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The American military won World War II because of the massive industrial base this nation developed, starting before the Civil War. The latter war was won by the North for the same reasons. Germany also had a massive industrial base, but due to Hitler's extreme ambitions and the constant bombardment of German manufacturing plants by the Americans and the British, that base was greatly weakened by the time the so-called wonder weapons came around for mass production. As the article points out, Germany had run out of time and resources by the time these prototypes were ready.

Fast forward to 2009. American policy makers worry about rogue nations like Iran and North Korea, and radical Muslim terrorists, and rightly so. However, there is general myopia about the fact that the rogue nations and the terrorists are sponsored by China and Russia. With the shrinkage of our own industrial base for a number of reasons, I must wonder if we could sustain a massive ground and naval war like the two World Wars. Additionally, given the general dumbing down of the American populace, our long term ability to keep ahead of the Russians and the Chinese in nuclear weapons and electronic and computer technology must be questioned.

Unless these questions can be addressed successfully, America's future as a superpower is in doubt. Britain and Spain lost their superpower status due to the myopia of their leadership and misguided foreign policy. Is it our turn in this century to suffer the same fate?