To: denizen48 who wrote (16685 ) 10/13/2007 2:39:40 PM From: sea_urchin Read Replies (2) | Respond to Harry > they're the world's best. status quo between Israel and the Palestinians can continue indefinitely because no one can or will stop it. But with the War on Terrorism the game has changed and is now being played out on a far bigger field, and not necessarily to the US and Israel's advantage. Indeed, there are many commentators who consider that Iran has been the biggest beneficiary of the US invasion of Iraq. And there is no doubt that the US has had a very bad time of things. Furthermore, Syria and Hezbollah are stronger than ever and are ready to repulse any Israeli aggression. They also have many missiles which can inflict quite severe damage to Israel in the event of any outbreak of hostilities. So, to use your chess analogy, what has happened is that in response to the advances of the white pieces, black now finds itself tactically very well placed. So much so, white is now reluctant to make any aggressive move and a stalemate looms.vis a vis the renminbi. Indeed, if the dollar gets too weak and, in response, interest rates too high then the US consumers can find themselves in considerable trouble surviving, let alone "consuming". That is why I believe the Fed will do whatever it can to prevent deflation because if many Americans lose their homes or are otherwise financially embarrassed the possibility for social unrest and even anarchy becomes that much greater.
