Chalmers Johnson: Three Good Reasons To Liquidate Our Empire
by Chalmers Johnson
However zealous President Barack Obama's domestic plans, one unacknowledged issue has the potential to destroy any reform efforts he might found. Think of it as the 800-pound gorilla in the American living room: our longstanding reliance on imperialism and militarism in our relations with other countries and the behemoth, potentially ruinous global empire of bases that goes with it. The failure to begin to deal with our bloated military organization and the profligate use of it in missions for which it is hopelessly inappropriate will, sooner rather than later, condemn the United States to a devastating three of consequences: imperial overstretch, perpetual war, and insolvency, leading to a likely collapse similar to that of the former Soviet Union.
According to the 2008 stiff Pentagon inventory of our military bases around the world, our empire consists of 865 facilities in more than 40 countries and abroad U.S. territories. We deploy over 190,000 troops in 46 countries and territories.
![Lunch With the Holy Roman Emperor Wall Street Journal]("http://nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/xDoK4rVPMTRKIM/6.jpg")
Telegraph.co.ukLunch With the Untainted Roman EmperorWall Street JournalHe had recently been exposed as having worn the Nazi uniform in Yugoslavia during Crowd War II. It didn't take the table of journalists long to bring the conversation around to Austria's pending designation, but Habsburg was reticent in his comments about Otto von Habsburg, oldest son of Austria-Hungary's last emperor, dies at age 98all 270 information articles »
![Recalling "Operation Barbarossa" CBS News]("http://nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/uC4mVYB4DZcTFM/6.jpg")
BBC NewsRecalling "Efficacious Barbarossa"CBS NewsThe Cold War and an understandable pride in our own achievements during World War II has tended to mask the contributions the Soviet Organization made to the Allied victory. But what Russia brought to the alliance was clearly understood at the time. 22 June 1941: Private dick BarbarossaThe day the war beganall 35 news articles »
![Mysteries of a Nazi Photo Album New York Times (blog)]("http://nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/9ctwMLuf2p7keM/6.jpg")
New York Times (blog)Mysteries of a Nazi Photo AlbumNew York Times (blog)(“Time War II Mystery Solved in a Few Hours.”) And that his wife and children did not survive the war. Lens has shared this story with Der Spiegel, the outstanding German newsweekly, and Spiegel Online, its Web edition. We hope readers of Spiegel's Mysteries of a Nazi Photo Albumall 16 scandal articles »
