obviously Candle is trying to have some fun here. And most any distraction from trading can be a "profitable" endeavor more times than not for the majority of us lately.
But to address the "poll" just to alleviate my own boredom:
Saudi Arabia...too much of a "business partner" now. And destabilizing their Monarchy would not necessitate a military strike. We have military bases there, and while they are a repressive regime and society, it is like saying "go to war with Germany or Italy" because they have (or had) terrorist groups among the general population.
Pakistan....Surrounded by India, their nemesis with far greater nuclear weapons capabilities, and of course, our own already deployed troops. They have a nervous and unstable government, but are fairly highly capitalistic, so I see no real threat. Just a lot of sabre rattling with India about Kashmir, which issue will eventually be resolved diplomatically.
North Korea......obviously looking to save face and eventually reunite with South Korea. Think East and West Germany. All about economics. They have TV and the Internet, and the people want to stop spending all their resources on their military and raise their standard of living. Just like the rest of the repressed world.
China.....again, they too are more interested in American dollars than in posing any threat to freedom. Or the West in general.
Iran....Bunch of lunies. But they have become more moderate over the past 20 years and they already know about western economics and the potential benefits. Probably few of you remember that the Shah's regime was aligned with the US and Israel. Anything is possible there, but no immediate or even foreseeable threat to the US.
Syria....my favorite choice just because Syria serves no purpose to exist, other than to be provocative. But they too are no threat to the US.
Cuba......A total economic and political failure. Without the USSR, they are just another poor struggling Caribbean country waiting for Castro to die so they can become a tourist center again. Without Batista. The next Puerto Rico?
Other....like who? The truth of the matter is there is no legitimate government that poses any real threat to the US. Terrorist groups who ARE a threat (as in 9/11) can be anywhere. Can't go to war (bomb) a country because they contain terrorists. We did not bomb Italy, or Japan, or Germany or any of the countries that contained terrorist organizations like the Red Brigade, Black September, etc. (And Isreal has shown more effective ways of selectively eliminating individual threats).
Nuclear armed American Submarines are able to destroy any place from anywhere. Right now we are too powerful to be threatened by any government. Our wars are with groups, not countries. Or regimes like Saddams, but even in this case, our enemy is not Iraq. It is Saddam and his already decimated army.
Speaking of armies, none of the countries on the list have a strong military other than China. And China has the bomb. But again, their main objective is US dollars. So no threat there.
Our only legitimate targets are not countries. Just Al Qaeda and other assorted cells of terrorists.
Peace,
rs7
