I think the last 18-20 years correlates to the time between WW1 & WW2 a break to figure out who to confront next. It will either be US & Russia vs China, or US and China vs Russia. Biggest kids on the block.

 

As to Iraq, well if we are allowed to stay by our own pols, then in 6mos it will look better, in a year it will be worse we haven't gotten rid of the seemingly never ending supply of dumbasses that will kill themselves to prove a point and they will keep trying. Quite like the VC/NVA did. If we are there three years from now it will be because the muslims that want us out have run low or out of above mentioned dumbasses.

 

As an aside I don't care when we leave tommorow or twenty years from now there will be an Iraqi civil war. The people that I have met from that region of the world seem to have an incredible capacity for hate and holding grudges. Since Hussien took power that country has had a reason for staying together "step out of line and I'll kill you" nobody is saying that now. Nobody that can enforce it any way. It'll be the Balkans all over again.

Tiger

You devise your new enegy source.

Then another Fuchs gives it to.......the Muslims? 

I did not include China in my post because it is already figured in.  I mentioned Russia (the USSR) because it has had decades of uninterrupted   time to rebuild its forces without the cost of standing toe to toe with the US & Nato.  Now it is back and it is stronger than ever and it is demanding a larger voice in world affairs.   Both the US and its Allies were unprepared for this resurgence, and those who warned of it were regarded as dinosaurs, has-beens, kooks, etc.   I agree that an alternate energy source is necessary, but it needs to hit the market soon.  Ethenol is not it, despite the hype, it won't ever do much more than alleviate up to 10% of the problem.   I am a proponent of nuclear power.

Something else.  There is a way to increase the research into alternate energy sources with very little cost.  Does anyone besides myself remember the Science Fairs we used to hold, nation wide?  Start those back up, and make the theme Alternate Energy Sources  AND how to make them profitable.   Wind Farms & Solar Energy are two ways but what is the equation for their success?  How much land is necessary for the wind mills?  Is solar power economically feasable in Alaska?   What about the people employed by the Oil industry?    How can you make these ideas, and others, profitable?  That is the part of the equation that is usually ignored.  Science & Math Fairs would put 1 million minds to work on the problem, rather than the relatively few working on it now.

Lew: Good ideas science fairs. Apparently they still have them. A car was just developed that produces it’s own electric power and can attain 200 mph. Another car works on air pressure substituting air for steam pressure..

At present we have more oil in the ground than any of the middle eastern countries we are just not allowed to drill. Cuba has contracted with China to drill in the Carribean. With today’s techniques they can drill in one place and develop a well miles from the well head. Cuba will be sucking our oil out of the ground. In Alask they wanted to use the system but Anwar was off limits too. Off the East coast, The Baltimore canyon, large reserves have been found, we also have oil shale and the largest deposits of coal. The Germans ran their army during the 2^nd world war on oil produced from coal. It would also help if the government underwrote some of these projects in the same way they did the Manhattan Project and the development of the A Bomb.

Tiger593-  I wonder what President Bush has done suggests he cares what the American People think?   He has clearly stated, and accurately so, he is the Commander in Chief and the Decider.   It is one of the perils of that office,  the person that makes the decisions can accept the acclaim when they are right, but be prepared to carry the brunt of the blame when they are wrong.  Pulling a few troops out for political gain now is no better than sending troops in on a prayer and a whim.

 

I think President Bush believes he is right.  One has to say that he is willing to stand by those choices he has made: right or wrong.   In the end,  only history can say for sure.  Certainly he went against the recommendations of every high ranking military leader this nation had and has for the advice of a man who never wore the uniform more than for a few Halloween parties.

 

That, is at the very least, betting against the odds.  Then, who would have bet that any Texan could bankrupt an oil company?

SH

As a Texan  I can tell you that oil companies go bankrupt all the time in and out of the state. It is a volitile business. 

 

Tiger

As to the oil issue what do you think wars are about you can if you look find the profit motive behind every war ever fought.  Prime example why did the Japanese attack us in WW2. We had cut off there primary source of many resources such as oil and scrap metal. they were facing severe economic problems and thought they could resolve the issue by declaring war. Another example why did Hitler divide his invasion and go south to Stalingrad. He needed the oil to run his industries. Had he concentrated on Moscow and the north of the country where the political power was he might have done a little better.  

SH,

 

        Please don't call Bush a Texan, he is not.

TC, he moved in & you moved out eh?   Besides Bush is far too smart to be Texan.  

 

T-Dog

Both of them are Texans one by choice and the other by birth.

My Sister, Bro in Law (British), 3 nephews, and late parents have lived in Texas since 1980. Parents since 2004.

And I visited Corpus Christie, Brownsville, and Galveston during my merchant navy days. 1966-7.

You brits always did have a habit of leaving your island and going to paradise.

Sorry Hobbs

I like inland waterways. My idea of paradise is Montana. or North Germany.

Never been to Germany, and Montana in wintertime looks like those horror pics Pete shows us about his beloved Canada. It's pretty cool in the summertime though went fishing there once. The locals laughed that I didn't use a fly rod to fish but I ate well.