Hi Wazza and thanks for your reply. No respect necessary mate, war is a terrible and tragic thing and so was the clash of civilizations that took place on both our continents. I was addressing the idea that the US was an Empire. You might research the Monroe Doctrine and the Spanish American War's causes. It was the Spaniards who decided to expand their empire even further. The war was over Cuban independence, and they fought along with us to expel the Spaniards. As you know, we did not leave our flag their either.