ABSTRACT
The US military learned quickly and put into practice what the British could have told them from their experience at empire: Make deals with the tribal leaders, buy off local militias, and ease yourself out in as many functioning pieces and as swiftly as humanly possible. The Byzantine Empire lasted 1,100 years, from 330 to 1453 a.d. The Brits ruled the world for well over a century, as did the Moguls of India and too many Chinese emperors to count. People can say that the much-touted “American Empire” of the radicals in the Bush administration has seen its brief spring and summer and is approaching the snows of late December. America was going to rule the world, they said over and over, as they sat safely in their comfy offices sending boys and girls from West Virginia and South Carolina out to fight and die for their illusions.
