Empire,
Intervention, and the Intentional Sacrifice of
U.S. Soldiers
By Jacob G. Hornberger
The march of death. Taken during the March of Death from Bataan to Cabana Tuan prison camp. May 1942. (Defense depart., USMC 114538, # 127-GR-111-114538, National Archives).
December 02, 2019 "Information Clearing House" -On April 9, 1942, 12,000 U.S. troops paid the price of U.S. empire and intervention when they surrendered to Japanese forces at Bataan, Philippines. During the resulting “Bataan death march,” 600 of them died, and then another 1,000 died after they were transported to Japanese POW camps.
The Constitution called into existence a limited-government republic. No Pentagon, no CIA, and no NSA. Just a relatively small military force. No foreign military empire, no foreign colonies, and no U.S. military bases in foreign countries. That system lasted for more than a century.
By the same token, the original foreign policy of the United States was one of non-intervention in the affairs of other nations. No coups, foreign wars of aggression, foreign aid, state-sponsored assassinations, alliances with foreign regimes, or regime-change operations. That system too lasted about a century.
Notwithstanding the horrors of slavery, America’s limited-government structure and its non-imperialist, non-interventionist foreign policy were among the factors that led to the greatest and longest surge in liberty, peace, prosperity, and standards of living in history.
The Spanish American War
The turn toward empire and intervention began with the Spanish American War, a watershed event that would lead to those 12,000 U.S. troops surrendering to Japanese forces almost 45 years later. The argument was that in order to be a great nation, America needed to acquire overseas colonies, just like the British and Spanish Empires.
During the Spanish-American War, Filipinos were fighting for independence from Spain. The U.S. government intervened in the conflict, with the ostensible aim of helping the Filipinos win their independence. It was a lie, one that the Filipinos discovered soon after Spain capitulated. In fact, the real aim of U.S. officials was simply to replace Spanish rule with U.S rule.
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