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It is presumed that Iraq would prove another Vietnam for the Americans. The US would be falling right into a deep quagmire if they tried to redraw the map of Iraq or played on make ethnic groups against one another. In this way the occupation of Iraq may prove to be a bitter pill that Americans would have to swallow for the follies of their President. Categorically speaking, wars are a very costly business and there is a limit up to which taxpayers can finance wars but when that limit is crossed, even the mightiest empires are prone to collapse. During the 20th century the cost of World War II was over the figure of Pounds 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. And this was followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union as the long Afghan war shattered her economy beyond repair. And now in the 21st century, we are going to witness the collapse of the most powerful sovereign state, the US that is going to repeat the same folly. After spending huge amount of $20,000,000,000,000 annually for 8 long years in Vietnam, now they are bent to waste their money in Afghanistan and Iraq. In Afghanistan, the cost of only fuel expenses during US aerial operations was well over $ 3,000,000,000,000. And now one can well imagine the cost of the US-Iraq War, which is likely to run into astronomical figures. America spent US dollars 322 billion on defense in 2001 and is projected to spend as much as all other countries put together. The US has its bases in so many places in the world. In Germany these are 71,400 troops; in Japan 39,700 and in South Korea 38,000. There are troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan and, of course, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have huge American bases. In view of the grim fact that Americans seldom withdraw completely once they subjugate a country militarily, people wonder if the next major base will be Iraq. And if it is Iraq then the Arab world will be policed by bases within it. This seems to be a new kind of imperialism as compared to the old imperialists’ settled colonies of soldiers and administrators. It is an open secret that the American Imperious tactics extracts wealth and carries on a cultural and economic conversion of countries into its own image or in its own interests and their military bases at various places exhibit the necessary muscle to keep the ' mighty empire' in line and to reach out to the world.
Any sensible person is apt to wish had the total sum as depicted above been consumed on the welfare of the poor lot throughout the world, it would have become a heaven, a real paradise. Americans would have been really ruling the hearts of the people throughout the world. They could have become unforgettable legends in the annals of history. But alas! Due to their immensely aggressive and ulterior designs they have now become a symbol of hatred, a simile of disgust, a metaphor of ignominy. This is, indeed, shocking.
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