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** Official FIFA World Cup 2006 thread **

The Secret of American Foreign Affairs
By Stanley K. Ridgley, Ph.D.
CNSNews.com Commentary
April 29, 2003



During his administration, Bill Clinton cut the United States Army from 18 active divisions to 10 and presided over an aimless "Blackhawk Down" foreign policy. How, then, could the U.S. military remain so formidable as to conquer Iraq, a nation of 24 million people, in three weeks?

A larger question is how does our military continue to outstrip the rest of the world in every category, from soldier training to leadership to the will to win? The answer to that question is one of the great secrets of American foreign affairs.

There is one primary reason for the rise of U.S. military power over the past century and its overwhelming capability to fight and win wars: American football.

Decried by some as a simple-minded sport that "glorifies" violence and appeals to the blue-collar, beer-bellied crowd, football is a phenomenon woven into America's social fabric and into the psyche of her people.

The United States is a football nation - football players and football fans - and this sociological factor sets Americans apart from every other nation on earth.

American football is a brutal collision sport in which every player's mettle is tested on every play. At its supreme level, the mutual human violence done in football is greater than that of any other sport in the world.

The only other sport that approaches football in bone-crunching controlled mayhem is rugby, another Anglo-Saxon game played almost exclusively by the British and Australians. Coincidentally, they were the two major powers providing ground troops for the war in Iraq.

Football is violent, but it is not aimless violence. Each individual collision is a tightly circumscribed competition that measures each man's heart, drive, intellect, skill and cunning.

On both sides of the ball, strategy and counterstrategy - the multiplicity of options on a single play - contrive to create an intricate and sophisticated contest. Football is as cerebral as it is violent.

The only people who cannot comprehend football's sophistication are snobs who would like nothing better than to believe that these slashing wide receivers and great gridiron behemoths smashing into each other are dumber than they are. What a devastating ego shock to realize that the average college professor would be incapable mentally, as well as physically, to play successfully the modern game of football.

Why incapable? Because a working intellect under intense psychological pressure and physical exhaustion is an entirely different quality than a working intellect languishing in the library.

Players must execute a sophisticated battle plan swiftly, decisively and flawlessly in extreme situations, while a similarly equipped and talented group of athletes is doing its best to stop them. Play after play, there is no room for error.

In football, there is no time for still more "resolutions." The threat must be perceived and evaluated and the correct decision made now or the consequences could be ignominious defeat. The ethos of football and its prerequisite talents, attitudes and qualities are inculcated in abundance in America's military leaders.

While the football ethos is reflected in America's national spirit and her military, the Europeans draw from a distinctly different sports tradition; one developed on the playing fields of Paris and Potsdam, Boulogne and Berlin.

The ethos of what Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called "Old Europe" is exemplified in the game of soccer.

Soccer is a beautiful and well-powdered sport, much like "diplomacy," bringing to mind men in top hats and striped pants walking herky-jerky, as in black-and-white silent newsreels. Soccer is French jeu d'esprit, and it is the sport of the United Nations.

Soccer rules are easily understood, and the sport is imbued with a comradely egalitarian aspect. Players run about. They wave their arms. Sometimes, they fall down. Sometimes, they can even be tripped, and it is in these moments that Europeans first learn to be either bad actors or diplomats; tumbling on the turf, clutching a "bruised" shin, then bounding up unhurt to take a free kick (or a post-war oil concession.)

Soccer matches can and frequently do end in a tie. This abundance of scoreless ties leads one to suspect that for soccer players, as for U.N. diplomats, the goal is to stall until ultimately nothing is resolved, and no one can really be blamed. Tie-breaking "shootouts" in international play ought to be eliminated altogether, since an egalitarian draw of no winner, no loser, and no hurt feelings is a U.N. dream come true.

The activity, in the end, is pointless. But fans will neither despair nor rejoice at the outcome; aficionados in smoky salons, sipping espresso, can debate endlessly who played the better game.

Is it any wonder that the Old European nations shrink from decisive action, taking only tentative, mincing steps, hoping they'll never have to fight for anything and unable to decide firmly whether there is anything at all worth fighting for?

Consider also what American football is not. It is not about passing the buck, walking while others carry the load or debating until you are overcome by events. Nor is it about ennui, languor and the c'est la vie attitude.

Football is about character and courage, might and mettle, decisiveness, strength and stamina. It is about men who sacrifice, who dare great things and who are not afraid to win great victories.

Hundreds of thousands of American boys and young men play football each year, forging a distinctly American character in the fire of competition. This character is reflected in the American military and its successes.

I am not the first to claim more from sport than might be deserved. Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, supposedly credited his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo to his having been schooled on the "playing fields of Eton," his famous alma mater. So mightn't there be substance here?

Perhaps. American football might not be the great secret of American foreign affairs success of the past 100 years, but it does capture much that is true about the United States and her mettle. And surely, it is one small part of why she is great.


Stanley K. Ridgley, Ph.D., is president of the Russian-American Institute and a former military intelligence officer.
 
American Football is a military ground acquisition game...with a little air force thrown in (The Pass).....

I think I read somewhere in a book that some Russians military leaders were amazed by it when they visted the U.S in the 70`s and saw one.
 
Looking for bright side after loss to Ghana, U.S. points to 20 year advantage in life expectancy




Their first round exit from the World Cup at the hands of Ghana still fresh in their minds, the U.S. Soccer team has taken comfort in the knowledge that their Ghana adversaries will be dead 20 years before they will at current life expectancy rates.

"It's not better than a win, but we'll take it," said U.S. player Claudio Reyna. "We'll be watching high-def DVDs of the loss with our grand kids long after those guys have starved to death, or been shot, or whatever it is they do to each other in Ghana."

Several U.S. players did not miss the opportunity to remind their Ghana counterparts of this fact at the close of the game.

"'Nice game, you'll be dead in 20 years,' was my standard greeting when we shook hands after the game," said U.S. coach Bruce Arena. "They understood enough English to get my drift."

Other comments heard from the Americans at the post-game handshake were "Good Luck with the Typhoid Fever" and "Don't Get Eaten by a Lion."

"Sure, the loss hurt," continued Reyna. "But when you consider the recurrent drought in Ghana that is severely affecting agricultural activities, the relentless deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, the rampant poaching and habitat destruction that they have to deal with up until the day they are eaten alive by a gang of white-toothed shrews, well, the loss stings a bit less.
 
carlsuen said:
zidane is probably the most gifted player in this sport, his creativeness and elegant poise with the ball is just amazing.. sad that he erupted like that.. apparently hes is really a reserved guy.. so materazzi must've said something really offensive to trigger that head butt..

and henry was having a hamstring problem.. so he wouldn't be able to play affeciently.. and with ribery, zidane, viera on the bench, no way they could've ensured 100% victory.. what's more, barthez is just to damn short for a keeper.. don't cover alot of ground..

They showed clips of other on-the-field antics by Zidane. This wasn't his first. He may be gifted, creative, etc, but that didn't turn into goals scored on his part this entire cup except for friggin' penalty kicks. Any decent soccer player should be able to make those.

Henry managed to stay on the field for over 100 minutes. You mean to tell me he couldn't stay on to kick one penalty kick when the WC is on the line?
 
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