Being an empire is hard work. Trillion-dollar military budgets, multiple countries to invade, sanction and turn into wastelands. For decades, it has consumed the half-wits that design and carry out what is laughingly referred to as U.S. foreign policy. As the Russia/Ukraine fiasco captures the world’s attention, it’s important to understand how the U.S. with its long history of fomenting international discord has been a major part of the momentum bringing the world to this perilous moment. Since 1945 the U.S. has embraced military solutions to world problems. It hasn’t worked out well for the U.S. or the countries in its crosshairs. Greece and Italy were among the first victims and once the CIA got through interfering, both countries were safely in the hands of rich oligarchs in business and finance. In a pattern that would be repeated endlessly, the U.S. sent troops to Korea. Much more than a losing a war, the toll included three million Koreans, 38,000 Americans and a destroyed country. It happened again in Vietnam and more recently in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen, to name a few. Not that the U.S. with its impressive fire power hasn’t put a few in the win column. Solid victories in the Dominican Republic and Panama, two little countries with a combined population of just over six million and pathetically few military resources. How good is that? Nonetheless the U.S. keeps plugging along, alert to even an infinitesimal injury to its bloated self-worth. There’s lots more to talk about but little to brag about. For an unmatched tale of villainy and ignominy, check out U.S. in the Crosshairs: Today an Empire, Tomorrow a Failed State.
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