Charlatan

Ace... I think we are talking about degrees of difference but it was important to have that clarified.

Invading Iraq was important to American oil interests. Seen from one perspective the invasion of Iraq was supposed to lead to stability in the Middle East (some believe it still will). I don't think there should be any doubt of that the intention of the invasion was for this purpose.

The problem is that it didn't go as planned (these sorts of adventures rarely do).

As for America not being an Empire builder... in the traditional modernist definition of Empire I would agree. However, there is a very strong case to be made that the US is the first and only postmodern Empire.

The American empire is held through a colonization of culture and economics enforced by a roving, rapid response military. There is no need to occupy the land when you control their economy through institutions like the IMF and their ideologies through mass culture.

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