Senator John McCain, one of the candidates likely to become president of the United States, has indicated that we might remain in Iraq for some time.

And he is probably right. Now that we're in, getting out is going to be quite tricky. The question is, what will be the purpose of our stay? How many troops are going to be required and what is their task going to be?

The British developed their empire for a purpose. Their drive toward conquest was not to spread democracy nor Christian ideals, it was basically for economic gain.

“Great Britain,” now referred to merely as the UK, for a time seemed to get richer and richer, until the drain of maintaining posts throughout the world began to negatively impact their island nation.

Now they have lost their greatness as all empires do. Most naval nations of the past have had to prove their ability to utilize their navies, usually for war of course and often for purposes of conquest.

Our naval abilities are not driven by economic reasons nor for purposes of conquest. But navies merely sail the seas and those in charge want to sail without impediments.

Just like everything else in the world, nothing is perfect and the seas are not without impediments. Those in charge, in possession of ships designed to sink other ships that get in their way are often tempted to use navies for confronting other navies.

Is our purpose as a nation really driven by the interest of spreading democracy throughout the world and especially through force? I don't believe that many Americans believe that.

I once heard a lecture by a Middle East “expert” who said that the turmoil in the Middle East was the “term oil,” a catchy enough phrase to remain with me.

One of the problems with depending on basic products from abroad is that this requires ships and navy. We should be alert to these problems and very carefully study the former policies of the British and other empires who by their very nature became depend on too much from abroad.

Although no nation can become completely self-sufficient, it is important that we do not become too dependent on too many basics from abroad.

We cannot send too many troops to too many places in the world and expect to maintain a peaceful democracy. Of course, we cannot close our eyes to the rest of the world, but what has made us a great nation is that we had plenty of our own resources, but this was in the past.

We cannot depend on empire-building tactics for our survival nor can we justify our actions abroad merely for the purpose of spreading democracy. I don't believe that the writers of our constitution had that in mind.

We have become a sufficiently mature nation to understand that both our domestic and international policies must be very carefully thought out.

I believe that some of our forefathers believed that we should avoid foreign entanglements. We need to revisit their advice and begin to develop some sound policies as to our future.