Wednesday, January 22, 2014

America Has Gone To War 240 Times In 237 Years


A staggering statistic on history's most warring nation:
During the period from 1798 to 2012 Washington used military force abroad 240 times, more frequently than annually.
The results of this military – aggressive development are impressive. Five percent of the world’s population who are lucky enough to be U.S. citizens consume, according to various estimates, from 25 to 30 percent of the planet’s resources. 
A war-stained history literally dripping with the blood of foreigners:
It all started a long time ago, in 1620, when “Mayflower” ship with 142 settlers on board left the British port of Plymouth, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and on November 11 dropped the first batch of “pilgrims” on the North American coast. Their descendants in the United States today have become a semblance of royal aristocracy in Europe.

Before completing the formation of the government and public institutions, the U.S. began unleashing wars and conflicts, one after another.

Here are the most important ones. 1798-1800 – the war with France, the former ally of the United States in the fight for independence. As a result, some North American colonies of France went under the control of the United States, which was the prelude to their accession later.

The next full-scale war, the first Tripoli or Barbary war, the one that the United States fought in the Mediterranean with Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania (modern Libya) ten thousand miles away from its borders, predetermined the wars of the 20-21stcentury in the same region. This war can safely be called the first war of the policy of “big stick” under which Washington, disregarding the rules of the international law, advanced or protected its economic interests. The reason for the war was the demand of Arab States that a tribute be paid to Tripoli for the use of the trade routes in the Mediterranean.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the United States fought with the British, Mexican, Japanese, Nicaragua, Hawaii, and the Philippines, not to mention dozens of local military operations. As a result, the territories of modern states of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah were conquered. Protectorate was established over Hawaii, the U.S. military government was introduced in Cuba, and a colonial regime established in the Philippines.
In the twentieth century, the aggressive U.S. operations have become even more widespread.

U.S. soldiers fought in China (1925), Korea (1950), again in China (1958), and Lebanon (1958). The biggest defeat in the history of the United States was suffered in Vietnam, where 60,000 people were killed and over 300,000 wounded. After the war, about 100,000 of its veterans committed suicide. In parallel, Americans conducted armed operations in Latin America – Panama, Brazil (overthrow of the legally elected President Joao Goulart in 1964) , Cuba, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and Chile. Africa was not forgotten either, and in 1960, the U.S. organized a coup during which dictator Mobutu came to power, and the legally elected Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was killed.

Recent achievements of the U.S. foreign policy are fresh in memory – from the bombing of sovereign Yugoslavia to the completely illegal invasion of Iraq, the war in Afghanistan and the defeat of Libya

The formula for economic prosperity and model democracy is simple: attack and rob.

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And the end result? The United States has military bases and special forces deployed in all these countries across the globe:


More on these deployments from Mother Jones.