George Washington's Farewell Address
"Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world..."

• American Involvement in Wars from the 1812 to the Present
• Congress declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 18 June 1812
• Congress declared war on Mexico May 13, 1846
• 1861 - present U.S. invasion and occupation of Confederate States of America
• Congress declared war on Spain April, 1898
• Congress declared war on Germany April 6, 1917
• Congress declared war on Japan December 8, 1941
• The last time Congress declared war was on December 11, 1941, against Germany
  
• Violating the Constitution With an Illegal War - by Rep. Ron Paul, MD
• 1950-1953 Korean War
• 1960-1975 Vietnam War
• 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
• 1983 Grenada
• 1989 US Invasion of Panama
• 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War
• 1995-1996 Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 1999 - present U.S. invasion and occupation of Serbia
• 2001 - present U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan
• 2003 - present U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq
• Rumsfeld advocates US-led global peacekeeping force  The force would operate outside the auspices of the United Nations and NATO and would include thousands of US Army troops trained and permanently assigned to peacekeeping work.
• In how many countries do we now have American combat troops?
  According to the Defense Department's Base Structure Report, FY 2002, U.S. troops are stationed in 156 countries. There are only 46 countries left without an American military presence.
  
  
• Ref: NNN Bush declares war on Iraq
• For current war news see Antiwar.com
  
  
• America's Empire of Bases - by Chalmers Johnson
  

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.