This cartoon is talking about imperialist motives of the US behind the war in Iraq. The artist is using the example of oil being the reason behind our nation's imperialistic attitude. The artist clearly thinks that the government only wanted to go to war in Iraq for economic gains, a motive of an imperialist nation. The artist apparently thinks that the administration at the time is almost lying to the people on this motive, and is freely showing it in this cartoon. I'm not sure how to respond to this cartoon; some think that we really do/did have a responsibility to go to Iraq but the ulterior motives shown here are interesting to say the least.
Question: Do you think the United States is/has been imperialistic?
There are multiple reasons that I believe the United States has been imperialistic and, at the same time, hasn't been. A lot of people bash the US for it's money grubbing attitude toward countries with oil. Part of me agrees with this assertion. I think that the oil played a big part in the war in Iraq. However I also believe that the US has a very important role in defending itself from people trying to hurt it. So while the oil part could be considered imperialistic, I don't think self-defense counts as imperialism. I do think that for certain the US has been imperialistic in the past though. The state of Hawaii is a testament to this, we did to those people exactly what Europe did to Africa. Another case of the US being Imperialistic is its very founding. We did, after all, take land from innocent natives and basically remove them from it after all. On some aspects the US hasn't been imperialistic though. For instance, a lot of recent wars have been in our own self interest yes, but also a lot of it had to do with self defense. A country that is a threat should be neutralized so it no longer is one. Another defense of the US not being Imperialistic is the aid we give countries. We actually do give quite a lot of aid oversees and this is not in any way what an imperialistic nation would do.
There are multiple reasons that I believe the United States has been imperialistic and, at the same time, hasn't been. A lot of people bash the US for it's money grubbing attitude toward countries with oil. Part of me agrees with this assertion. I think that the oil played a big part in the war in Iraq. However I also believe that the US has a very important role in defending itself from people trying to hurt it. So while the oil part could be considered imperialistic, I don't think self-defense counts as imperialism. I do think that for certain the US has been imperialistic in the past though. The state of Hawaii is a testament to this, we did to those people exactly what Europe did to Africa. Another case of the US being Imperialistic is its very founding. We did, after all, take land from innocent natives and basically remove them from it after all. On some aspects the US hasn't been imperialistic though. For instance, a lot of recent wars have been in our own self interest yes, but also a lot of it had to do with self defense. A country that is a threat should be neutralized so it no longer is one. Another defense of the US not being Imperialistic is the aid we give countries. We actually do give quite a lot of aid oversees and this is not in any way what an imperialistic nation would do.
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