What comes around...

Let me tell you a story about a nation. For many years, that nation had been defined by its struggle against another nation; they were the planet's two superpowers. The other had begin to slip from that power due to internal decay; but this nation was not without its own decay. But what brought this nation down were the terrorists. They seemed to be everywhere, at every border, causing chaos within and without the nation. And at times they even blended in, becoming valued members of society. To a certain extent, they took over the real workings of the nation, while its people sat back and got fat on the good life, or else worked like slaves to pay the taxes that supported the fat people's good life. And when the terrorists threatened, all the tiny little nations around this nation flocked to it for help; but let the terror ease off, and they declared independance from "those bossy people" of this nation. One day the terrorists got tired of the farce that was this nation's government and running it from behind the curtains. They overthrew the leadership, and the nation died, throwing the world into chaos for a long time.
Is this an apolcalyptic vision of the USA and where its going? Maybe. But I was actually telling the story of Rome, its rival Parthia (which is basically what the ancients call Persia and we call Iran), and the barbarian German and Hunnish tribes that ended up overthrowing them. Still, put this way, is the story of the USA, USSR, and Islam any different? Funny how history repeats itself just by substituting "USA" for "Rome", "USSR" for "Parthia", "Muslim radicals" for "Huns", and "Mexicans" for "Visigoths". Rome buckled under the constant attacks and fought back by recruiting barbarians to fight barbarians, until the barbarians ran the show and the Roman Emperors, like the Mighy and Powerful Oz, said, "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. And we are obviously repeating history in America, just as the USSR repeated Parthia's. The question isn't where we are headed. It's how far down the Yellow Brick Road are we?
Next time, the mistake of the USSR.