It all boils down to this: Russia, France and Germany delayed U.N. action long enough to allow Spetnaz troops to smuggle Iraq's WMD to Syria. Russia turned Iraq into a political quicksand for Bush. Even with a quick military victory, not finding WMD would mean American politics would implode. No WMD guaranteed a very nasty time for Bush. Now the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party will demand a Bush impeachment.
The only way the White House can prevent this is to come out with the truth about Iraq's WMD. Time to expose the dirty truth: Russia really is NOT our friend. China is not our friend either. Every dime we spend on Chinese junk bought in American stores will purchase ten dollars of misery for Americans. Time to wake up and smell the coffee.
Now Iran is playing hardball knowing America has exhausted itself with Iraq and Afghanistan. The Russians were calling the shots all along in the M.E. Putin is free to dictate terms in the region. In the meantime, China controls both ends of the Panama Canal. They bought control in Panama from corrupt officials with millions spent by Americans in store like Wal-Mart. Beijing also has control of the largest container facility in the world located very close to Cuba. Soon the U.S. is going to put our top secret radiation detecting equipment under Chinese control to scan containers. If you thought the Dubai Ports deal was wacky just wait. You ain't seen nothing yet.
Did you realize the USA has more carrier "groups" than the rest of the world combined has functioning "carriers".
BTW, carriers don't traverse the Panama Canal.