ARE WE STILL THE ONLY SUPERPOWER?

The media and the Washington politicians keep using the phrase, "The United States is the only superpower in the world."

But is this still true?

Consider the following:

• Our once fearsome military has been shown to be pretty light on the ground. With half the army tied down in Iraq, where the insurgency increases in strength and lethality, there is little reason to fear our once-mighty army. The terrorists have proven to the world what the Japanese learned occupying the Philippines: that one guerrilla or one terrorist can tied down 25 occupation soldiers.
• Iran was fearful of Secretary Rumsfeld's "left turn" in Iraq, but since the growth of the insurgency, Iran has felt confident in thumbing their noses at our attempts to stop its nuclear energy efforts.
• We do have enormous capabilities in our naval and air power (which have not found a use in fighting terrorists), but China seems to have found a way to neutralize our naval and air strength. By running joint military exercises with Russia, China has buttressed its formidable army and growing navy with the considerable air power, rocketry and atomic weaponry of Russia. Together, China and Russia are a good match for American military might.

Remember your history. The American revolutionists were no match in fighting England, the sole remaining superpower in 1776, until George Washington put together a combined military consisting of American ground troops, the powerful French navy, and funding from France, Spain and the Netherlands. Once that happened, the British were dead.

We emerged from World War II as a great superpower because our economy had become "the arsenal of democracy." Our economic power was unmatched even by combinations of opponents. The ground war against Nazi Germany was won by a combination of Russian troops and American supply. Joseph Stalin bitterly complained, "Roosevelt trades us trucks and blankets for blood." While we had great armies in Europe, it appears that Rosie the Riveter was a greater factor in winning World War II than GI Joe.

But what if we were confronted with World War III? Could we again become the arsenal of democracy? Not likely. For the last thirty years we have exported most of our manufacturing assets. Now China has replaced us as "the factory of the world." Even our sophisticated electronic warfare techniques depend greatly on foreign manufacture.

A China-Russian alliance not only has threatening military power, it also threatens us with incredible economic power. Because we have been running a huge trade deficit with China, that nation has collected hordes of American dollars in the form of Treasury Bonds. In a hostile confrontation, China could dump those billions of dollars, wrecking havoc with the American economy. The price of ten-year Treasuries would collapse, propelling interest rates skyward. American business would find it impossible to borrow profitably and be forced to retrench. Consumers would see their mortgage rates soaring, which would result in a collapse of the housing market.

Unfortunately we do not possess billions of Chinese yuan to threaten Beijing with. And we are not likely to get many yuan, as American business runs head over heels to China to help make that Asian economy even more proficient.

Thus China is rapidly developing both a threatening approach to military might and economic power. With no "arsenal of democracy" to resist, who else could stand up to the growing "arsenal of repression"?

All this is a sign of coming events. Events which will probably come to a head between 2015 and 2020.

Unfortunately for our grandchildren, President Bush seems to be as unaware of the China problem as President Clinton was blind to the growth of world terrorism during his administration.