I get it, you don't like the United States, but you're desperately trying to draw equivalencies that do not exist. It's been a really long time since the US annexed anything. That doesn't make the loss of life that occurs in its small wars any less serious but you cannot talk about international events if you lump everything bad that happens in the world into the same ill-defined category and then use whatever labels you have at hand to refer to that category. Annexation isn't invasion. They might be associated - Russia annexed Crimea after an invasion, after all - but they're not the same thing.
If simply using terms properly doesn't move you, then there's this: you can tell a lot about a county's ambitions based on what its territorial disputes are and what it's trying to acquire. In this annexation = invasion world that you're inhabiting, you'd conclude that the United States wants to colonize the Middle East. I assure you that this is not the case. We just want to buy their oil, aside from that we don't give a damn about them. Not saying whether that's smart or ethical or not, but that's the reality.
Please, educate me then.
> I get it, you don't like the United States
Never even said that. I don't like SOME of what the US does, but I think it's a great country in many other aspects. Thanks for the strawman, always appreciated in a discussion.
> It's been a really long time since the US annexed anything
There's real annexation and de facto annexation. There are several countries around the world which are tightly controlled by the US, either through diplomatic means, economic or military pressure. By the way, I did not mention the word "annexation" anywhere in my comment, so I'm not sure where it came from in the discussion.
> In this annexation = invasion world that you're inhabiting, you'd conclude that the United States wants to colonize the Middle East.
No, the US has no interest in colonizing the Middle East. They want to control it to ensure they have priority access to energetic means, and ensure than nobody else does (like China, Russia or other emerging powers). Energy is Power. It's obvious that most of the conflicts we see in the Middle East are linked with struggles to get access to large sources of Energy.
> We just want to buy their oil, aside from that we don't give a damn about them
Oh, I don't have the slight illusion that you care about locals there. Invasion is not motivated by "bringing democracy" to the world, this is just political bullshit, I don't think anyone believes in this anymore.
