Imperialism is barbarism

This week Common Dreams posted a curious essay by Richard K. Betts, "How Superpowers Become Impotent." (Originally published in the Los Angeles Times.) Betts, director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University, essentially suggests how imperialist powers should behave in conflicts: massive power in war, massive aid in occupation. This was a puzzling piece to see on a progressive site like Common Dreams. Most curious was this paragraph:

"Short of barbarism, there are only two ways to reduce guerrilla ranks faster than new recruits refill them. One is to rely on special forces such as Green Berets...The other is to saturate a country with regular troops standing on every street corner."

Only two ways? Helllloooo?!? How about acknowledging that imperialism is barbarism and abandon the pursuit of global hegemony? Iraq is clearly a quagmire. Many supporters of the American imperial project are having second thoughts. These shouldn't be granted legitimacy by anti-imperialists and progressives.