In Reply to: In defense of American empire posted by Carol on June 23, 2004 at 09:02:14:
I have to laugh at the reactions your well written prose received. I am sure you aren't too surprised either. It is like when one spouse cheats, everybody else knows before the spouse does. The whole world and a few state builders (or empire buiders) in the USA already know but quite a few people are still blind to that fact.
There is nothing worng with it, as your brit's example indicates, but the puritanic selfrighteousness on which America was founded prevents people from seeing that. They still need to have "just couses" to march on.
The crusades were supported by the same puritanical attitude when the reality was that trade route to the Far East needed to be kept open for commerce.
Well, I am not sure about China coming in. I think that the EU are a more imminent threat. Notice how close Britain was to us when the war started, and still continue militarily, but went back to their usual careful relations with the EU in the political front.