...or have the buzzards begun to circle in earnest?

America's worst fear is being realized. Thanks to Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and, of course, our commander-in-chief George W. Bush, our country is showing itself to be the paper tiger that much of the world always suspected we might be. The administration can't even rattle its sword because cardboard swords don't make much of a noise. Face it. Wars happen when weakness is perceived. No one is afraid of us anymore.

We arrogantly and stupidly marched into Iraq with too little planning and too few troops. Both the generals on the ground and the experienced hands in Congress knew that a much larger force would be needed to maintain the peace in Iraq. Moreover, pacifying a country with two waring factions is almost impossible without the cooperation of the parties involved. Just ask the Brits in Northern Ireland.

Well here we are, stuck in a civil war of our own making. And, as if the situation couldn't get any worse, the jackals are beginning to gather. Initially it was only the cartoon types: Hugo Chevez, Kim Jong Il, Evo Morales. South American "populists" are discovering that you can get elected president of your country by kicking sand on Uncle Sam. What can America do? They're tied up in the Middle East.

Unfortunately, those voices are now being joined by leaders that, on some level, were supposed to be partners. In a speech to an international security conference, our "friend" Vladimir Putin accused America of everything but shooting the Czar. Not that anyone really thought of the Russians as allies or even friends. World War II and its aftermath weren't that long ago. We did, however, imagine that the interests of America and Russia ran along a similar path. Both countries understand that commerce is the name of the game. Nothing is gained by an expensive military build-up.

However, Mr. Putin also understands that nothing gets the attention of the Russian people like a warning of an American escalation of the arms race. Russians were fed a steady stream of propaganda (as were Americans) for 40 years about a possible East-West conflict. George Bush's attack on Iraq just reinforces Russian paranoia. Much in the same way that Americans allowed the Republicans to rewrite the Constitution after 9/11, Russians will permit further totalitarian inclinations from their "democratic" leaders if the plan comes wrapped in a threat from those war-mongering Americans.

Expect to hear more of this rhetoric from the Kremlin as well as South America and especially from our "friends" in the Middle East. After all, what are we going to do, withhold their iPod shipment?