Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires. This is either through direct territorial conquest or settlement, or through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics and/or economy, Japan does not fit into this definition of Imperialism, not unless you consider Okinawa a nation they conquered. We didnt just invade Germany and Japan and walk away..did we? Not should we do that with Iraq but there is a drastic difference in Iraq... Look, if China came over to the US and invaded us and systematically disbanded our armed forces what would you, me and ever able bodied man do...we would use what ever means necessary to fight the bastards. Thats how the Iraqis see it, Not only that, but this conflict has drawn EVERY Muslim in the mid-est to want to go into IRAQ and fight against America. There is only one solution and that is to get out...PERIOD. in order to win we would have to evade and take over EVERY Islamic nation on the planet and set up Marshall law. These people simply don't want us there. They see this war as a holy war. Its a conflict of beliefs. You cant put a gun to a mans head and tell him "now your going to do things differently and your going to believe its Gods will". These people don't care who flew a plane into the world trade center. This will not end until we leave and try to help rebuild the infrastructure of not only Iraq but relations with the Islamic people as a whole. You cant get rid of a roach infestation with a loaded gun. very rarely can you cure a disease by cutting it out. The problem is a conflict of beliefs, not of politics. This is a mess just like the Israeli/Palestine conflict that has been ongoing since the time of Christ. Japan and Germany where the aggressors. Iraq did nothing to us. The North Vietnamese did nothing to us and where did that war bring us? All we got out of Vietnam was a nice shiny memorial with a lot of names of those who thought the way you do. And America wasn't solely responsible for the victory in WWII. Russia lost close to a million soldiers before we ever got involved...and we got involved reluctantly. So if you want to compare wars, use two that are similar, such as Vietnam and Iraq.