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At the start of the Roman empire they had a policy that remained in effect as long as it was the only superpower in the world. When Romans stopped enforcing the statement they were destroyed and the dark ages fell upon the world.

That Roman axiom was simple. It was short. It was proved true over hundreds of years.

Let them hate, as long as they fear.

Dubya started us down the road to make all adversaries and potential adversaries fear us. They are reacting like frightened people. That was the object of Dubyas speech.

It appears to have worked.

That Roman axiom was simple. It was short. It was proved true over hundreds of years.

Let them hate, as long as they fear.

Roman foreign policy was best summed up by Edward Luttwak. At the height of the Empire's power, during the period of the Pax Romanum, Rome followed the axiom stated above. But it was the wise emperor who firmly subordinated martial impulses to political ends.

We must endeavor to do the same. We do not need to conquer and hold territory that we would end up leaving some day. Rather, our latent power, held in reserve for merciless and overwhelming application against an opponent, is all we need to maintain liberty and peace at home (well, okay, along with eternal vigiliance against the encroachment of the Nanny State).

The smart Eurotrash understand what we're all about. The chattering classes, otoh, are going on about how we're become an out of control collossus and a danger to the world.

The upshot: we are in a single-minded pursuit of our national interests. The chattering classes (such as the Jew-baiters over at the Guardian) cannot fathom this, so used were they to the multilateralism of the King of Sinks. Now things have changed. They don't understand that the American people have decided that we are in a fight for the very existence of our Republic.

"Let them hate, as long as they fear."

Be Seeing You,

Chris