Military Empire

According to a recent report, The U.S. is seeking to establish 58 military bases in Iraq, as well as rights to Iraqi airspace and the ever popular "immunity from prosecution for U.S. troops and private military contractors." Iraqi and even some American politicians seem reluctant to agree to such a deal and negotiations are described as "ongoing." The U.S. will likely maintain some sort of military presence in Iraq for years to come; currently, we have over 700 bases in some 130 countries worldwide.
I mention this because it dovetails nicely with a book I'm reading, "Lies My Teacher Told Me," by James Loewen. One of Loewen's interesting points is that American history is taught in such a sanitized way that it creates students who are unprepared to critically evaluate the world and America's place in it. For example, almost no mention is ever made of the U.S. military presence in so many countries (I wasn't aware of it until I read some Gore Vidal). My own feeling is that such distorted portrayals of American history have led to the bitter political climate we have today. At a young age, many students are exposed to stories that cast America as the "shining beacon" of the world. Historical events that contradict this image, such as our assassination attempts on Castro or our overthrow of democratically elected governments in order to further business interests, are left out of the textbooks. This romanticized image of America leads to a generation of citizens who believe America has not and never will do anything wrong. It also sets up a number of students for eventual disillusionment and cynicism about America after they learn of some of its darker dealings. This cleavage manifests itself in the vitriol between the left and the right, the "blame America first" crowd versus the jingoists.
A first step to healing this divide may be to present a more accurate version of American history to our next generation of youngsters.