September 11th marks the date on which we were attacked by foreign agents. But it is also the date on which we ourselves were the foreign agents attacking a legitimately-elected government. As this article shows, the sad legacy of that violation of the sovereign rights of the Chilean people, and the abuse of our own power, lives on in so many ways.
And yet, Osama bin Laden wasn't completely a foreign agent. We trained, financed and armed him to act as our proxy against the Soviets in Afghanistan. In every measurable sense on the ground, he was ours.
The single, real lesson of that terrible date? Imperialism doesn't work. It has never worked for any nation. And it is a grotesque abuse of the concept of American imperialism to think that, somehow, it can work for us. The only way for us to be truly exceptional is to renounce American imperialism. Forever.
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