The USA - The Ultimate War Monger

It could be argued that the United States Of America is the most successful war machine in human history. Whether that is something to be proud of depends on perspective i would think. If you are a middle class American citizen who is able to live a relatively high standard of living, i am sure you would contend that the wars have always been about liberation and security.
On the other hand if you are an Iraqi citizen who lost his/her family and home during and air raid you might be inclined to feel bitter and maybe even hatred towards this nation that declared war before consulting you.

As i said it comes down to perspective and you cannot point fingers and blame the public because they do not make policy. The rulers of a nation make policy and even though it appears that the plebs have a say, i do not believe this to be the case in reality. With this in mind i digress...

The following are a list of all the wars that the USA has been involved in. For a moment i would like to put aside the traditional argument that most of these wars were for controlling resources. Let us for a moment believe that in fact that all this blood was shed in order to liberate the oppressed peoples of this world. With that in mind, my question to you would be, do you believe firstly that it is the USA's responsibility to be liberating anyone. And secondly is the cost (all that bloodshed) worth the reward.


American Revolutionary War

American War of Independence April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783



Northwest Indian War

Little Turtle's War or Miami Campaign 1785–1795



Quasi War

Franco-American War Half-War 1798–1800



First Barbary War

Barbary Coast War or Tripolitan War 1801–1805



War Of 1812

Second War of Independence June 18, 1812 – March 23, 1815



Second Barbary War

Algerian War 1815



The First Seminole War

1817 - 1818



Arikara War

1823



Winnebago War

Le Fèvre Indian War 1827



Black Hawk War

Black Hawk Campaign 1832



First Sumatran Expedition

February 6 – 9, 1832



Second Seminole War

Florida War 1835 - 1842



Texas Revolution

Texas War of Independence 1836



Second Sumatran Expedition

1838



Mexican - American War

Mexican War or U.S.–Mexican War April 25, 1846 – February 2, 1848



Navajo Wars

1861–1864



Cayuse War

1847–1855



Pitt River Expedition

April 28 - September 13, 1850



Apache Wars

1851



Bombardment of San Juan del Norte

Bombardment of Greytown July 13, 1854



Third Seminole War

Billy Bowlegs War 1855 - 1858



Yakima War

1855 - 1858



Rogue River Wars

1855 - 1856



Puget Sound War

1855 - 1856



Second Opium War

Second Anglo-Chinese War or Second China War 1856 - 1859



Paraguay Expedition

1859



Paiute War

Paiute Indian War or Pyramid Lake War 1860



American Civil War

War Between the States April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865



Dakota War

Sioux Uprising or Sioux Outbreak of 1862




Colarado War

1863 - 1865



Battles for Shimonoseki

July 20, 1863 - September 6, 1864



Powder River Expedition

Connor Expedition 1865



Snake War

1864 - 1868



Comanche Campaign

Comanche War 1867–1875



Red Cloud's War

Bozeman War or Powder River War 1866 - 1868



Korean Expedition

Shinmiyangyo June 10 – 11, 1871



Modoc War

Modoc Campaign or Lava Beds War July 6, 1872 – June 4, 1873



Red River War

June 27, 1874 - June 1875



Black Hills War

Great Sioux War of 1876–77 or Little Big Horn Campaign 1876 - 1877



Nez Perce War

Nez Perce Campaign 1877



Bannock War

Bannock Campaign 1878



Cheyenne War

Cheyenne Campaign 1878–1879



Sheapeater Indian War

1879



White River War

Ute War or Ute Campaign 1879 - 1880



Pine Ridge Campaign

Ghost Dance War November 1890 – January 1891



Spanish - American War

April 25 – August 12, 1898



Phillipine Insurrection

Philippine–American War or Philippine War of Independence June 2, 1899 – July 4, 1902



Moro Rebellion

1899–1913



Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Uprising September 28 - August 15, 1900



Occupation of Honduras

1903



Occupation of Cuba

1906



Occupation of Nicaragua

1910



Mexican Revolution

Mexican Expedition or Pancho Villa Expedition April 21, 1914 - June 16, 1919



Occupation of Haiti

Haitian Campaign or Caco War 1915



Occupation of Dominican Republic

Dominican Campaign 1916



World War 1

First World War or Great War 1917–1918



Russian Civil War

1918 - 1920



World War 2

Second World War December 7, 1941 - September 2, 1945



Cold War

1947 - 1991



Lebanon Crisis

Operation Blue Bat July 15 - October 25, 1958



Lebanese Civil War

Multinational Force in Lebanon August 24, 1982 - February 7, 1984



Gulf of Sidra Incident

First Gulf of Sidra Incident August 19, 1981



Action in the Gulf of Cidra

Operation Prairie Fire March 1986



Bombing of Libya

Operation El Dorado Canyon April 15, 1986



Iran - Iraq War

Tanker War 1987 - 1989



Gulf War

Persian Gulf War or Operation Desert Storm August 2, 1990 – February 28, 1991



Somali Civil War

Operation Restore Hope 1992 - 1994



Bosnian War

Operation Deny Flight April 12, 1993 - December 20, 1995 or Operation Deliberate Force August 30, 1995 - September 20, 1995



Operation Uphold Democracy

Haiti 1994



Bombings of Sudan and Afghanistan

Operation Infinite Reach - 1998



Kosovo War

Operation Noble Anvil March 24 – June 10, 1999



War on Terror

October 7, 2001 - ongoing



Second liberian Civil War

2003



Hatian Rebellion

2004



Libyan Civil War

Operation Odyssey Dawn March 19, 2011 - ongoing


I am sure that Alexander The Great, Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan would look on this resume with awe.

A truly amazing statistic is that since WWII the United States has been at peace for 26 Days. Make of that what you will.


Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower, speech, American Society of Newspaper Editors, 16 April 1953

reply to post by Utopian


You have made a very good point in your thread and I agree that war is the most counter-productive act that humans engage in. One would think that maybe we should consider replacing the War Dept. with a much more life sustaining Dept. Of Peace. War Sucks!

Originally posted by Utopian

It could be argued that the United States Of America is the most successful war machine in human history.

There really isn't much of an argument to dispute this. It is dead on accurate as far as I have seen.

Do you believe firstly that it is the USA's responsibility to be liberating anyone.

No.

And secondly is the cost (all that bloodshed) worth the reward.

This may sound selfish, or possibly even egotistical, but it is just honesty. That cost, is not something that I have paid. The only bloodshed that I have seen is on TV, but the war images from the MSM news sources, are rather calm in comparison to the excitement that we can see in the movies.

YES!!!!! At least we're still #1 at something...

everything for enforcing their peace to the world.

There are many nations that have had a continuous policy of war and the Roman Empire comes to mind right off the bat. I don't recall a time in their history when they were never at war with somebody and at their hey-dey they controlled a vast empire so it could be argued they had the most effective war-machine ever.

Briton could also be ranked up there as they, throughout history, were often running multiple campaigns throughout the world. Spain and France both have long historys of conflicts throughout the globe also and if you wanted to bring ancient history into this we could go into feudal Japan or China's empires. Heck we could even bring in Native American cultures especially the South American ones that lasted far longer than America has been around and were conquerors of their known world.

I would have to give the title of greatest war machine ever to the Nazi's in world war 2. They did not last long but what they put out was tremendous in effort. They turned their entire society into one vast cauldren of war producing factories and created a huge army vastly superior to anything at the time that was well trained and absolutely crushed anything they went after in the beginning of the war.

Ghengis Khan could also be up there with his blitz style campaigns that simply overwhelmed any opponent he ran across and do not forget Alexander the Great who was probably the best military leader the human race ever put out. He went to war simply to go to war and he went wherever he pleased.

reply to post by Utopian


I think this sums it up pretty well... George Carlin at his best!

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

Just thought I would leave a few quotes here...

"Don't look for a conspiracy when incompetence will explain the situation."

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
-John Stuart Mill

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." -Benjamin Franklin

One of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for independence.-Charles Austin Beard


Well the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant but that they know so much that isn’t so. -Ronald Reagan-

"Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views"
William F. Buckley Jr.

Don't think I like war, I don't. Not in the least. I could sit here and defend America's actions on 70 to 80% of these wars, but I don't think you would get it still. Are we perfect? Hell no. Freedom is the best chance man has for figuring out how to live WITH each other. But usually, some dumbass has to "show" the big kid on the block that "their" way is better. Whatever dood.

I love what america stands for. That doesn't mean we get it right everytime.