Re: How many countries (or parts of countries) has the US annexed recently?
Zero to do with the original article but... More prolific? Africa was almost wholly colonized by the European powers of Netherlands, Belgium, Britain, France, and Italy, Most of the places annexed by the US, except Hawaii, were colonies --- yes, COLONIES, of European powers. And here's where people love to tout the African slave trade. Please tell me the US somehow invented the slave trade out of Africa. {BUZZER} Wrong.
Hawaii was leaning toward Britain, thus the current state flag design, when a corporate boardroom decided they didn't want their pineapple and sugar plantations under British rule. I'll give you Hawaii was most definitely stolen from the natives who would have chosen to align with Britain.
The Philippines were taken from another European power - Spain. Who did Spain take it from? Indigenous people. And let's not forget the colonization by European powers of much of the South Pacific. France and Britain still hold property there (in a roundabout way). Britain "claimed" Australia and New Zealand.
The entirety of South and Central America was colonized by Spain and Portugal. I'm quite certain the native tongue of the people in both areas was not Spanish and Portuguese. The word "conquistador" mean anything to anyone? Perhaps people recall the Spanish armadas that plagued the Atlantic.
And those parts of the current US people love to claim belong to Mexico... Who did the Spanish steal (annex?) it from? So-called indigenous peoples.
Alaska? Russia sold it to the US. Puerto Rico? They can leave anytime with a simple vote. The Philippines kicked us out after Pinatubo.
The US will never get sainthood for many of their actions throughout the world. But the rest of the world does not get a pass either.
Don't kid yourself, Europe is in no rush to have the US abandon bases there. Not only is it free security (that's debatable) for Europeans, they get to charge rent for the US bases. They're not stupid. If the US leaves, the Europeans will have to spend billions upon billions for their own military security from the perceived threat posed by (???).
Did the US take all of the current 48 contiguous states from indigenous people? Nope. They seceded from the colonial power of Britain, took parts from colonial Spain and purchased a big chunk from colonial France, then set about displacing (read: relocating and killing) most of the indigenous people.
But I digress. The founders of this nation warned us about standing armies. Eisenhower warned us about the military industrial complex. We didn't heed the warnings.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
