American Empire Management

During the Second World War the foundation was laid for an American Empire that would soon replace the British Empire. After the war America eventually advanced to the position of being the most powerful and influential county on earth.

Part of that preparation, which was not fully appreciated at the time, was in the race to develop the atomic bomb in an effort to bring about a swift end to the war with Japan. Some of the greatest achievements of mankind in physics and engineering took place as a result of the Manhattan Project.

This top secret project built the largest building on earth at Oakridge, Tennessee. The facilities inside that building were engineered to process weapons grade Uranium, the vital component for atomic bombs.

Once the bomb was detonated over Hiroshimo, Japan on August 6, 1945 our world would never be the same. American leadership realized the enormous power possession of the bomb would bring to America although that new found power was to be soon challenged by the Russians.

With the defeat of Nazi Germany and of Japan the United States made some farsighted decisions that were to lay a solid foundation for the emerging American Empire. Although there were war crime commissions established after World War Two and high ranking military and government Japanese and Germans leaders were brought to trial and punished, generally the United States took a pragmatic yet enlightened approach in rebuilding the two devastated nations.

In Japan, General Douglas MacArthur was installed as the Supreme Commander. General MacArthur was an old Asian hand and understood Japanese culture and the role of the Emperor. Rather than bring the Emperor to trial for his role in the war, MacArthur used the Emperor’s influence to advantage in the reconstruction effort.

In a devastated Germany and Europe America came to the aid of former foe and allies in battle with the Marshall Plan. In a speech made on June 5th, 1947 George Marshall declared that “Europe’s requirements are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help or face economic, social, and political deterioration of a very grave character.”

The Marshal Plan was approved by the US Congress and offered American aid up to 20 billion Dollars, but a key provision was that the European nations must get together and draw up a rational plan on how they would use the aid.

The American economy was helped by this process. Much of the money made available to Japan, and under the Marshall Plan to Germany and Europe, was recycled back into the American economy as American suppliers were used to provide most of the required materials. This process worked. Jobs were created. The American economy and the economies of the former war enemies boomed as reconstruction took place.

While this posting is not meant to go into detail the far sighted American approach after World war Two was to provide the means for reconstruction but to require that the people who best knew how to work in their own countries, the professional bureaucrats, financiers, and manufacturing leaders, be allowed to take the lead in carrying out the reconstruction effort.

American did not work for unilateral gain after World War Two. By taking an approach that benefited all parties the American reconstruction plan worked. Former enemies became friends as prosperity spread. American was also able to establish what became permanent military bases in Japan and in Europe which remain in operation to this day. Thus the ability of the American Empire to project power and influence in the regions was reinforced.

Let’s fast forward to the American Empire’s handling of the Iraq War. The plan to win the battle for Iraq and Baghdad was brilliant. Victory came quickly and with minimum American casualties. American warriors did what they are highly trained to do, which is to destroy the enemy.

The planning for the war’s aftermath was dismal. Really awful. Disastrous. Out of a small group of six or seven men, only one, Donald Rumsfield, had any military experience. The group, which included , Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and Paul Bremer, knew little of Iraq yet dared to dream about what would happen after the American occupation of Iraq. They convinced a badly misinformed President Bush that all would be fine. As events have proved they were wrong, wrong, wrong.

They were totally wrong as to the number of troops that would be required for an occupation. The insiders group dismissed the opinions and warnings of those who did have experience and knowledge of the region. One of the “planners” for how America should govern after the fall of Baghdad, Paul Bremer, was largely responsible for advancing the plan to disband the Iraqi Army.

When the Iraqi Army was disbanded it put up to 500,000 unemployed angry armed men on the streets whose first thought was to get some revenge. Under Bremer, who served as the CPA, Coalition Provisional Administrator, $8.8 billion dollars of reconstruction money went missing. It simply disappeared.

The present disastrous events in Iraq were totally unnecessary. It is due to failed leadership starting with President Bush. The blueprint for the successful expansion of the American Empire was there for all to see in the MacArthur and Marshall plans that were implemented with such success 60 years ago.

A small group of inexperienced in the region and culture ideologues who were allowed to take over the management of Iraq have cost the United States dearly. However, the old Italian saying “the fish stinks from the head” seems to apply. President Bush, “the decider”, went along with and approved some very bad decisions.

The road we are now on will surely lead to disaster and the lowering of living standards for all but the richest of Americans. Americans living overseas have already experienced a substantial decline in purchasing power with American dollar income as the Dollar falls on foreign exchange markets. Soon all Americans will suffer from higher prices for imported goods and a shortage of oil and other needed resources.

And traveling abroad? Forget about it. Many Americans will become prisoners in their own county as the dollar continues to fall and travel overseas becomes ever more expensive.

Being a citizen of a country that has built an Empire has its privileges. However, if the Empire is mismanaged as badly as the current American Empire those privileges will turn into an impossible to carry burden.

If America is to have an Empire we deserve the best one possible. Nearly all Americans benefit in some way from the American Empire built since World War Two. As an American I do not apologize for the American Empire although I do regret some of the Empire’s ill planned and ham handed poorly executed actions . However, there is no doubt that a poorly managed Empire will lead to disaster, not only for America but for the world.

America must renew it’s leadership and once again place a premium on competence and enlightened governance. There must be strong mutual benefits for the Empire and the countries that it holds influence over or the Empire will in time fail.

America should especially be careful of over reaching in its quest for world dominance. Even a mighty nation can take on too many concurrent tasks and not be able to easily finance or to manage them all.  US leadership must learn the lesson that contrary to the beliefs of the men who planned the occupation of Iraq not every one in the world wants to be just like us nor wants to dance to our tune.

When President Bush speaks about how ”the terrorists and insurgents hate us for our freedoms” he is speaking nonsense and furthering the damage that he and his arrogrant circle of policy makers have already accomplished.  

No, Mr. President, they hate us for our often unilateral policies and self serving actions. In its almost blind pursuit of Empire and protection of its own interests America has forgotten about the rights, desires, and cultures of people of the world whose nations are far older than our own.

They hate us because we are a poorly managed Empire at every level except for the military. And they hate us because our military is a sharp sword in the hands of incompetents.

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