Is the United States really so powerful that even if the rest of the world wanted to go up against it, they would lose? This might sound terribly naive, but I don’t think a country who feared retribution would so blithely ignore the Security Council.
Now I do realize that the States DO have some people who support them, but I have the feeling they would have gone ahead even if it had been a totally unanimous vote agains them.
Am I wrong?
Sort of - but not much.
If everybody was against the US then no, the US would not succeed.
But even in 1941-1945 the US was capable of fighting succesfully a war on two fronts 12,000 miles apart (although we weren’t fighting solo then, to be honest)
Could we take on more than one enemy right now? Yeah… but we’d have to ramp up training and supply on the home front. And if, say, China and Russia teamed up against us they might be a fair match.
If Bush doesn’t fear retribution I think it’s more a result of the Security Council failing to put teeth in their resolutions more than the number of votes for or against. That said, I think our current administration is in a state of denial about just how a lot of folks view us, as opposed as how the administration sees itself. I’m more concerned about how things will play out after the fighting.
But let’s get real - the US vs. Iraq is like Mike Tyson in his prime vs. an 8 year old with leg braces and crutches. It’s not a fair contest - but then, war isn’t fair, now is it?
If the rest of the world wanted to invade the US, they would lose. If the US wanted to invade the rest of the world, it would lose.
A few facts about your original statements - the UN has only approved ~3 wars, and something like 40 or 50 have occurred since it was conceived. Secondly, the U.S. has the 2nd biggest coalition supporting them (#1 was WWII or Gulf War, I forget), with over 40 countries supporting action in Iraq.
I believe Shalmanese’s assessment is right on - we don’t have the troops to hold ground in every country in the world (unless we went nuclear, in which case many would return the favor), and the world would have a heck of a time trying to invade the U.S. Canada and Mexico would quickly be taken out of the equation, leaving most powers to cross the great seas.
I thought that the US (and formerly, the USSR) alone had enough nuclear weapons to kill everyone on the planet a hundred times over. Sounds like this alone would guarantee a victory (hollow though it may be), or at least assured mutual destruction.