Okay, here's a thought: A nu-lite interpretation of the toes could buy the WT what they seriously need: time. Let me explain. In the illustration, the feet are clearly defined as the Anglo-American WP (a stretch in itself) and the mystery question mark is linked to the toes. Each of the preceding parts of the image are defined similarly--that is, a world power that has come and gone. According to JW interpretation, we are now living in the time of the last WP and there will be no other WPs following the Anglo-American (whcih pretty much means the US in any real sense).
Stay with me. I've often thought that the more intelligent of the WT higher-ups, who might read the news regularly and follow international developments, should be getting very very nervous, as it is becoming increasingly clear that the US is in its twilight as a WP and fading fast. On the ascent? China. Whether or not China will ever be a WP can be debated, but one thing is clear: the US is being surely and steadily dethroned. It's lost power and standing in the international community; its influence is on the wane.
But wait!! That wasn't supposed to happen. The big A was supposed to strike while the US was the WP! Okay, so now comes the strategy: maybe the WT will finagle some kind of alternate interpretation for the toes. Maybe the toes are the rise of some other kind of power (probably not the UN, since its toothless and weaker than a gang of Somali pirates). Say, a faction or godless splinter group that is somehow (in the feckless mind of the FDS) taking control, like the rise of Evil Athiests!! They would be located "within" the AA WP but still weild control in some way so that even in the dimming campfires of the US, the WT can cling to hope for a bit longer...
