in Foreign policy, International Situations 348 Words

Are We Building An American Empire?

We have hundreds of bases worldwide (not sure of the exact total) in about 55 different countries……and we seem to be preparing for a total commitment to take over the world……or is it simply a form of imperialism?

US Army commander in Europe Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges visited Ukraine today, as Pentagon officials confirmed plans to send troops to war-torn Ukraine this spring for a “training operation.”

Officials say the number of troops involved has not been determined at this time, and that the troops are part of an effort to strengthen the “rule of law” in the country.

By “rule of law,” they mean getting the Ukrainian military, which is ratcheting up its conscription, ready to crush eastern rebels, who have been demanding reforms after the new government imposed a series of harsh restrictions on the ethnic Russian east.

All this assistance across the globe is starting to smell like a resurrection of a form of imperialism.

Let’s look at the word imperialism…..simply put it is…….”a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force.”  Kinda sounds like what the US is doing at this time…..

Author Michael Parenti has defined it thus……

Imperialism has been the most powerful force in world history over the last four or five centuries, carving up whole continents while oppressing indigenous peoples and obliterating entire civilizations. Yet, it is seldom accorded any serious attention by our academics, media commentators, and political leaders. When not ignored outright, the subject of imperialism has been sanitized, so that empires become “commonwealths,” and colonies become “territories” or “dominions” (or, as in the case of Puerto Rico, “commonwealths” too). Imperialist military interventions become matters of “national defense,” “national security,” and maintaining “stability” in one or another region.

The magic words….:National Security”!

Many have only one comprehension of the term “Imperialism”….that is that it takes a monarch or king to be so……not really…..in its definition it means the control of regions through military or diplomatic influence…….guess what?

The US meets that definition to a tee.

13 thoughts on “Are We Building An American Empire?”

  1. I would venture to say that we cannot possibly “Build an empire” on borrowed money and I am afraid we are more on the order of England now than anything. I think we are in a national decline – – evidenced by the dysfunctionality of the government . . . the rise of the idiot-o-cracy of the unwashed radical right . . . ( The acendancy of idiocy) . . . and I do not think we can ever recover as long as we are as divided as we are at this juncture. Check out the condition of the great cities that once marked our economic dominance of the world stage – – the 140-square-mile acre called “Detroit” would be a good place to start the observation. Then consider the modern-day concentration camp laughingly referred to as Wisconsin where Big Money is grooming their implant for a presidential run and this should give us all an idea of where we are and where we are headed. I don’t think there is enough unity left in this nation at the grassroots level to do much of anything except perhaps bemoan the greatness that was and that probably will never be again.

    Reply

    1. Good points my friend…..but think France in 1777….they went into debt helping an ungrateful country…..and the French Revolution became fact…….we can have an empire based on an addiction to our weapons and the M-IC is more than willing to supply them….our influence is expanding and not for the better….

      Reply

  2. (not sure of the exact total)

    About 900 from mere listening stations to huge installations. Seems of no avail though. It takes a $1.5 million drone to knock out 4 ISIS guys in a pick-up truck. We have a military empire but not a territorial one. We don’t even control our inner cities where drugs and thugs rule the night.

    Reply

    1. True….but the military is pressing itself with whatever mandate the prez issues…..like I said hundreds of bases in about 55 countries…..

      Reply

  3. If I were a religious right wing fanatic I would say the End Times have aptly infiltrated our military strategists ranks and we are just getting a foothold in positions to wage Armageddon. The mind of such loons will drag many of us down with them I suspect.

    Reply

    1. The end of days began in 1948….and that path has been traveled ever since…..and we will be dragged down, as you say…..sucks huh?

      Reply

Leave a Reply