It points out the vulnerabilities we have that our leaders just don't want to discuss.
The navy will be hard hit by budget cuts in the economy and one of the ways they want to economize is mix high performance combat drones in with the manned squadrons of on board aircraft. Then you flip the news on and see Iran parading a similar undamaged one about and bragging they hacked it and landed it.
Our forces are completely reliant on continuous electronic telemetry. We assume a large part of our bombs can be smaller with lower yield warheads because we can use GPSs to guide them. Russia was working on anti-GPS weapons over 20 years ago.
We rely on satellite surveillance of the battlefield but both China and Russia have blinded, disabled and downed satellites--both over 20 years ago.
Our carriers are protected by a layered defense based on the weapons of over 20 years ago--but the latest Chinese missile can completely circumvent their defenses in the manner with which it attacks.
We rely on 'stealth" for everything but the Australians found how to see through stealth--again over 20 years ago--and the Russians took the idea, taught it to the Serbians and they downed a stealth fighter. Beyond that, current computing power when exported to the battlefield in the form of computerized radar interpretation can render stealth operations almost completely useless.
Our two front line aircraft--both a bomber and our newest fighter--cost astronomical sums of money (so that we no longer build more) and both have major issues with their ability to perform combat operations if they get...rained on.
Our tanks are competent but again are not being upgraded to deal with newly developed and more cheaply available anti-armor weapons. They are also woefully deficient in brigade leel and down countermeasures for a variety of threats--relying on support by the air force and joint operations to protect them--the guys with the planes that can't get wet.
Our newest scheduled advanced fighter is almost a no-go before it even makes it into production and has a slew of liabilities.
Our best and only afforable ground attack aircraft is working with 1980's technology.
We've decided stealth and missiles trump guns and maneuverability and speed in air combat so we have let Russia develop the most maneuverable air combat platforms in the world--all armed with guns--while finding in training exercises that we may quite possibly be annihilated in the air during the first few weeks of combat.
We have used Vietnam-era (and shortly after) surpluses of bombing ordinance to supplement our past decade plus of combat operations and have only a trickle of newer weapons to slowly replace them.
We are eliminating the majority of our heavy industrial manufacturing and relying on the labor, facilities and raw materials to be sold to us by China and a few other nations.
Our largest weakness, oil, is sold to us by countries with far better relations and more in common with Russia and China--our largest competitors in that market.
We are about to cull our military forces again after having already implemented budget cuts and we have no viable future plans on how to build them up again.
Everything we have is done on the assumption that there will be no more possibility of a "big war". that we will face smaller, regional threats that can be managed from afar. The hacking of Stratfor (a private company)and also of government departments by the dozens shows that we assume a lot in this nation.
How does this effect 'the rest of the world"? the US has been--like it or not--the linchpin that has kept big threats from developing. We haven't had incidents of a dictator start a world war or a large power sweep into dozens of countries to take them over because that would require taking on the US.
You have several Middle Eastern nations now actively working to develop nuclear weapons to deal with their "Israel problem" and you have an emergent China that sees not being in control and in power over other nations as a threat to its national security (with Russia in that same boat).
Throw in a bunch of student protestors who topple governments but have no idea how to replace them, nut-jobs like the former Korean leader and all sorts of potential conflicts--China contesting with Japan over the Sea of Japan. Clashes by China with Vietnam and Cambodia, a stated intent by China to "reunify" Taiwan--with out without their consent, Russia's constant willingness to invade and assassinate and corrupt neighboring countries and a teetering global economic system with a chance of economic disaster throughout Europe and...well--the world isn't as idyllic as everyone wants to pretend it is.
Fail to learn the lessons of the past and you're guaranteed to take them over again.
These things should be wake up calls to leaders and business.
