Attempting to Define U.S. ‘Imperialism’

In “Bases for an Empire” (Opinion, Jan. 18), Chalmers Johnson informs us that the “United States dominates the world through its military power.” If, as he asserts, “many Americans do not recognize” this rather obvious fact, perhaps that says more about our well-known geopolitical ambivalence than some sort of dark secret ensconced in the corridors of power.

Johnson takes a breathtaking leap of logic to state that America’s international military presence is, quite simply, imperialism. A cursory reading of post-World War II history would argue that America’s role has expanded in direct proportion to the willful reduction in force by out “allies,” but never mind. He then employs an absurd statistic to prove that our strong military response against terrorism is bad policy: You see, the number of worldwide Al Qaeda attacks post-9/11 is higher than pre-9/11, ergo, the administration has failed to protect the nation.

In any conflict, the number of attacks is far less important than their success. And does Johnson actually believe that “tactics of cunning and subtlety” would have resulted in fewer Al Qaeda attacks? By any measure, Al Qaeda’s failures post-9/11 far outweigh its marginal successes. That, of course, could change. If it does, it will be in spite of American military strength, not because of it.

Not that all this really matters. Because, as Johnson points out, this “war on terror” is really just a handy excuse to “expand our empire” and put more people “under our thumb.” I fear his clarion call has come too late. In the past two weeks, we put a rover on Mars and a Starbucks in Paris. The evil American empire knows no bounds.

John DeBello

Bonita, Calif.

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Johnson writes how U.S. military power girdles the globe, that it is imperialism by another name and it incites terrorism. I think what we have is a Potemkin village of military power. At this hour of great power, the U.S. has the smallest percentage of its citizens serving in its military since 1941. The U.S. has no heavy manufacturing base worthy of the name; the U.S. is the world’s largest debtor nation. These facts are not compatible with a great military power.

Robert Wilkins

Apple Valley

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Johnson claims that our worldwide military bases are imperialistic by nature and that they are growing terrorism. In order to show our commitment to world peace and stability, the Pentagon should invite the Chinese to have a navy base in Long Beach and the Russians to have an air force base in Palmdale.

If an American high school girl was raped by a Chinese marine or when a bar fight was started by Russian air force personnel, would we mind the presence of foreign forces? After all, these foreign bases are in the name of peace and stability,

Rene Kaerskov

Los Angeles

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Johnson’s opinion piece on imperialism was shocking to read for the reality in the facts and statistics of our bases and military all over the world. Frederick the Great must be turning over in his grave in agony with envy.

Anne Lebrecht

Newport Beach