How many countries have we invaded since WWII?

[Reason]

~~edited~~

How many countries have we invaded since WWII?

How much money have we spent on "war" since WWII?

How many have died in "warfare" since WWII?

I need help finding numbers and data for these questions for a short paper I am writing real quick.

This paper has the potential to influence the impressionable minds of about 30 or so 20 year olds.

TY

[RedStripe]

http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations

Short answer: a lot

We r a bad country

[oyarde]

There is a website called History of U.S. Military intervention that lists everything from 1890 to present in chronological order.

[oyarde]

Deaths in Korea and Nam about 55,000 each off the top of my head , Near 7000 in Iraq and Afghanistan without checking.

[Reason]

Do you guys think this sentence is over the "line"?

"Reasonable people can certainly disagree with each other when it comes to what our foreign policy should and should not be, yet this “reasonable disagreement” seems to have flown itself into building or two since 9/11."

[oyarde]

How many countries have we invaded since WWII?

How much money have we spent on "war" since WWII?

How many have died in "warfare" since WWII?

I need help finding numbers and data for these questions for a short paper I am writing real quick.

This paper has the potential to influence the impressionable minds of about 30 or so 20 year olds.

TY

Good Luck , I hope they pay attention . Maybe print off a nice grusome photo for them to look at while you give your presentation. Nobody can imagine what it is like without doing it , but some photos will help.

[oyarde]

Do you guys think this sentence is over the "line"?

"Reasonable people can certainly disagree with each other when it comes to what our foreign policy should and should not be, yet this “reasonable disagreement” seems to have flown itself into building or two since 9/11."

I do not know what to suggest on that . Not sure we were always too reasonable all the time before 9 /11 .

[heavenlyboy34]

OP: do you mean in an "official" capacity or do you include covert ops/coups?

[heavenlyboy34]

http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations

Short answer: a lot

We r a bad country

more accurately, We have a bad government

[RedStripe]

more accurately, We have a bad government

there's a relationship between the two, but yeah

[QueenB4Liberty]

there's a relationship between the two, but yeah

Yup, the people vote in the government.

[Reason]

OP: do you mean in an "official" capacity or do you include covert ops/coups?

Unfortunately this is a topical 1 page presentation so I am trying my hardest to cram as much into this single page as possible.

Basically I am just trying to make this as much of a logical punch to the throat as possible to wake some people up and make them want more from me that hopefully I will be able to give throughout the semester.

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Hope-C-I-Interventions-II-Updated/dp/1567512526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283220105&sr=8-1


I recommend this book :p

http://killinghope.org/

[Reason]

Can anyone find that quote of Osama talking about how he wanted to drag the US into a never ending war in Afghanistan to facilitate our going bankrupt.

[oyarde]

Intervened in some manner ; Vietnam , Guatemala , Iran Egypt , Lebanon , Iraq , Taiwan ( China) , Panama , Cuba , Germany (Berlin) , Laos , Panama , Indonesia , Dominican Republic , Cambodia , Oman , Chile , Angola , Libya , El Salvador , Grenada ( Cuba) , Bolivia , , Phillipines , Liberia , Iraq / Kuwait / Saudi Arabia , Somalia , Yugoslavia , Bosnia , Haiti , Zaire , Albania , Sudan . That is 1953 - 1997

[Reason]

edited

[Matt Collins]

Who is "we"???

I haven't invaded anything with anyone. The US federal government on the other hand has.

[Reason]

Who is "we"???

I haven't invaded anything with anyone. The US federal government on the other hand has.

I have had that discussion a few times and I usually end up pointing out that if Americans took more responsibility for what their govt. does they wouldn't be able to brush off the horrific actions so easily.

Something along the lines of the German citizens that hung out at home while Jews were massacred a quarter mile away outside and then said "oh... well we didn't actually round them up or shoot them! we are innocent!"

[RedStripe]

http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Hope-C-I-Interventions-II-Updated/dp/1567512526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283220105&sr=8-1


I recommend this book :p

http://killinghope.org/

Sweet, thanks for the link. I wonder if the public library has it. lolz

[Reason]

edited

[sofia]

Can anyone find that quote of Osama talking about how he wanted to drag the US into a never ending war in Afghanistan to facilitate our going bankrupt.

Osama never said any such thing. The CIA and MOSSAD are known to put words in peoples mouths.

But Osama DID say this in an AUTHENTIC interview:

I have already said that we are against the American system, not against its people, whereas in these attacks, the common American people have been killed. According to my information, the death toll is much higher than what the U.S. Government has stated. But the Bush Administration does not want the panic to spread. The United States should try to trace the perpetrators of these attacks within itself; the people who are a part of the U.S. system, but are dissenting against it.

Ummat Interviews Usamah Bin-Ladin
28 September 2001

Bin-Ladin Denies Involvement in the 9/11 Attacks
http://911review.com/articles/usamah/khilafah.html

[oyarde]

OP , The best thing you could do is form a study group one hour a week and look at the history of these interventions together and let people make up minds after reviewing all the facts. Guatemala would be something worthwile to look at.

[Matt Collins]

I have had that discussion a few times and I usually end up pointing out that if Americans took more responsibility for what their govt. does they wouldn't be able to brush off the horrific actions so easily.Very true. Not as an excuse but as an explanation, the government has made it very difficult for the People to be involved, and has also given them little interest in doing so.



Something along the lines of the German citizens that hung out at home while Jews were massacred a quarter mile away outside and then said "oh... well we didn't actually round them up or shoot them! we are innocent!"Except that the government was (and is) more powerful than the People.

[Jace]

I have had that discussion a few times and I usually end up pointing out that if Americans took more responsibility for what their govt. does they wouldn't be able to brush off the horrific actions so easily.

Something along the lines of the German citizens that hung out at home while Jews were massacred a quarter mile away outside and then said "oh... well we didn't actually round them up or shoot them! we are innocent!"

So German citizens a quarter mile away were guilty for what the SS did? I guess this justifies firebombing German women and children, right? What about your everday British citizen? Is he guilty for all the numerous genocides of the British Empire? Or how about the Russian working man? Is he guilty for the gulags, tortures, invasions and genocides of the Soviet Union?

It is my firm belief that your average American is non-interventionist at heart. The establishment in this country is terrified of a return of American "isolationism." The Project For A New American Century warned that with the end of the Cold War, Americans might abandon their internationalist burdens and revert to their "isolationist" ways, barring some "Pearl Harbor-type catalyzing event."

Americans are sick of war. I hear this all the time, from people on the left and the right.

Unlike your average British subject who longs for the lost glory of the British Empire, and who was OK with invading and looting and committing genocide in every country on the planet as long as it was done in the name of the Queen, Americans have always had a strong tendency to ignore what's going on overseas, going back to George Washington.

It takes a USS Maine, a Zimmermann Telegram, Lusitania, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, anthrax letters, etc. to get the American people worked up enough to go along with an attack on a foreign nation. It's the American press that lays the groundwork for all this. The NY Times has been one the biggest warmongering offenders since the Zimmermann Telegram. The press paints its enemies as evil, then the incident comes and the people are angry and afraid and they go along with sending their children to kill and die. Works every time.

Today, the powers that be want to destroy Iran. The media is laying the groundwork with a negative story every other day about the evil Iranians. But we know that an attack on Iran won't come out of the blue because Americans will be outraged. We have had enough. To get us to accept it, it's going to take a catalyzing event, just like it always has. I think a lot of us on here are paranoid about this because we know history.

Remember, when George W. Bush was first elected, he was ridiculed by the press for being ambivalent to America's internationalist mission. Bush couldn't find Botswana on a map, let alone name its prime minister. In early 2001, Tony Blair committed himself to convincing Bush not to back away from America's internationalist obligations. Then 9/11 happened and the media and all the think tank whores convinced Bush he was FDR.

Obama is an internationalist in the mold of Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Harry Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson. Those progressives brought us conscription, foreign wars and waves of blood. And the press loves them.

We just have to get Americans to understand that there aren't Hitlers under every rock that are going to take our freedoms away and make us all speak German. We have to remind them that non-interventionism is the American way, not internationalism. We are perfectly capable of defending ourselves without invading countries on the other side of the world, but we are engaged in a propaganda war against the press that has convinced the average American that "isolationism" is some deadly sin that results in Nazis putting Jews in gas chambers and turning them into lampshades and soap, which we should all feel responsible for. Never mind that we allied with Stalin, who invaded Poland alongside Hitler, and who committed genocide against Christians, which was every bit as heinous as what Hitler did.

Non-interventionism is as American as apple pie, but it's difficult to convince people of that after 69 years of intense propaganda that has transformed traditional American non-interventionism into "isolationism," which Americans have been trained to recoil from as if it is a bad word.

[Reason]

Rough draft...

Thoughts?

*I will delete this later so please don't quote it*

A deeply held belief that I hold is the belief that our country should adopt a more non-interventionist foreign policy. There is a vast multitude of reasons for why I hold this belief, so I will quickly touch upon the the reasons I see as the most important. The United States has had a long history of interventionism throughout its short life and it seems to be on an exponentially expanding path of self destruction at this very moment. Since the end of the last world war we have invaded countless countries, spent billions of dollars, and sent thousands upon thousands of young Americans just like you and me, to their early, shallow graves. Now, before your indoctrinated sub-conscious injects the “but, we're making the world a better place, or we're fighting for freedom” phrases of critical thinking antidote into your conscious; ask yourself this question, “do I know what the term blow-back is?” Reasonable people can certainly disagree with each other when it comes to what our foreign policy should and should not be, yet this “reasonable disagreement” seems to have flown itself into a building or two since 9/11. Anyone even remotely immersed in the area of US foreign policy before and during 9/11 is aware that the crimes committed upon that day were revenge for actions the US took in the middle east. The CIA and the 9/11 commission confirmed this publicly, the terrorists announced it, and Mr. Osama himself specifically mentioned three issues; US troops in Saudi Arabia, US sanctions against Iraq, and the US funding of Israeli expansionism. We have now built an embassy larger than the Vatican in Iraq along with 14+ permanent military bases. I will quote congressman Paul when he says “What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico?” I believe that our disturbingly reckless, hawkish policy of bomb first, sort the rest out later is going to follow the time line of the collapse of Rome. Now before someone screams that I hate America, I will top this off with the fact that I signed over my life to the United States Air Force and swore an oath to protect this country many years ago. Yes, there is a difference between isolationism and non-interventionism, and yes there are ways we can go after those who attack us without invading entire continents; however I am out of room for this page so I will leave you with these quotes to think about from Osama himself, “I am glad you are now over on our sand because we can target you so much easier.” Quote, “We will continue this policy of slowly bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy”. I don't know about you but I can think of a few things our billions of dollars could be spent on, and a few things these now dead Americans could have done with their lives instead of bleeding out in the sand of a country where the citizens wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

[Jace]

OK. I reread your original post and I really liked it. I tried to tighten it up a bit. I'm not sure if that is what you wanted. Here's my edit:


A deeply held belief of mine is that our country should adopt a more non-interventionist foreign policy. I have a multitude of reasons for holding this belief, but I will quickly touch upon a few points that I see as most important.
The United States, in its short life, has had a long history of interventionism, which seems to be leading us down a path of self destruction. Since the end of World War II, (the last war was in Iraq, so I think you meant WWII) we have invaded countless countries, spent billions of dollars, and sent thousands upon thousands of young Americans just like you and me, to their early, shallow graves.
(The US has invaded Korea, Guatemala, Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Haiti, Grenada, Panama, Kosovo, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and more. In the past 60 years, over 110,000 Americans have been killed in these interventions, and millions of foreigners have been snuffed out. (This is off the top of my head))
Now, before you interject, “But, we're making the world a better place," or "We're fighting for freedom,” ask yourself this question: “Do I know the meaning of the term blowback?"
(I think you should define blowback here. Maybe quote Chalmers Johnson or Ron Paul.)
Reasonable people can certainly disagree with each other when it comes to what our foreign policy should and should not be, yet “reasonable disagreement” seems to have flown itself into a building or two since 9/11. (Awesome.) Anyone even remotely interested in foreign policy before and after 9/11 is aware that the crimes committed that day were revenge for actions the US has taken in the Middle East. The CIA and the 9/11 Commission confirmed this publicly, the terrorists announced it, and Mr. bin Laden himself specifically mentioned three reasons for the 9/11 attacks: US troops in Saudi Arabia, US sanctions against Iraq, and the US funding of Israeli expansionism.
We have now built an embassy larger than the Vatican in Iraq, along with 14-plus seemingly permanent military bases. I will quote Congressman Ron Paul when he says, “What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico?”
(Maybe this would be a good place to hammer your point home by defining isolationism versus non-interventionism.)
I believe our reckless, hawkish policy of "bomb first, sort the rest out later" has put us on the same timeline as Rome before its collapse. (I tried to tighten this up, but I'm not sure I made it work.) Now, before someone says that I hate America, years ago I signed over my life to the United States Air Force and swore an oath to protect this country. Yes, isolationism and non-interventionism are not the same, and, yes, there are ways we can go after those who attack us without invading and destroying whole countries; however, I am out of room so I will leave you with these quotes, from Osama himself: “I am glad you are now over on our sand because we can target you so much easier.” Quote, “We will continue this policy of slowly bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy.”
I don't know about you but I can think of a few things our billions of dollars could be better spent on, and a few things that now dead Americans could have done with their lives instead of bleeding out in the sand of a country where the citizens wanted nothing more than to be left alone.
(I am a big skeptic on those Osama quotes, but otherwise, I think you make some great points. Let me know if you want me to delete this.)