Cartoon 686: all powerful

We were greeted with images of America’s invincibleness. We watched the quick military victory in overthrowing the Taliban government in Afghanistan.  Later we watched the massive military onslaught of Iraq. We were convinced our military represented effective diplomacy, fear.

Our perception of the effectiveness of military diplomacy started to crumble.  We witnessed the stalemate bought about by the insurgency in Iraq. We wondered how was it possible a few people with make shift bombs can bring the most powerful nation in the world to its knees in execution of its foreign policy? Next there was the unending saga of the hunt for Bin Laden. We were constantly told our enemies were everywhere, but seemingly nowhere to be found.

Today the mist that has obscured America abilities is evaporating. We seem helpless to directly shape what is happening in Pakistan. The Israelis are headed on a path that conflicts with our achieving our objectives. China, which holds a great deal of American debt, is proposing limiting its exposure to dollar denominated assets. Our largest single trading partner, Canada, is minimizing its single source dependency and negotiating a free trade agreement with the EU. Foreign courts in the world are indicting American actions. A Spanish court has indicted America on torture. If it proceeds with a trial it could go all the way to the previous President. The EU is forcing Microsoft to change its product to meet competition requirements. The initial world organizer to respond to Israel’s attack on Gaza and the Financial Crisis on a global basis was not America. It was the EU president and he addressed it from their perspective. The final unbelievable turn of events to Republicans is Iraq executing its sovereign right and so far not renewing the authorization for the deployment of American troops. The Republicans/Conservatives considered Iraq their “protectorate” over which they executed sovereignty.

William Shakespeare said:

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts…

America is starting to realize this is true for the nation. America has aspired to be the playwright of the world script. Our influence has waned. We are seeing ourselves increasingly merely as a player upon the stage and not all powerful.