Imperial America

by Miguel Aviles author of The Zerkian Chronicles in History, April 1, 2009

America knows no other way. It was raised by an Empire and it will grow up to become one.

Geographically, America is blessed. It is flanked by two oceans, which improve its ability to trade with neighbors in a more cost effective manner and eliminates the threat of invasion from those fronts. As long as America remains allied with Canada to the North and Mexico to the South, it will continue to have a safe buffer from direct attack. For this very reason America was able to safely participate in two world wars. The first of which they used to bring themselves out of a depression through war-profiteering, and the second as an excuse to test out their advanced military might. Nearly every war America has been involved in such as Vietnam, WWI and WWII, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, have all been fought in the enemy country. This idea that America will bring the fight to its enemies has evolved over the years from the similar attitudes of the western frontiersmen. This is one of the many ways America likes to spread its militaristic dominance. Through demonstration America has proven its willingness to seize whatever it can so as to mold it into something more in their vision. As much as America has tried to fight Imperialist urges, the power has them addicted . They act as if they are destined to rule the world, as if they are an Empire by birthright. How would they control the world though?

In 1945 the world changed. America was viewed in a whole new way. Ask the Japanese. The country responsible for what happened on that August day is now one that is trying to rid the world of Nuclear weapons one country at a time. Though history holds that America is the only country in the world to have tested and utilized the atomic bomb, as well as developed and tested the devastatingly more powerful hydrogen bomb, which requires four simultaneous atomic explosions just to generate the heat required to fuse two hydrogen nuclei together. Why would a country who is not interested in becoming an Empire develop such a destructive weapon? They haven’t said yet, but a nuclear weapon sure does hold a whole lot of bargaining weight when demanding things of other countries. Its extortion potential is quite high actually.

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On its own, America can be quite violent, but when provoked, the offender usually faces catastrophic destruction. Several examples are as follows: Pearl Harbor- Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Lusitania-WWI, The Maine-to hell with Spain, Communism-Fire in Vietnam, Twin towers-carpet bombing of Iraq. Usually what throws America into a huge conflict is when anyone tries to challenge their policies, control, or attacks their ego in any way. America’s army has even been known to help corporations with mutual interest such as Chevron and Haliburton. Haliburton has profited a lot off of the Iraqi conflict and Chevron employed several military mercenary units to kill off a tribe in Africa for its oil pipeline. Ethics do not belong in the vocabulary of the American.

In conclusion it is safe to say that America has grown to such a powerful state because of its geographic location, its belligerence, and possibly Imperialist motives. There has got to be a reason why America is the only country who lists democracy as one of its exports. It has never known humility even when it has lost wars, such as Vietnam. Ten years were spent showing the Vietcong how much more military might the United States had and ten years the Vietcong showed the United States that they would not be bullied. Iraqi insurgents have taken a very similar stance as the Vietcong, and only time will tell whether or not America is truly destined to rule. As it should also be noted, even though America was forged by fire, they don’t have to be consumed by it. But only time can tell.