The Average Joe

As the Iraq War has just ended and the War in Afghanistan is now winding down, most Americans are under the false impression of this nation beginning its "war on terror", as President George W. Bush coined the phrase, since the dawn of the 21 st Century and this is just not true.  The United States has been fighting terrorism since shortly after its independence.  Compared to the rest of the world, the United States is still very young.  This nation was born into a very hostile world ruled by monarchies that did not wish this new democracy well.  At the time of its birth, there was an unexpected problem that the new American leaders were unsure as to how to confront, which was known as piracy.  This piracy was nothing more than state sponsored terrorism of its day.  In this case, it existed in the Mediterranean Sea along the North African Coast. As a result of this, the fledgling United States was considered an easy target due to the lack o...

On August 10, 2011, the first Chinese Aircraft carrier embarked on its maiden voyage.  This signals a boost in international prestige for China, as well as a big step in modernizing their military.  However, I cannot help but read article after article as to how this can be a threat to the United States and its interests.  I have read headlines that range from “the end of American naval dominance” to “their aircraft carrier can complete with the United States’”.      Lets take a further look at this from a different angle than that of the mainstream media.  China’s first and only aircraft carrier, so far, is not a brand new construction.  Formerly known as the Varyag, this is a Soviet era aircraft carrier that was purchased by China from the Ukraine, a former Soviet Bloc nation.  In comparison to the aircraft carriers deployed by the United States, this is extremely limited in capabilities.  The Varyag will only be able to ...