U.S. Has No Empire Ambitions
By Michael S. Berliner (South China Morning Post, April 17, 2003)

Now that we've rid the world of another brutal dictator and freed a few millions Iraqis, the peaceniks are protesting Iraq's "occupation" by the imperialistic United States, evading the fact that the U.S. is unique in history for never seeking an empire. Although long-term occupation of Iraq is impractical, there's nothing morally wrong with it. A free nation has every moral right to occupy another country as long as it replaces that country's dictatorship with a basically free society, one that recognizes the rights of individuals to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Were I unfortunate enough to be an Iraqi citizen, I'd much prefer permanent occupation by the Americans or Brits to the tyranny of some homegrown dictator.