>> Although, to change the subject somewhat, I'm not sure I really
>> understand what "the collapse of the US empire" would mean. Would
>> Washington would be forced to tolerate leftist leaders in South
>> America? Would it be unable to prevent friendly Arab dictators from
>> being overthrown? Oh wait...
>
> You may have answered your own question there. If that's Bush -- and
> it might well be, although it requires a counterfactual argument --
> it's already pretty consequential.
Yeah, but none of that's because of Bush. The US never had the ability to control who was in power everywhere in the world. Remember Nasser, Castro, De Gaulle?
SA