The empire of altruism

"We come not as conquerors, but as liberators."
- General F. S. Maude, 1917, at the British occupation of Baghdad

"I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using [it] against uncivilised tribes."
- Secretary of State Winston Churchill, British War Office, 1919, authorising use of chemical weapons against Iraqis