Posted on 05/27/2004 6:55:48 AM PDT by Tolik
That's why I believe that it would be a long run mistake for the US to pull its troops out of Yurp (I saw that spelling in someone's comment and I like it). So long as we give the Yurpians an excuse for not paying for their own defense they won't build the military with which to challenge us. If they start to rearm seriously as a response to the US pulling out they will tip their economy into actual decline and, being believing socialists, will blame it on the US and will divert even more resources into arming. Then it will become a USSR type race to see if they can get to winning level before their economy just locks up in bankruptcy and crashes the military effort with it. They will probably lose such a contest but it is a tremendous waste for all sides to have to go through it. And do we really want to see a USSR type impoverishment of Yurp?
Are we within ten years of resolving this War with Jihad, or are we at the beginning of a generations long struggle, as in the Cold War in 1945 ?
It all depends on how things turn out in Iraq. Tens years minimum.
The European Union is going to be a major player against the US in the future, in terms of trade, economics, war, etc. I expressed that sentiment at a family lunch. They looked at me like I was crazy. One of them said, "Let's not get paranoid."
Because of this impending problem, my idea is to form an American Union. However, when you look at who would be our partners, the idea sort of falls flat on its face: Canada, Central America, South America. All of the Central & South American countries are dirt poor. Would an alliance be beneficial? Would there be strength in numbers? Has anyone looked into this idea?
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