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Japan was an intrusive overzealous empire (to be very kind) and you want America to be just like they were?
To be fair, Japan's foreign excursions, as brutal as they were, were limited to a relatively brief period of their history, and to parts of Asia only. A more comparable example would be the British Empire, which extended across the globe, and their meddling has caused myriad problems, including the never ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
To be fair, Japan's foreign excursions, as brutal as they were, were limited to a relatively brief period of their history, and to parts of Asia only. A more comparable example would be the British Empire, which extended across the globe, and their meddling has caused myriad problems, including the never ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Agreed. The British Empire is a better example.
Funny how this nation was founded on refusing and fighting against empiracal impositon of the British empire.
Our voracious Empire is making money for the few at the expense, including innocent lives, of the many. Using force for the benefit of commerce is Mammon worship at its worst. It is expensive, immoral and deadly. If the masters of Mammon want control of the Iraqi oil let then BUY control. If they want a pipeline through Afghanistan let them BUY it with their own money. We do not need to send our army to protect these purchases. The locals will protect them if the BUYERS deal fairly. If they cheat the locals the BUYERS lose their investment as all thieves should.
IMHO any American business that takes American money and invests it overseas should realize they are no longer under the protection of American law. These investors are on their own. If other countries want our investment they will provide a law protecting the investors. If the investors become corrupt exploiting thieves then the countries should seize the assets. Our government should stay out.
All you who advocate isolationism and want the Unites States to ignore the rest of the world, your ideas are simple. You have little clue in matters of strategy, leverage, the projection of power and the building of ecomomies, ie trading partners (not just nation building).
Our voracious Empire is making money for the few at the expense, including innocent lives, of the many. Using force for the benefit of commerce is Mammon worship at its worst. It is expensive, immoral and deadly. If the masters of Mammon want control of the Iraqi oil let then BUY control. If they want a pipeline through Afghanistan let them BUY it with their own money. We do not need to send our army to protect these purchases. The locals will protect them if the BUYERS deal fairly. If they cheat the locals the BUYERS lose their investment as all thieves should.
IMHO any American business that takes American money and invests it overseas should realize they are no longer under the protection of American law. These investors are on their own. If other countries want our investment they will provide a law protecting the investors. If the investors become corrupt exploiting thieves then the countries should seize the assets. Our government should stay out.
Yes, it would have been far less expensive, in dollars AND lives, if we had just tried to work out a deal with Saddam and the Taliban for the respective rights to buy and transport the oil. But the Neo-cons wanted to control it all. Now, with a president who doesn't know how to say 'no' to the military, our war quagmires looks like they will drain the life out of an already dying economy.
Why can't we just leave other countries alone? - they would be much more grateful if we just kept our 'help' to ourselves.
"The Taliban often came into the village to ambush convoys, and then almost immediately the foreign airstrikes hit us," said Mr. Rostam, a turbaned 60-year-old who, like many Afghans, uses only one name. "Our children were killed; our crops were destroyed; our homes were damaged," he said. "There was nothing left for us there."
All you who advocate isolationism and want the Unites States to ignore the rest of the world, your ideas are simple. You have little clue in matters of strategy, leverage, the projection of power and the building of ecomomies, ie trading partners (not just nation building).
"isolationism" is only a bumper sticker catch phrase, like noun verb 9/11 or "cut and run". No one wants isolationism. Projection of power can be maintained with F-22s and stealth fighters still. Strategy is simple: save money by not building bases and having to hire private contractors because your enlisted staff is spread too thin around the world. Trade occurs whether you are a superpower or not.
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