Through out history there have been many great and not so great empires and Imperial governments.
They have all risen and then fallen through either their own folly or misguided belief in their power and strength.
Most of the largest empires fell because they got lazy and left the running of...
Based on his own experiences as a PT captain and also as a Politician (particularly the Bay of Pigs disaster )he apparently is quoted as saying the above about the military top brass when it came to implementing Government "initiatives".