America? What is it good for?

Following up on this post in which I talked about the US losing the world at the same time we win Iraq... I'm not suggesting that the rest of the world will be declaring war on us after we attack Iraq. Hopefully we are still a few years away from that possibility (though Bush is making a good start). But I think this situation has planted the seed of the idea that maybe, just maybe, the world doesn't need America to survive. The situation is analogous to the playground bully who intimidates all of his classmates, until a new kid comes to school who stands up to the bully and doesn't get pummeled for it. The rest of the kids see this example and begin to ask, "What they were so afraid of in the first place?" Bluster can only get you so far. When the audience is no longer impressed by it, it starts to look comical.