Even though the American people are basically good, the U.S. Government has not always been good, and has often been bad, and it is vain folly to try to deny or ignore its mistakes, as Ronald Reagan was so bent on doing, and as George W. Bush continued to do.
That has been very harmful to America’s reputation, so we must be honest. Americans can no longer deny or ignore the fact that for a long time the U.S. has been trying to control other countries and their people, usually not directly with occupying armies and blatant brute force, but with money, bribery, military aid, influence, and whatever else money can buy to serve American interests. That’s what Neo-Imperialism is, and the U.S. has practiced it for a long time, while pretending to be a beneficent big brother and policeman of the world.
Unfortunately, as if that wasn’t bad enough, George W. Bush "took off the gloves" in his blatant military invasion and occupation of Iraq, and I think it’s important to discuss that here, as I have on the page about Bush’s Real Record and War.
But first, to be fair, I have to say once again that most Americans really have had good intentions, and America is indeed great in many respects. After all, if it weren’t, people from other countries wouldn’t still be coming to America to find a better life. They wouldn’t risk their lives and/or incur huge debt just to enter America as illegal aliens. And the fact that they do proves that America can provide people with more freedom and, in certain cases, more opportunity than many other countries in the world.
However, and even so, we can no longer avoid or deny the whole truth. Too many U.S. actions in too many foreign countries were and still are driven by self-interest, and often even by greed. Bush’s War in Iraq is an apt example of that, as I will show you. But, while that has become very obvious to many of us, many other Americans have been and still are unaware or in denial. Many Americans still think the U.S. has been better and more beneficent than European empires, and, since that may be true in some respects, American Neo-Imperialism has been and still is very successful. America has been and still is able to rule and control other countries not so much with occupying military forces, but simply with influence, money, and the things that money can buy.
Now it is time that Americans acknowledge how pervasive American Neo-Imperialism has been, from what they used to call the old "Banana Republics" in Central and South America; to Cuba under Batista prior to Castro’s Communist Revolution; to Iran under the Shah prior to the Islamic Fundamentalist Revolution; to Nicaragua under Somoza prior to the Sandanista Revolution; to the Philippines under Marcos prior to his ouster; to Cambodia under Lon Nol prior to Pol Pot and the cruel Khmer Rouge taking over; to Zaire under Mobutu prior to his ouster, and even to Indonesia under Suharto prior to his ouster.
I mention those instances because the United States was instrumental in creating and/or allowing such terrible conditions for the people in those countries that they were driven to violent revolution to overthrow U.S.-supported regimes. And unfortunately, while the result of revolution was sometimes an improvement, it sometimes made things even worse, depending on who took power after the revolution. Whatever the case, it must be said that most of the more recent trouble and strife in those countries can be directly attributable to conditions that were created under American imperialism or neo-imperialism, and in some cases prior European imperialism and colonialism.
The countries I mentioned are just a few of the more notable cases. The U.S. had done this in other places as well, to the detriment of the people under U.S. rule or influence, and to the benefit of American military, business, and industry. This is part of the reason why there are many people in the world who don’t like the United States. It’s why so many people all over the world know or at least suspect George W. Bush for occupying Iraq because of its oil reserves. So, while America can and should be proud of much of what it has done, it would be healthy to admit our mistakes and express our shame and sorrow for the bad things its government has done. It is a sign of a mature and noble nation to admit mistakes, apologize for them, and make amends.
Now granted, as such villains go, America has certainly and obviously not been the worst. In fact, it is worthy of note that during the eight years under President Clinton, the U.S. did not use its military might to protect any American-supported foreign dictators or American economic interests in foreign countries. Bill Clinton deserves credit for being the first American president to accomplish that since 1945, establishing a precedent that should have been followed, but was not because of the Bushite Neo-Conservative plan for world dominance that was written in 2000!
Of course, most Americans would say that other nations have been worse in the past. And that was perhaps true of the British, particularly in Ireland, Scotland, America, India, Palestine, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Honduras, and so many other places. It was also true of the French, particularly in "Indo-China," Vietnam, Cambodia, Haiti and Africa; the Belgians, particularly in the Congo and Ruanda; and the Spanish in Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, Central America, and South America. In fact, it was true of all imperialist conquerors and colonists who’ve done much the same thing all over the world. And it could be said that they all have been worse than the United States in terms of imperialistic wrongdoings — although I realize that is debatable. After all, if we also consider the U.S. Government’s treatment of indigenous Native Americans for the last several hundred years, it comes closer to appearing not that all that much better than many European empires.
Fortunately, many of us know all this, and most of humanity is realizing just how wrong all that was and is. We are evolving. Most of us have realized that imperialism and colonialism were terribly misguided ventures that resulted in terrible violations of human rights, and in terrible offenses, injustices, crimes, and atrocities — most of which were motivated by sheer arrogance, greed, racism, nationalism, and ethnocentrism. We realize that the legacy and consequence of that arrogance, imposition and exploitation is a large part of the reason why the world is as it is now.
Unfortunately, right-wing Neo-Conservative Republicans in America just don’t get it yet. That has been one of the main problems for the last 28 years.
Many of them still have a Nineteenth Century view of the world. For example, George W. Bush’s policy toward Iraq didn’t actually have much to do with Saddam Hussein, despite what he claimed after his fabricated excuses for going to war were exposed. It had more to do with establishing a much firmer American Military-Industrial presence in the Mid-East, and it really had more to do with oil than with regime change. It was about carrying out the plan concocted by Neo-Conservatives in 2000, called the Project for the New American Century (PNAC).
Considering that documented plan, it becomes very obvious why Bush utterly rejected the French, German and Russian criticism of his Iraq policy, and why he was so dead set against the United Nations (U.N.) being responsible for handling things and keeping the peace in "post-war" Iraq. It’s why Bush put American troops in harms way even though it was clear that the Muslims and Arabs suspected his motives and would wage war against occupying American forces. And Muslim suspicions were not misguided. In fact, if you look at it through the eyes of people who already see America in a bad light, it’s really kind of a sinister imperialistic plot. And it certainly explains why even British Prime Minister Tony Blair was rejected when he advised Bush to let the United Nations handle things after Saddam Hussein was removed.
The PNAC document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century, confirms the worst suspicions and fears of many people in America and all over the world. It talks about "American global leadership" that will "shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests," and it calls not only for a dominant American role in the Mid-East. It describes American armed forces abroad as "the cavalry on the new American frontier." It even calls for the creation of "U.S. Space Forces" to dominate space.
To be very frank, the PNAC document actually reveals the hidden imperialistic Bushite Neo-Conservative agenda, which has become increasingly evident to most people in the world. It shows disdain and even contempt for the United Nations. It reveals what is worst about some Americans in the eyes of many people all over the world, and it’s no wonder that right-wing conservative Americans, like those in the Bush Administration, are increasingly seen as arrogant, self-righteous imperialists by much of the world community. That’s what they clearly are, and it’s very apparent that their intent was to dominate the world and establish and maintain an American world empire, essentially a one-world government.
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