The USA is actually quite vulnerable. It is something of a house of cards. It seems very wealthy but there is not a large distribution of wealth. There is much povety and also much of it's wealth relies on overseas sources.
As has already been pointed out, america is making a lot of enemies abroad, and also running up huge debts while trying to secure resources. I strongly suspect that Americas terrorist enemies will encourage this situation until the oppotunity occurs to strike a killer blow against the US ecconomy.
Along time ago, Britain was involved in a war against the Ashanti in Africa. When it was over, Britian approached France and other European powers and said that basically, African fighters were very dangerous, and if they had been able to get their hands on modern European Muskets, they might have won this war. They said that some measure of arms control was needed to safeguard European power.
Well, as we all know, Africans got muskes, then rifles, then assault weapons, rockets, surface to air missiles...
Now we are saying that it's important that these third world countries don't get NBC WMD. But it is only a matter of time before they get them, and use.
If done right, these could cause massive damage with little chance of retaliation.
As an example, if 'Foot & Mouth' was introduced the the american national herd, it would cost the U.S. billions in lost revenue without the loss of a single human life. If something like smallpox was introduced to America, although loss of life might be small, the panic could cause near civil war, and the quarentine and closure of American borders could cause massive damage to an ecconomy already crippled with debt after years of war. so a well planed and sustained attack against major finacial and industrial cities (New York, Chicargo, Frisco) could well seve as a 'Barbarians at the gate' situation. Maybe not this week, but a few years down the line it could be a possibility.
...now go read something more cheerful.
