The United States seems headed inevitably toward becoming a second-class power, following the path of former dominant powers such as the Netherlands and Great Britain. As Kevin Phillips pointed out in his "Wealth and Democracy," this country is following the pattern of those nations, with a declining industrial sector and increasing reliance on the financial sector for generating wealth.

The misguided Middle East policies of the Bush administration seem certain to speed the arrival of this long-term decline. The country is crippled by vast debt, the U.S. Army is stretched to the breaking point and the United States is achieving new heights of unpopularity throughout the world, particularly among Muslims and in the Middle East.

As the Bush Administration continues to be bogged down in Iraq, it ignores the real threats posed by terrorists and blindly pursues destroying key parts of our nation's civil liberties.

Meanwhile Vice-President Cheney and his neo-conservative allies continue agitating for military action against Iran, though our Army is stretched to the limit and use of airpower could lead to use of nuclear weapons and a blowback of historic proportions throughout the Middle East.

No matter what we do, China, India and, to a lesser extent the European Union will prosper as our decline continues. We can continue our current course, bringing only isolation and hatred, or we can act in a responsible manner as Great Britain finally learned to do, providing assistance to aid these newly emerging powers.

The chaos in Iraq is so great that even the best efforts to extract us, including intense negotiations and withdrawal of combat troops, are liable to take several years.

Change is inevitable and it is past time for this nation to once again play its role as a responsible member of the world community, not a unilateral aggressor.