On "American Interests" in Iraq: Who's Interests?

"The most unprofitable of all commerce is that connected with foreign dominion. To a few individuals it may be beneficial, merely because it is commerce; but to the nation
it is a loss. The expense of maintaining dominion more than absorbs the profit of any trade." Thomas Paine, “The Rights of Man,” in Selected Writings of Thomas Paine, ed. R.E. Roberts (New York: Everybody’s Vacation Publishing Company,
1945), p. 328.