Down the Road to 'Je Ne Sais Quoi'

Down the Road to...’Je ne sais quoi’.
First things first. It doesn't matter what the party/president/congressmen say, believe, intend to do or want to do; what we're talking about here is what actually gets done. I'm going to point out the things that stay the same no matter what the combination of parties comprise the gov't. And yes, there are real differences between Dims and Pugs. Those differences are there to give us the illusion that we live in a democracy - to give us the illusion that we have a choice. I'll limit my discussion to to the Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama administrations.

The US has over 1000 military bases worldwide (1) and an embassy in virtually every country(2). Hardly a skirmish occurs without the US being involved. Before a move is made, the local US embassy is consulted to get permission. And yet, very little world news hits the airwaves.

There always has to be a war and an enemy. After WWII the enemy was
the 'Internatational Communist Conspiracy', then with with the break-up of the Soviet Union it was the War on Drugs and on 'Rogue Nations'. Now of course, it's the 'War on Terror'. Today the US gov’t spends over $1 trillion on military expenditures. (3)

Military Interventions

The Clinton Administration:

1993 Somalia - US helicopters fired missiles at warlord Mohamed Aidid. Many innocent people were killed. Later an attempt to kidnap two of Aidid’s leaders went sour:

The final tally was five US helicopters shot down, 18 Americans dead, 73 wounded, 500 to 1000 Somalians killed, many more injured. (William Blum, Rogue State)

Iraq - Continued to enforce a US-Great Britain imposed no-fly zone:
In the first eight months of 1999, the two countries flew some 10,000 sorties over Iraq, unleashing more than 1,000 bombs and missiles on more than 400 targets, killing or wounding many hundreds of people. (William Blum, Rogue State)

It can be said that the United States has inflicted more vindictive punishment and ostracism upon...