - "Charity begins at home" Instead of helping others Mr.Bush and Ms Rice and rest of the coteries, can you just focus on US. Leave the rest of world to others, and it will be far better

  • Posted By: Dhurandhar Bhatawadekar @ 05/05/2008 1:04:46 AM

    The world does not hate Bush, its the muslims who hate Bush. Rest of the world just cant understand Americans who elected Bush not once but twice. How dumb can one get. They say lightening doesnt strike the same place twice. Looks like Americans havent heard of that phrase. Its the only country which fights "wars" outside of their own country be it Iraq or Vietnam. 9/11 is the only "war" that was fought on American soil after WW II. Americans who inflict wars on other countries, were sooo scared by Osama's video, that they elected Dubya once again. Its rare to find such a unique combination of being so dumb and so arrogant, and so many of them like Ms Rice, who blamed India's prosperity for food shortage in the world all at one place. Last week when Bush's dissapproval rating went close to 65% (It no longer called approval rating) he was seen and heard "advising" Zimbawe leaders, and blamig Mugabe of being "ineffective" leader and "failing" in his duties. There is one more phrase, that americans havent heard of - "Charity begins at home" Instead of helping others Mr.Bush and Ms Rice and rest of the coteries, can you just focus on US. Leave the rest of world to others, and it will be far better

  • Posted By: 1newsweek1 @ 05/04/2008 12:22:38 PM

    It's important that the world knows something about India. Ever since its independence from Britain 60 years ago, India has fought 3 wars with Pakistan alone! During one of the wars, India "cut" Pakistan into two pieces, Pakistan and Bangladesh. India also fought but lost a border war with China and "swallowed" a little Himalayan kingdom Sikeem that scared the hell out of another little Himalayan kingdom Bhutan which quickly surrendered its defense to India. As recent as 1999, India was on verge of a nuclear show-down with Pakistan. How many country has fought so many wars as India since WWII?

  • Posted By: 1newsweek1 @ 05/04/2008 12:22:28 PM

    It's important that the world knows something about India. Ever since its independence from Britain 60 years ago, India has fought 3 wars with Pakistan alone! During one of the wars, India "cut" Pakistan into two pieces, Pakistan and Bangladesh. India also fought but lost a border war with China and "swallowed" a little Himalayan kingdom Sikeem that scared the hell out of another little Himalayan kingdom Bhutan which quickly surrendered its defense to India. As recent as 1999, India was on verge of a nuclear show-down with Pakistan. How many country has fought so many wars as India since WWII?

  • Posted By: antodav @ 05/04/2008 12:55:50 AM

    I apologize for the multiple posts; the website keeps telling me that it failed.

    As for China, they may only have a fraction of the nuclear weapons that the U.S. has, but they have all that they need. The huge arsenal of weapons possessed by the United States is overkill and far more than any nation would need to destroy the entire world if they wanted to. A first strike by China could destroy not only Tokyo, Taipei, Honolulu, and Anchorage but also Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta and New York as well. The Chinese could wipe out the U.S. government, the backbone of the U.S. economy, and any capability the U.S. might have to formulate a proper response before we even realized what was happening. In absence of a missile defense shield, which our own government continues to obstruct and which Europe and Russia oppose for their own malignant purposes, Mutually Assured Destruction is no longer enough to keep us safe. But even then, the primary threat from China is not military???it's economic. The largest fraction of our national debt owed to foreign countries is owed to China; if China wanted to really hurt the United States they could foreclose upon those debts and send the government into bankruptcy, or sell off their reserves of the dollar and make it virtually worthless. Growing Chinese demand for oil contributes to our own high oil prices that are wrecking our economy. The next president will almost certainly implement regulations upon our own industry equal to or greater than those specified in the Kyoto Accords, and if it's Obama or Clinton it's doubtful that he/she would be willing to keep in place the tax subsidies for our own companies that would be essential to prevent them from raising prices, laying off workers, or engaging in further outsourcing in order to offset the cost of additional regulation; China, meanwhile, will most likely continue to be exempt from any such regulations, due to a combination of economic extortion and white guilt, despite the fact that they have overtaken the United States as the world's #1 polluter, to the point where our athletes going there for the Olympics this year are concerned for their health in the toxic atmosphere of Beijing. This means that China will probably overtake the United States as the world's most productive economy within the next decade, and will most likely overtake the U.S. in GDP within 25 years.

    These are SERIOUS issues that the next several administrations and Congresses will have to deal with, and Zakaria is doing the nation a disservice by encouraging people to ignore them. For the nation's sake, I hope Zakaria's message in this article goes unheard and unheeded in November.

  • Posted By: antodav @ 05/04/2008 12:55:00 AM

    The notion that the Democrats have not engaged in fear-mongering is laughable. They have fear-mongered about global warming, fear-mongered about the Patriot Act, fear-mongered the economy almost into a recession, fear-mongered about attempts at Social Security reform (where they accuse Republicans of fear-mongering)....fear-mongered any time they felt it would suit them politically. Back in 2004 they fear-mongered about an impending draft that never came, and way back in 1964 they used the politics of fear to insinuate that Barry Goldwater was a warmonger who was going to lead the world to nuclear Armageddon. Using fear to win elections is nothing new for them; it's incredibly hypocritical for them to now criticize Republicans for allegedly doing it. If so, Republicans only learned from the best.

    Though it claims not to, the article trivializes numerous serious threats to future American security and prosperity, particularly the threat posed by radical Islamic fundamentalism. It goes so far as to ridicule those who recognize the dangers that we face in the modern world and wish to do something about them; Zakaria is Chamberlainian in his abject denial of the facts of the world around him. Iran doesn't need to have a military budget the size of the United States; its paramilitary forces alone dwarf the size of the U.S. military, and with aid from China and Russia the quality of its military hardware could easily come to rival that of the U.S. if left unchecked. Iran doesn't need to spend billions of dollars on military R&D; they can just buy the technology they need from nations that already have it with oil. Furthermore, the primary threat from Iran is now and continues to be the possibility of Iran giving WMDs to Hezbollah or some other terrorist group and that group then using those weapons against Israel, Europe, or the United States. The purpose of containing Iran is to keep them from ever reaching the point where they will be capable of doing that and no one will be able to stop them. Zakaria fails to understand this. (cont'd).

  • Posted By: antodav @ 05/04/2008 12:50:44 AM

    The notion that the Democrats have not engaged in fear-mongering is laughable. They have fear-mongered about global warming, fear-mongered about the Patriot Act, fear-mongered the economy almost into a recession, fear-mongered about attempts at Social Security reform (where they accuse Republicans of fear-mongering)....back in 2004 they fear-mongered about an impending draft that never came, and way back in 1964 they used the politics of fear to insinuate that Barry Goldwater was a warmonger who was going to lead the world to nuclear armageddon. Using fear to win elections is nothing new for them; it's incredibly hypocritical for them to now criticize Republicans for allegedly doing it. If so, Republicans only learned from the best.

    Though it claims not to, the article trivializes numerous serious threats to future American security and prosperity, particularly the threat posed by radical Islamic fundamentalism. It goes so far as to ridicule those who recognize the dangers that we face in the modern world and wish to do something about them; Zakaria is Chamberlainian in his abject denial of the facts of the world around him. Iran doesn't need to have a military budget the size of the United States; its paramilitary forces alone dwarf the size of the U.S. military, and with aid from China and Russia the quality of its military hardware could easily come to rival that of the U.S. if left unchecked. Iran doesn't need to spend billions of dollars on military R&D; they can just buy the technology they need from nations that already have it with oil. Furthermore, the primary threat from Iran is now and continues to be the possibility of Iran giving WMDs to Hezbollah or some other terrorist group and that group then using those weapons against Israel, Europe, or the United States. The purpose of containing Iran is to keep them from ever reaching the point where they will be capable of doing that and no one will be able to stop them. Zakaria fails to understand this. (cont'd.)

  • Posted By: antodav @ 05/04/2008 12:49:03 AM

    The notion that the Democrats have not engaged in fear-mongering is laughable. They have fear-mongered about global warming, fear-mongered about the Patriot Act, fear-mongered the economy almost into a recession, fear-mongered about attempts at Social Security reform (where they accuse Republicans of fear-mongering)....back in 2004 they fear-mongered about an impending draft that never came, and way back in 1964 they used the politics of fear to insinuate that Barry Goldwater was a warmonger who was going to lead the world to nuclear armageddon. Using fear to win elections is nothing new for them; it's incredibly hypocritical for them to now criticize Republicans for allegedly doing it. If so, Republicans only learned from the best.

    Though it claims not to, the article trivializes numerous serious threats to future American security and prosperity, particularly the threat posed by radical Islamic fundamentalism. It goes so far as to ridicule those who recognize the dangers that we face in the modern world and wish to do something about them; Zakaria is Chamberlainian in his abject denial of the facts of the world around him. Iran doesn't need to have a military budget the size of the United States; its paramilitary forces alone dwarf the size of the U.S. military, and with aid from China and Russia the quality of its military hardware could easily come to rival that of the U.S. if left unchecked. Iran doesn't need to spend billions of dollars on military R&D; they can just buy the technology they need from nations that already have it with oil. Furthermore, the primary threat from Iran is now and continues to be the possibility of Iran giving WMDs to Hezbollah or some other terrorist group and that group then using those weapons against Israel, Europe, or the United States. The purpose of containing Iran is to keep them from ever reaching the point where they will be capable of doing that and no one will be able to stop them. Zakaria fails to understand this. (cont'd)

  • Posted By: antodav @ 05/04/2008 12:48:51 AM

    The notion that the Democrats have not engaged in fear-mongering is laughable. They have fear-mongered about global warming, fear-mongered about the Patriot Act, fear-mongered the economy almost into a recession, fear-mongered about attempts at Social Security reform (where they accuse Republicans of fear-mongering)....back in 2004 they fear-mongered about an impending draft that never came, and way back in 1964 they used the politics of fear to insinuate that Barry Goldwater was a warmonger who was going to lead the world to nuclear armageddon. Using fear to win elections is nothing new for them; it's incredibly hypocritical for them to now criticize Republicans for allegedly doing it. If so, Republicans only learned from the best.

    Though it claims not to, the article trivializes numerous serious threats to future American security and prosperity, particularly the threat posed by radical Islamic fundamentalism. It goes so far as to ridicule those who recognize the dangers that we face in the modern world and wish to do something about them; Zakaria is Chamberlainian in his abject denial of the facts of the world around him. Iran doesn't need to have a military budget the size of the United States; its paramilitary forces alone dwarf the size of the U.S. military, and with aid from China and Russia the quality of its military hardware could easily come to rival that of the U.S. if left unchecked. Iran doesn't need to spend billions of dollars on military R&D; they can just buy the technology they need from nations that already have it with oil. Furthermore, the primary threat from Iran is now and continues to be the possibility of Iran giving WMDs to Hezbollah or some other terrorist group and that group then using those weapons against Israel, Europe, or the United States. The purpose of containing Iran is to keep them from ever reaching the point where they will be capable of doing that and no one will be able to stop them. Zakaria fails to understand this. (cont'd)

  • Posted By: ladyinwhite @ 04/24/2008 10:20:13 PM

    You know what I hate most? I hate to listen our president saying that everything is OK, when the whole country is worry about what is happening. The price of the gas, milk, rice... what is going to be next? I would prefer listening him saying "I understand", then I would say, he is going to do something about. But he says that everything is OK, that means he is not accepting the reality. So, how can we expect him to help us, when he is not seeing the problem? Is anybody there close to him, who could advise him to change his approach. We are not happy.

  • Posted By: frmozo @ 03/29/2008 2:57:40 PM

    We have been a very pasive and patient nation. Will our nation regain its power again? is a very good question that needs a simple answer. My answer is YES!, we will regain our power, but not once Bush is gone or when Democrats are in power again; but when we understand once and for all that we are not a united nation. Our people is tired of unnecessary wars and policies that show us that politicians do not care about us. Once our leaders understand that our people is first, I believe that our nation will be as powerful as it's always been.

  • Posted By: burbank @ 03/29/2008 12:00:43 AM

    Is the United States afraid, or does the United States see a clear and present danger in the Middle East that left unchecked could consume the world with its radical message of hate and intolerance? In order for the world to grow in peace and prosperity, we must first eliminate the threat to that peace. This is what we see. What we can't see and don't understand is why the rest of the world does not see this as well.

  • Posted By: Saltydog_0 @ 12/18/2007 6:55:46 PM

    I'm sick of hearing about how the terrorists want to come and get us. So many people in politics, media and religion keep harping on the fact that "they" are going to kill more of us Americans if we don't defend ourselves. No doubt this is true, but where is there sense of proportion? I would never make light of the pain endured by those who lost loved ones on 9/11, but is their sense of loss any greater than those who lost loved ones to car wrecks, cancer or some other tragedy? People, we lost 3,000 Americans on 9/11. In our entire history we've probably lost less than 10,000 to terrorists. How many have we lost to smoking? Car wrecks? Poverty? Lack of healthcare? Millions.

    Should we respond to the terrorist threat? Absolutely. But let's respond sanely. There's no point in burning down the barn to rid it of a few rats. By the time this war is over we will have spent a trillion dollars, destroyed our civil liberties and alienated the rest of the world.

    All our leaders have to do to get us to mortgage our entire future is say "The terrorists are coming! The terrorists are coming!" What is their motivation? Saving lives? Hah! Protecting Americans? Don't be such a tool! How many lives could be saved if we spent a trillion dollars on medical research, domestic infrastructure, education, healthcare, etc. The fact is, the trillion dollars spent on this wars will cost thousands of American lives. TENS OF THOUSANDS!!!!

    This war is about one thing; making money. Bush has sold the blood of thousands of Americans at Cheney's bequest to enrich the shareholders of Haliburton and the like. All because the American public bought into the chicken little routine of "The terrorists are coming!".

    Yeah. Yeah. They're coming. So what?! They're pissants. They are of little significance in the grand scheme of things. A terrorist CAN threaten an individual. But they are ZERO threat to a country. The biggest threat is how we react to the terrorists. When we react in the manner Bush and his puppeteers have goaded and manipulated us into acting, then we are truly threatened. The loss of life on 9/11 was tragic. Our response as a nation though is so much more tragic. The terrorists hit us once. As a response, we have hit ourselves a thousand times over.

    Please America. Stop reacting insanely to a non-threat. We're playing right into the hands of those who wish us ill.

    • Posted By: miamiman @ 03/19/2008 10:51:18 AM

      salty: I guess that statictics are not people in your book. dont put a face on the casualties of 9/11 as it may give you fresh perspective.

      If your logic is correct then we have lost only a 750 people per year in iraq not all of them due to combat. This is a relatively insignificant amount as more people are killed here driving under the influence.

      Wow now that you put it that way , we are in good position in the Iraq conflict.

      so the terrorist threat is serious as we have lost just as many innocent civilians in one day as ALL the combat casualties in 5 years in Iraq.

      Oh by the way A few rats can spread disease like crazy. if the rats have the plague youmay very well have to burn down the barn to eliminate the disease and threat of further contamination.

      Enough Bush bashing already. its so cliche as to be out of style. Our military is efficient and powerful this is why they "hate" us. The fear is actualy on the other foot. It is not America that fears the world but the world fears the sleeping giant may awaken to his full potential, 9.11 did just that. ,it was not the intended consequence of these "pissants". they were the ones who pushed a stick into the fireant pile and poison came pouring out.

  • Posted By: najeeb_ch @ 02/02/2008 8:29:33 AM

    I believe the author has a good perspective. It seems to me that building a world is better than bombing the *** out of people who don't even have enough to eat...

  • Posted By: eddiewhere @ 01/29/2008 8:06:11 AM

    wHAT IS THIS BOLLYWOOD

  • Posted By: Markwri @ 12/30/2007 4:46:30 AM

    Clubby corp dc.
    Being in the " catbird " seat and having forgotten long ago how to truly play an honest card game....
    No sense in being fearfull. It's really called " Game Over, Tilt. "

  • Posted By: PaulWall @ 12/23/2007 8:48:33 PM

    If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress? The republicans are the class of bad ideas and the democrats are the school of no ideas.

  • Posted By: Thewhiterabbit @ 12/14/2007 9:02:44 AM

    The real reason that the US appears afraid of the new world order is that most of us called our geography teacher "coach". When a persobn is ignorant of the world that ignorance breeds fear, fear of the unknown, fear of the un-understood, fear of differences. Far too many "leaders" starting with our own parents, have drummed into our heads the notion and the mantra that the US is somehow blessed by God, specal in the eyes of God, and that there is no reason to look beyond our borders with anything other than pity and contempt for those "unfortunate" enough to have been born elsewhere. Until we all get a passport and use that passport to visit other places, to try to become au fait with people in those other places, and to accept the fact that the US is in fact not someplace with a special heavenly dispensation, we will be doomed to be forever fearful of that which we do not know. It is a strange fact that people are people just about everythwere, and we have far more in common with our "enemies" than we have differences from them. Once we can get our heads up out of the sand we can find ways to capitalize on those similarities and stop owrrying about the minor little differences. We may be a big and powerful country, but we will get further through enlightened negotiation and understandingf than we will through butalizing everybody that does not think and act exactly as we do. We can carry the big stick, but we must learn to walk softly at the same time.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/23/2007 1:05:13 PM

      I got an 800 on my NTE, and wasn't hired to teach history, because I wasn't a coach either. Glad I have my military retirement. Me, I agree with ya and owe ya one.

    • Posted By: BillMar @ 12/14/2007 9:33:13 AM

      Excellent post. I couldn't agree with you more.

    • Posted By: BillMar @ 12/14/2007 9:32:31 AM

      Excellent post. You took the words right out of my mouth.

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