Conquered peoples, colonization, purchase and war? It's an empire. We elect our government, but we are acting very imperial these days. Spheres of influence. Client states. Interests of the State.... Call it the Empire of the Willing.

Does Great Caesar's Ghost have to come back to spell it out?

The psychology of guerilla warfare is one of small, poorly-armed and -trained forces who nevertheless have the advantage of home turf vs. a large, well-armed, well-trained military steamroller fighting on behalf of a mighty nation that's also mighty distant. The little guys often win because they are fighting for their homes. The big guys are often fighting because they've been sent, and because the guy in charge, back where all the rotundas are, said it was important.

Britons vs. Romans. Americans vs. British. Iraqis vs. Americans.

That we disapprove of some of their methods is beside the point in this comparison. They are the little guys on their home field and we are the NY Yankees bussed in from out of town. We have better bats, but they know the field.

That was the big reason that Marion and his guerillas were able to bedevil the British, and it's the big reason that our people are having trouble on the ground in Iraq.

Being brutal will make them fear us, all right, the way subject peoples have feared invaders and imperial forces for centuries. They will also loathe everything about us. Including our form of government.

Is it a democracy if it's accomplished by decree and maintained by force?