Dealing with a smarter US after Iraq

• Source: Global Times
• [01:59 September 02 2010]
• Comments

US President Barack Obama declared the end of the US combat mission in Iraq from the Oval Office Tuesday. This is another significant "change" brought by the Obama administration, following the approval of a landmark healthcare act and a financial regulatory reform bill.

Twenty months ago, some Chinese doubted whether this young US president could clean up the mess left by his predecessor.

It now seems Obama has carried out at least part of his promises. A "new America" that has cast off the burden of the Iraq War is emerging.

Over the past decade, anti-terrorism, the Iraq War and the financial crisis dragged the world's No.1 superpower into its worst international plight since the Cold War.

Especially over the past couple of years, some people in China and Europe believed the US was engaged in a prolonged decline.

Never theless, it is still too early to conclude if the US has righted the ship and is on the road to recovery.

What happened on Tuesday shows us that the US is making a significant "change." The superpower will not just roll over passively, but will burst out with vigor at significant moments in its history.

China needs to get along with this "new America," which is becoming smarter and more focused on domestic issues after the Iraq War.

The US is imposing a series of challenges to China. China will probably have no choice but to accept them.

History has proven that challenges among powers are both strenuous and time-consuming.

The US once stood aloof from world war and focused on its domestic development, and perhaps China should learn from this and gradually win the respect of the world.

In the wake of the Iraq War, the US undoubtedly owns richer strategic resources in Asia. This is reminiscent of the US Star Wars program during the mid 1980s and the shift in world power after the Gulf War in the 1990s.