Goldberg: American imperialism? Please... The upside to the U.S. leaving Iraq is that it should quell the nonsensical talk about empire-building.

"In many quarters of the Middle East, the war on terror is cast as a religiously inspired front for crusader-imperialism. This nonsense overlooks the fact that America has gone to war to save Muslim lives more often than any modern Muslim country has. Under Democrats and Republicans we've fought to help Muslims in Somalia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq and now Libya. We've sought the conversion of no one and -- with the exception of Kuwait -- we've never presented a bill. When asked to leave, we've done so.

To say we did these things simply for plunder and power is an insult to all Americans, particularly those who gave their lives in the process." Jonah Goldberg

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg-iraq-20111025,0,5692547.column