Originally posted by Pigeon


If you knew history, you'd know Puerto Rico is given the choice between becoming the 51st state or becoming their own sovereign country, or simply staying the way they are now. They do not pay income taxes or sales taxes to the US govt, although I think import taxes/tariffs still apply. I'm too lazy to research this atm, but I'm under the impression the Virgin Islands/Guam are the same way. Hawaii and Alaska are, on a cultural level, the same as the rest of the United States.


Re : Puerto Rico. I wasn't referring to how it's treated now, jsut how it was acquired. And I'll grant you your impression of the VI/Guam/Hawaii. The point is that they were acquired imperialistically, which you don't seem to dispute.

Yes, the US was imperialist in the early 20th century, but saying we are still an imperialist country begs the question, wtf is your definition of imperialism? Do you consider Japan to be an imperialist nation for keeping control over Hokkaido
Not "my" definition, but the dictionary.com one "The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations"

If I'm not mistaken, that's exactly the stated "reasons" for the invasion of Iraq, isn't it?

I'm not familiar with the situation in Hokkaido, and I'm too lazy to look it up

Granted, it's completely irrelevent to the topic of conversation, but... why did 9/11 happen in New York and not in Bagdad?
I'll throw you a typical "Rumsfeld" answer for this "I don't know, why don't you ask them?"



Ok, I can't let that lay there like that. Of course, the WTC was a much more visible target than anything in Iraq. And of course, Bin Laden is demonstrably quite more insane than Saddam, so other than that, I don't know. Perhaps I was wrong on that point. Perhaps our troops in Saudi Arabia are more offensive to him than Saddam. It's anybody's guess. That still doesn't negate that fact that his letter called Saddam "infidel".