LOL.  "Conquest and imperialism"?  Come on!  We 
were attacked first.  And it's not like we would 
annex Afghanistan.  We would just make sure that 
the group left in power isn't bent on killing our 
people.

As for the legitimacy of our actions or our 
spreading of the American way of life, well that 
falls under one heading: might makes right.  It's 
not pretty, but it's true.  And it's the way the 
world has worked throughout history.  We are #1, 
so we make the rules.  If the Afghans were unified 
and the #1 power, we would all be wearing turbans 
over here and women wouldn't be allowed to use the 
internet.  The belief that there is a "universal 
good" is a fallacy.  The US comes close, but even 
we can't be objective because it's OUR way of life 
after all.  Things we see as "right" will be seen 
as horrible by some other cultures.  But we are 
the biggest kid on the block, so nobody can argue.

You're right, I don't think the terrorists are 
currently bent on world domination.  But that's 
only because they lack the resources.  If it was 
within their power, I'm sure they would take over 
the world.  They are a small, hungry group that 
yearns for more.....a lot like a small group of 
dissidents that landed at Plymouth Rock a couple 
of hundred years ago.

JP