So Mr. Eland thinks the US is "the most dominate military power in world history." Has he actually mistaken Gen. McCrystal for Alexander the Great and Petreus for Julius Caesar? Does an air land combat team have the flexibility of a Roman Legion? In Iraq and Afghanistan, not exactly world class powers, Uncle Sam has had a great deal of difficulty dealing with lightly armed insurgents, something the Romans were rather good at. And Rome did not face the possibility of being wiped off the face of the earth by competing powers in sixty minutes or so.