Archbish: America is just plain lousy at imperialism

You may not be aware that the Archbishop of Canterbury has created something of a shit-storm over his comments about US imperialism. On the other hand, perhaps it is I who is belatedly informed and you already know this.

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday. [...]

He contrasted it unfavourably with how the British Empire governed India. “It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, that’s what the British Empire did — in India, for example.

“It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put it back together — Iraq, for example.”

He was speaking, at the time, to Emel, a Muslim lifestyle magazine edited by Britain's Sarah Joseph.

While he attracted a good deal of attention in other areas of the British and American media, he basically described Bush's America as a country engaged in imperialist activities while suffering from attention deficit disorder.

Of course, if you really want to know how people in the UK feel about things, you should always check out the Flying Rodent, and here's how he analyzed things.

He's taken a lot of abuse for this, but I reckon he has a point - if there's one thing the last five years have shown us, it's that the Americans totally suck at imperialism.

Case in point - look at America in 1999. The U.S. was an invincible world titan, bending the other nations of the world to its will through economic power and incentives, while its President was greeted with adoration on state visits. Almost without realising it, the entire planet danced to the tune played by the Americans, and would crawl through sewers to kiss their backsides for the privilege.

Look at it now - they can't even get the Iraqis to do what they want, and every time Bush steps off a plane he's confronted by thousands of enraged protesters waving signs reading Stupid Nazi Bush Fuck Off. Every time the administration tries to crank up a tune, they're instantly bottled off like they're the Spice Girls opening a gig for Slipknot.

Let's see. What can I add to that?

I know! Smoke if you've got 'em.