Wolfie-

I think you're (willfully?) misinterpreting my point. Nowhere did I "abjure the warrior's service when called", "call to task the young people ordered to serve" or condone or express approval for "the regimes that have taken millions upon millions of lives in this century". I'm just suggesting a more balanced look at the U.S.'s role in world affairs over the last 170 years or so. Whitewashing the country's military adventurism or pretending it didn't exist isn't the least helpful.

Powell was correct as far as his statement went: the U.S. did not ASK, it simply took. California, Puerto Rico, etc. And it IS disingenuous to suggest that real estate is the only asset of a country worth taking (it is usually the least valuable, and a real pain in the ass to administer)or that annexing territory is the only means by which a country can be exploited. Powell simply talked around the question. This sort of circumlocution isn't helpful, either.

Finally, this isn't about me. What I have seen, what I have or have not done personally over the years you have absolutely no way of knowing- it might surprise you. But it would not make any substantive difference to the points under discussion.

Best, Greg

Best, Greg