President Obama’s speech to the United Nations was one that Chamberlain could have written for him. While I am cognizant of the fact President Bush and his slimy lieutenant, Cheney, helped destroy so much of our credibility in the eyes of all the world but our allies, I believe embarking upon a campaign of apologies for past wrongs weakens our resolve to create “peace for our time”, not strengthens it. History is the greatest teacher of all and sometimes what we may consider a new idea or approach, we may even find if we delve into our history books the new idea/approach in question may have been attempted without success many times before. Certainly the path President Obama is presently walking has been tried before and has failed miserably. Chamberlain died a sad and broken man months before the Battle of Britain was won.

Although I hate admitting it, when it comes to handling foreign policy, President Reagan was light years ahead of any President before him or since. Firstly, he had such charm that even his greatest enemies wilted like dying roses in his presence. Secondly, he was possessed of a goal for handling every issue that he was confronted with. Kaddafi disappeared off the scene somewhat when his tent in Tripoli was blown up by some rockets fired by F 111. The day he uttered, “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall” will go down in history as the day communism and the Soviet Union started their rapid collapse. For me, as a patriotic American citizen and not a green card holder, temporary legal or illegal here for a free ride, I feel President Obama in his zeal to show the world a different side to America, is hastening our decline as the world’s super power and sending Americans down the same road as Caligula did to the Roman Empire. At the rate it is happening, I will see in my lifetime America answering to China and India. Oh, by the way, Wall Street is already betting on this happening. Many are grandstanding on the business TV channels already publicly announcing Main Street America better get used to no jobs or lower incomes and China ruling the world. Just shows what a nasty and traitorous creed of people our country has bred to hold the reins of commerce.

I am not giving up though. President Obama, you need to study up on Sir Winston Churchill, voted at the turn of the 21st century as the greatest leader of the twentieth century. The great thing is Sir Winston was not only the greatest orator, he was a prolific writer. In the nineteenth century he warned the world of Muslim extremism, its credence of hate and its desire to take its peoples back to an eighth century lifestyle! Churchill was a lone wolf in the late forties when he declared an iron curtain had descended upon central and eastern Europe. Today America is in crisis never felt since the days of the Great Depression. We need leadership and we need to be told the sacrifices the bulk of American society is presently making will indeed lead to a stronger and greater nation. We don’t want to be told the dollar will lose its world currency status. We don’t want to be told America can’t make anything anymore and we are dependant upon Chinese altruism to support us. What we want is America to remain the beacon of freedom, democracy and prosperity for all and not be apologetic to the scumbags who will never practice freedom, democracy and prosperity for all.

So in the last fifteen years with the leading economies moving from a manufacturing to a services base, we have seen airfreight change from a position where there was some form of equilibrium of trade between most sophisticated countries to one where it has become virtually one way. In the good old days where export and import volumes were 50-50 this allowed many indigenous forwarders to obtain great market share in their home countries. As the pendulum started turning the other way and exports started shrinking and imports growing, multi-national forwarders quickly started swallowing up the market share leaving local forwarders fight for the scraps. Nowhere better to illustrate this change than to look at what has taken place in Australia over the past twenty-five years. In the early eighties publicly listed transportation companies Mayne Nickless, Brambles, TNT and several privately-owned forwarders Fliway, CH Cargo Handling, VIP, and Simpac more than held their own against the might of the multinationals. Today these companies no longer exist. TNT lives on as a Dutch company in name only. As air imports grew all were acquired by their foreign competitors. Today few of the larger trading countries exist where a local forwarder commands any market share. This has set the stage for the new era where the top five forwarders control over 80% of the global airfreight market.

During the course of 2009, 227 freighters have been taken out of service and we are not talking vintage aircraft like the DC 8, DC 10 and 727. Most are 747’s and MD 11’s, with many of the 747’s being the latest 400 series. What trade were most of these aircraft assigned to? Yes, you’re right China. There is such a glut of capacity that even with the parking up of so many aircraft yields are still continuing to decline. Air France/KLM have just announced they are getting back to their roots and handing their freighter fleet of 21 747’s and MD 11’s over to their subsidiary Martinair and now will only offer belly space. The combined airline since merging has been losing over $1 million per day from its freighter operations. The stage has been set for a far smaller market for airfreight to emerge from this global recession.

Why will this be so? Two things; the days of rampant consumerism as it has culminated into two years ago is over never to return and as trade starts to grow once again, ocean freight will play even a bigger role. Example; Polo Ralph Lauren pre-2009 relied upon airfreight to handle the bulk of their needs. Boss, Ralph Lauren, when hit by a shrinking market, studied areas of further cost-cutting and discovered by changing modes that he could cut his transportation costs to a fraction of what they were. Even though Polo is a premium brand, most of their goods are procured from China. Earlier this year Ralph Lauren issued the instruction all imports were to now move by sea and air was only to be used in an emergency. His decision has so far produced savings in the $millions. Others will, or already have followed suit.

Presently most of the large multinational forwarders, especially DHL, are fighting for their lives and are restructuring for the changing times. The industry has been turned on its ear. The fairy tale of exponential growth in air cargo over the next twenty-five years that Boeing forecasters continued to predict even as late as last year have turned them into laughing stocks. For airfreight forwarders to be relevant in the new era that is dawning upon the industry they will have to ramp up their ocean freight departments. The golden age of airfreight is now consigned to history.

There are tons of examples. Go to France and see how many foreign brands of cars you see lining the streets – very few. Marks and Spencer, the venerable Macy’s of the U.K., ask them how well they are doing in China with importing their own label merchandise. Ask the long grain rice farmers of California how impossible it is to export their produce to Japan which is in short supply there. I could go on and on. The simple fact of the matter is every other country apart from the two great democracies just doesn’t practice what they preach. I am telling President Obama, mate, you are not President of the world, you are President of the United States of America. At the G 20 conference I don’t want to hear your rhetoric on how you want to save the world. Concentrate on saving America. For a welcome change, let the rest of the world look after itself.

Every dime that the administration is investing in kick starting our economy should stay inside America and even if we have to get chain gangs from the prison system to do jobs in hell holes of the country that no American might not want, then get them to work. I want to see Caterpillar earthmovers and no Komatsu’s, I want to see Kenworth trucks and no Volvo’s and every raw material/mineral/home made product that can found in America used. On top of this, we need to employ some honest Americans in high places for a change to oversee that every company involved in rebuilding America doesn’t do a “Halliburton” on us. One of the saddest things I have seen in my lifetime is how ripping off the government is now regarded by so many as fair game. So Mr. President in summary, practice some of the true integrity that you claim to possess and do the right thing for America first.