ONE OF THE COOLEST GRAPHICS I'VE seen on the web recently was just after the Chinese shot down their own satellite. By launching the animation, one could learn how military scientists could disable satellites from the ground or space. I kept playing the dumb thing over and over again. I showed it to my family who of course were not as impressed or enthralled.

And as the course of the week's events played out; the beginnings of 'Surge the Course' the revolt of the Republican Senators, the unabashed sabre rattling of the bunkered -delusional administration, the anti-war protest on the Mall, that animation kept haunting me. And there were lots of presidential comparisons Bush to Johnson, Bush to Nixon which after quick analysis were listless. Johnson had his great Social programs, Nixon his diplomatic achievements, like the recognition of the People's Republic of China. Bush only has the Iraq war and Katrina.

It strikes my memory that the Chinese have a legacy of not-so-subtle hints in the past. By all accounts, it was a "we knew that they knew that we knew" scenario which appeared to stump the military pundits on just why China had destroyed the satellite. Until early one morning I caught a netcast with a former intelligence worker (I think his surname was Clarke) whose thesis was thus: China destroyed the satellite to prove that it had the capabilities, therefore underscoring the statement that if China was to go to war with the U.S., then they would at first knock out our cyberspace, effectively blinding us. With the military stretched past its limit, a U.N. Chinese Peacekeeping Force could theoretically have great success if they invaded the
U.S. Which is maybe not so far-fetched as it would seem. China has the world's largest standing Army. Although not as sophisticated in its weaponry, the Chinese soldier is highly motivated with most troops doing 20 year hitches. (China IS solidly in the Kalashnikov camp of small arms; a definite plus as both Vietnam and Iraq have brutally taught us.)

An military strike against Iran could very well enable the world opinion of the U.S. as a out-of-control aggressor that should be stopped. (By the way, do we have an ambassador to the U.N. yet?) And the quickest, safest method would be to shut down the cyberspace communications. Here's the kicker....according to the above mentioned pundit the war in Iraq has diverted almost all of the military's resources so that we are ineffectually sitting ducks in space.

Damn. There goes the YouTube.