A historical perspective

This post is basically a “Part II” to the post below which states that the greatest threat to global stability is too little American power rather than too much American power. There will no doubt be people that disagree with that statement because, you know, American is a fascist and imperialist state bent on world domination, right? Well, here’s a little historical perspective for those with short memories; a reminder of what imperialism really is and a look back at America’s wars.

First we start with the statement that the United States is, at the moment, the world’s only super power and hegemony. Now let’s look back at others who were in the same position the United States is throughout history:

Ancient Egyptians – Expanded their territory aggressively and conquered much of what they could.

Macedonians – Expanded their territory aggressively and conquered much of the known world under Alexander (the Great).

Romans - Expanded their territory aggressively and conquered much of the known world.

Mongols - Expanded their territory aggressively and conquered everything they could, taking no prisoners in the process and laying waste to whatever they chose not to occupy.

Spanish - Expanded their territory aggressively, conquered and established colonies wherever they could. There’s a reason every country south of the United States in the Western Hemisphere speaks Spanish (with the exception of Brazil) which brings us to…

Portuguese – A contemporary of the Spanish. Conquered and established colonies wherever the Spanish failed to do so.

English – Rose to power after the Spanish. Expanded their territory aggressively, conquered and established colonies worldwide (the U.S. was one of these colonies). The British Empire was the largest empire in the history of the world and was famous for the saying “the Sun never sets on the British Empire.” In other words, the conquered territory was so vast that no matter what time it was where you were, the sun was shining somewhere in British controlled lands.

French - Expanded their territory aggressively and conquered most of Europe under Napoleon.

Germans - Expanded their territory aggressively and conquered most of Europe under Hitler.

Japanese – Expanded their territory aggressively and conquered much of Asia under Hirohito.

Russians - Expanded their territory aggressively and absorbed much of Eastern Europe after World War II.

United States – Has not expanded its borders and has fought to liberate: southern slaves, French, Belgians, Dutch, Germans, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Japanese, Kuwaitis, Afghanis and Iraqis (with varying degrees of success).

In fact, let’s take a look at some of the armed conflicts the U.S. has participated in:

Revolutionary War – A war of independence from colonialist oppressors.

War of 1812 – dispute over repeated violations of American sovereignty by the British

Civil War – War (in part) to free the slaves in the southern/rebel states.

WW I – Only entered after repeated attacks on U.S. shipping by the Germans.

WW II – Only entered after being attacked by the Japanese. Fought to liberate Europe and Asia.

Korean War – Fought to defend South Korea from the invading North Korea (backed by the Soviets and Chinese).

Vietnam – Fought to defend South Vietnam after the communist North Vietnam began guerilla activities.

Gulf War – Fought to liberate Kuwait after Iraq invaded.

Kosovo – Fought to stop genocide of Kosovar Albanians

Afghanistan – Fought to depose the Taliban and Al Qaeda after the terror attacks of September 11th.

Iraq (current) – Fought to neutralize a dictator who we believed to possess weapons of mass destruction.

So there you have it. ONE WAR where preemptive action was taken and even though it appears that Saddam never had WMD, there is NO QUESTION that he was actively seeking them. Our other conflicts have, for the most part, been fought to liberate others or to keep them free from a threatening force. That doesn’t mention the time we intervened to feed the Somalis and had our troops bodies dragged through the street like dogs as thanks. Now there is genocide in the Sudan and no one will do anything about it except look to the U.S. for help. And if we do help, there will be more cries of what imperialist assholes we are. Great.

Have we made mistakes? Sure – things haven’t always gone as we have intended as we’ve stepped in some piles of shit. Are Americans the big bad imperialists? Well you can go fuck yourself if that’s what you think. Americans keep this world safe…