Lord of the Lemmings

Congratulations, G.W., you can now add Afghanistan and Iraq to the list of countries that the United States has colonized -- I mean, "saved." Good thing, too. I know Japan, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Guam and that little part of Panama were getting pretty lonely being the only current American colonies. It's really too bad Cuba decided to bail and things didn't work out with Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Kosovo or Bosnia.

Why are we in all these countries? The simple answer is because it's in our best interest to be there -- or at least that's what we thought, back when there was nothing but innocent people to save and money to be made.

Now, thanks to a misguided war on terrorism and a campaign stamping Joe Blow America with an unpatriotic sticker if he speaks out against the administration, a new wave of imperialism is hurling us down the same path that led to the historic demise of many previously great nations.

The Romans, Aztecs and Ottomans created great empires that traveled this winding road of nationalism that always leads to a rapid, self-created downfall.

When you're a group of revolutionaries, nationalism means a desire for independence. When you're a newly formed state, nationalism means patriotism toward a certain ideology. But when you're a strong, established state, nationalism manifests itself in the form of a superiority complex.

Historically, these established nations took their systems abroad to share the wealth, believing their presence would bring betterment to the failing societies they "saved." Realistically, betterment was a delusion of grandeur, and once the delusions faded, a bewildered empire was all that was left.

Why is all this important to us? Because the next year is going to dictate whether we repeat history or redraft the definition of "superpower."

John Kennedy once said, "Those who make peaceful change impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

I doubt we'll find President Bush with similar quotable quotes.

However, Bush does seem to be familiar with Machiavelli and his back-handed way of corrupting politics -- the reality that leaders, such as our president, have deceived us, misled us and will continue to do so for poll popularity.

Highest on the list of the president's wrongdoing is the fact that he has tricked us into believing that attacking other nations will secure our own.

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, changed the United States. We realized that we were vulnerable to a world in which the players either envied our success or criticized our practices. But since those attacks, nothing has been done to address these problems at their core. Believing that forcing our ideals on foreign nations will eradicate terrorism is the most illogical plan ever created.

We have an entirely new war in the United States, one that is not over and never will be. The war on terrorism is idealistic, but draws more on ignorant patriotism than intellectual progression. Bush continually reminds us that the war on terrorism will not be complete until all terrorists are vanquished. It's as if there are a certain number of anti-American activists out there, and once you get them, it's all over.

Terrorism is the offspring of hatred and nationalism. It's the weapon of the weak -- the more nations we weaken by force, the more anti-American terrorists will exist.

At the moment, however, it's not terrorism that threatens me. It is the loss of patriotism, not because people have lost faith in America, but because they have gained too much faith in today's America.