But, thanks to the European Union, they will soon be in the big-time patronage business. If the French did not exist, they would have to be invented. Whenever national interests dictated, the United States did not hesitate to align itself with the most unsavory dictators around. To be sure, Washington often discarded them once they outlived their usefulness. Noriega, Somoza, Duvalier, Marcos, Diem, Suharto, Muhammad Shah Pahlavi, were all victims of a change of priorities in Washington.
Republicans have no problems with the policy.
They much prefer the soothing sounds of pennies accumulating in the bank. Republicans want to bomb a country to make it safe for US investment. Democrats want to bomb it to make it safe for American-style democracy. The policy is the same. The consequences are the same.