Passage: After Blake's funeral, Manhattan is accused on national television of being the cause of cancer in friends and former colleagues. When the government takes the accusations seriously, Manhattan exiles himself to Mars. As the U.S. depends on Manhattan as a strategic military asset, his departure throws humanity into political turmoil, with the Soviets invading Afghanistan to capitalize on the perceived American weakness. Rorschach's concerns appear vindicated when Veidt narrowly survives an assassination attempt and Rorschach himself is framed and imprisoned for murdering a former supervillain named Moloch.

Question: What group of people were seen as weak?
American