"The United States is Not a Nation"
9 facts to remember when assessing, remembering, and voting for US presidents
1. The US maintains more than 750 military bases around the globe. 40% of all countries have US bases in them, and almost 90% of all foreign military bases on earth are American.
2. The US has engaged in more than 75 covert and overt regime change operations since WWII.
3. The US-led "War on Terror" has resulted in more than 4 million deaths and displaced 40-60 million people. These figures are in keeping with the US’ long history of indiscriminate warfare from Korea to Vietnam and beyond.
4. The US imposes three times more sanctions than any country on earth. Fully one-third of all countries are targeted by these sanctions. US sanctions have caused tens of thousands of deaths in some cases (e.g., Venezuela) and hundreds of thousands of deaths in others (e.g., Iraq).
5. The US is viewed by a plurality of the globe as the greatest threat to world peace. It is also viewed as the greatest threat to democracy.
6. The US currently sells weapons to 57% of the world's autocratic regimes. It also provides military assistance to roughly 70% of the world’s dictatorships.
7. The US spends more on its military than the next nine countries combined, China and Russia included.
8. The US maintains unrivaled influence and effective veto power within the International Monetary Fund, allowing it to substantially shape the economic programs that impoverished countries must adopt in order to receive IMF loans.
9. The US not only refuses to recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, but has sanctioned ICC officials for investigating US war crimes and passed legislation pledging to invade the Hague in the event that US politicians or military personnel are ever brought to trial there.
"The United States is an empire which has raped the world to build its wealth here. Therefore the United States is not a nation. It is a government of international capitalists and inasmuch as they have exploited the world to accumulate wealth this country belongs to the world." — Huey P. Newton
“Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one shouldn't trust the evidence of one's eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest mission civilizatrice.” — Edward Said