Blueprint: We are not empire

Abolished the draft.
Reduced taxes.
Cut defense spending.
Eschewed nation-building.
Accused of abandoning Afghanistan.
We have avoided empire.

Iraq forces the imperial question.
In the aftermath: install friendly
Autocracy, withdraw bulk forces,
Exert influence from afar.
Some have called for more.
Voices from within.

Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle,
(the prince of darkness)
Bernard Lewis—only a democratic
Transformation of Iraq and eventually
The Arab world can provide security
Against "nuclear attack".

A venture in democratic imperialism.
Could such be harmonized?
Would it work? With our liberal principles?
A society so long at odds
With the values of the West.
"The world has a clear interest."

Our purpose is to liberalize
The culture quickly. To undercut
The growth of terrorism.
We have no reason to delay.
Could see results
In a single generation. A long time.

Westerners will be needed
To run the schools. A way of exercising
Influence, less than imperial rule,
Will not produce a stable Iraq.
American involvement in a
Reconstructed Iraq, a hoped-for
Democratic Gradualism?

sadiq bey