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We think that Chinese strategic thinking that we have documented in this chapter is cause for concern. The Chinese leadership appears to be fixated on so-called asymmetrical warfare, or silver bullets, surprise weaponry and tactics they call assassin’s mace. We worry that they may be mesmerized by a self-deception that they can prevail in military scenarios with the U.S. on the cheap through such surprise strategies.

Think "Pearl Harbor." The Japanese thought that that surprise attack would take out essentially all our capability to counter their thrust south into the Philippines, Malaya, and Indonesia, and force us to negotiate a peace that would concede Japan hegemony over Asia and the Western Pacific. Their "magic bullet" strategy didn't ultimately work, but it did work long enough to cost us considerable lives and treasure. Let's not let it happen again, no matter how much profit Wal-Mart and other US companies make by business dealings with China.

The Japanese, under a nutty dictatorship 60 years ago, even today strike me as being leaps and bounds more effective and efficient than the current Chinese leadership. I'm still waiting for their manned space program to have a horrific accident, or their Three Gorges Dam to fall apart.

As long as the Chinese are fighting close-in to their waters, and even as far out as Taiwan, they have many advantages. Talking about them doing anything projecting force farther away than that (such as to the Western Hemisphere) leaves me highly skeptical.

I still hope that in the end we will be able to use their powers for self-delusion against them. We will have to take the first hit, a la Pearl Harbor or September 11th, because they will be ready to strike first. Once we have a bloody nose I feel we will have the advantage.

How's this for assymetric warfare - plant a Chinese special agent in the kitchen of every U.S. Chinese restaurant coast to coast, to poison all the take out?

American society is the only thing that can hold us back from victory against a real war with the Chinese dictatorship, because whether they know it yet or not we are on the side of the Chinese people.

You are wrong! We are not the same Americans as the ones in 1941. If Pearl Harbor comes today it will be in a different form. Like 9-11, it will come without a national flag to target. I don't think Americans will fight with the same feavor we had before--we can't. The Chinese make all of our stuff--I believe even the uniforms our troops wear are Chinese made. If they time it just right, while we are distracted by some internal problem they just might do it--seize all of Asia, from Japan to Viet Nam into a new Han Empire. And all we will do is run to the UN and apply meaningless sanctions. I could see a president Kerry doing this, can't you? Why risk losing American cities to Chinese ICBMs for some people in Asia? No, we have lost the will to fight a real war--all we can do is pick on 3rd world nations who lack Atomic weapons.