TheWiseOldFart

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart America has been guilty of Imperialism for most of its 249 years. We “stick our noses” into situations in other countries and make the conditions worse. Imperialism: “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.” In my 79 years, a relatively short period of time in the history of the world, I have witnessed American imperialism in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Afghanistan may be the worst example of the ignorance of an American president and his administration in history. George W. Bush ordered an attack inside Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. He told the American people that our intelligence agencies had located the architect of the attacks on 9/11 in a country with a long history of wars, and harboring criminals. Bin Laden was located in a cave located in the Tora Bora area of Afghanistan. However, when Bush learned that the actual area where bin Laden was located was in Pakistan, he ended...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart From the time I was growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950’s, I heard the adults complain about our nation’s government “sticking its nose in the business of other countries.” I didn’t know what it meant. However, after I graduated from high school in 1964, thanks to a teacher who inspired me, and as it became apparent that our government was planning to participate in another war halfway around the world, I was very aware of our country’s greatest crime: imperialism. Here is the definition of Imperialism: “Imperialism is a policy or practice where a powerful nation extends its control and influence over foreign territories, often for economic, political, or military gain, sometimes through direct territorial acquisition and sometimes through indirect economic or cultural dominance. It can involve the establishment of colonies, the imposition of foreign rule, and the exploitation of resources and labor in the subject territories, leaving a legacy of social and ec...