by Carla Sutherland

Created on: June 12, 2008

Imperialism: the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.

By the dictionary definition, the United States has become an Imperial Empire. Just look at what the US is doing now with Iraq. With the added pressure of the UN mandate authorizing the occupation of Iraq expiring next month, the US is withholding tens of billions of dollars in seized Iraqi assets in an effort to push through it's demands for a long-term compact. And those demands are as follows:

*US control of at least 58 military bases (originally it was over 200), adding to the 30 military bases already there.
*US control of Iraqi airspace up to 30,000 feet.
*US rights to assess whether or not another country has committed aggression towards Iraq.
*Complete immunity for US soldiers and contractors inside Iraq (that's over 240,000 people as of now. More to come with the added bases).
*US rights to conduct military operations within Iraq and without approval from the Iraqi gov't.
*US right to refuel planes in mid-air over Iraqi airspace.

Such demands have angered Iraqi lawyers and members of their parliament. A leading lawmaker from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Jalal al-Din al-Saghir, called the US proposals "more abominable than the occupation. Now we are being asked to sign for our own occupation. That is why we have absolutely refused all that we have seen so far." Another Iraqi parliament member, Khalaf Al-Ulayyan states "I believe the parliament will not ratify the treaty in its current form, because it harms Iraqi sovereignty. Based on the details that have been leaked to the media, it seems that the deal will make Iraq not just an occupied country but an actual part of the US."

To add more salt to the wound, the US is also refusing to lift it's support for Iraq's UN designation as a threat to international security. This designation was imposed following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and has been used to impose sanctions and restrict Iraq's economy.

Others see these demands as Bush's attempts to use Iraq as a staging ground for an illegal attack on Iran. With Bush's continued false rhetoric over Iran's nuclear activities, and the leaked memo stating that Bush plans on attacking Iran within a couple of months, these proceedings heavily shadow the pre-war in Iraq. I know that history repeats itself, but this quickly?

And where does this leave the Iraqi people? 99% of those polled want

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