I'm looking for American-produced stories in which the United States is the villain ...

in an international armed conflict.

By “American-produced,” I mean either written by an American citizen or published by an American company, and preferably both.

I’m specifying international armed conflict because I’m not interested in stories like, oh, Stephen King’s Firestarter*, in which a shadowy government cabal exploits or abuses American citizens on our soil. I want stories in which there’s actual battles (if not all-out war) on foreign soil.

Need I explain villain? Okay, fine. In the story, the US should either be perceived by the protagonist as being the aggressor, or be shown as such by the tone of the narration.

I don’t care if the stories are novels, comic books, movies, television shows, or theatre, or are heroic fantasies or more thoughtful dramas. No comedies, though (I ask in full knowledge that I’ll be ignored if the thread gets legs).

Thoughts, anyone?

Wag the Dog is a movie about starting a war for a presidential political reason. Though you could argue that a party seized the reins of government and used it for its own ends, so it’s arguably a movie about an invisible coup. Long time since I’ve seen it, though …

FYI, if you’re looking for non-fiction, there’s plenty out there about Bush/Cheney and the last Iraq war. There’s also some about Reagan and the invasion of Grenada.

Oops, didn’t read all the OP. WTG is a black comedy.

I am not looking for non-fiction. I’d rather the thread not descend into a Bush-bash or Reagan-roast.

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY probably counts, since the whole point was to explain why Ron Kovic joined Vietnam Veterans Against The War.

I haven’t read it, but the Wikipedia plot description of It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis includes the U.S. turning into a totalitarian state, which eventually leads to an “unjustified invasion of Mexico.”

How about The Last Samurai? While not the villain directly, the US were working with the Japanese emperor Tom Cruise ends up siding against.

Are United States troops actually involved in armed conflict in this story, on the “wrong” side?

I don’t if it would be right to say America is the villain in John Sayle’s Amigo, which is set in the early part of our occupation of the The Philippines. But we’re definitely not the good guys, either.

I’m not sure this is how imperialism works.

And though I’m coming up blank at the moment I’d have to think that there have been many westerns that present the U.S. military as in the wrong during various Indian wars and skirmishes.

Though that would fall to the definition of “international conflict.”

The movie Syriana might qualify. The US isn’t involved in all-out armed conflict, but it is covertly assassinating people and setting off bombs.
Been a while since I saw it, but IIRC…

They arrange the assassination of a progressive ‘Saudi’ Prince, to assure his more oppressive brother ascends to the throne, because the evil brother promised the US more oil.

As far as I can recall, only the emperor’s troops… backed by the US. Tom Cruise’s character was training them.

Dances with Wolves probably counts depending on whether you consider Indian territory in the 1860s to be “foreign soil”.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee …

Avatar count? All the humans spoke with American accents (or at least I don’t recall any who didn’t), even Sam Worthington.

No, America sold the emperor his guns and artillery and provided training for the troops.

I can think of numerous movies in which the US armed forces and/or top military leaders are presented as evil, but not many in which the evil Americans are at war with other countries.

Among the many movies presenting the US military and top generals as evil

The Siege (Bruce Willis as a power-mad general who wants to put all Arabs in concentration camps)

Seven Days in May (Burt Lancaster as power-mad general who wants to stage a coup d’etat)

Outbreak (Donald Sutherland as power-mad general plotting germ warfare)

The Abyss (power-mad Navy SEALs want to slaughter wonderful, peace-loving aquatic race)

The Iron Giant (mean old US military ganging up on poor, innocent robot)

Fail-Safe might qualify, although the conflict there results from error, not conscious aggression.

Going back a bit, the film Gabriel over the White House has a US President turn into a fascist dictator, and eventually use the threat of a superweapon to blackmail the rest of the world into disarming.

The computer game Fallout 2 takes place after a nuclear war. The ultimate villain of the game is the remnants of the US government, who have a plan to eliminate all the “mutants” (ie, everyone who is not them) in the wastelands.