China is the biggest threat to the U.S.

Bob Jack, North Las Vegas

Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 | 2 a.m.

I was a youngster during the Korean War, and recall the clash of militaries and the death that ensued. There was always the fear of the waves of Chinese who rained down in unlimited masses from the north to bolster the North Korean forces, an insurance policy that North Korea would never lose. Our politicians feared the Communist Chinese then, and again during the Vietnam War, always mindful of the threat that the Middle Kingdom spelled for America.

Today, Communist China looms as an economic power as well as a military threat. United States “supremacy” is a mythical image. Our economic muscle has been weakened by years of collapsed economic performance and a pile of debt, much of which Communist China holds over our heads.

Our nation is finally ramping down its lengthy campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, where we have learned that the greater Middle East is a thorny jungle with a life of its own. It is not thankful to America for its liberation from murderous dictators or regimes who held the people hostage and subjected their citizens to unspeakable cruelty and bondage.

These recent historical experiences have taught us at least two things: that the greater Middle East cannot be won or controlled by America, and Communist China is our ultimate longterm rival in the world.