# No dog in this fight: Biggest Wars that US has Stayed Out of **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428 "2005-04-27T20:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428/41 "2005-04-29T02:51:26Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > In other news, it appears that more than a Single Bullet may have been fired at the JFK motorcade šŸ˜• The [Warren Commission Report](http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/warren_commission/warren_commission_report_chapter1.html#conclusions) _did_ conclude that more than one bullet was fired at the JFK motorcade. In fact, the report says, ā€œThe weight of the evidence indicates that there were three shots fired.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428/42 "2005-04-29T05:18:26Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > What about the Falkland Island war between Argentina and Great Britain? Did the U.S. stay out of that one? Yep, we didnā€™t get involved there. That was when the Brits realized that they couldnā€™t base their strategy on the assumption that weā€™d provide the meat of the fighting force. It was also when they realized that the Harrier could handle itself in air-to-air combat, since it was the only plane capable of it that they could operate from their jump carriers (What do they call those? Deck Cruisers?) On a related note, I heard somewhere that Britain was building itā€™s own supercarrier. Any truth to this? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428/43 "2005-04-29T05:25:33Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > This is reference to the Second Congo War. Itā€™s the ā€œdeadliest conflictā€ since World War II ā€“ not the ā€œbiggest.ā€ But this is a good time to define ā€œbig.ā€ To me, ā€œbigā€ means ā€œlogistics.ā€ _Everything_ about a war involves moving stuff (like troops) from point A to point B and beyond. > > As for why we donā€™t get a lot of coverage for African wars? Iā€™d like to reserve comment until we hear from the Europeans about _their_ common knowledge of African wars. I imagine that weā€™re all very western-centric, and that they donā€™t know a whole lot more about them (in the popular sense) than we United Statesians and Canadians and Mexicans do. No, weā€™re not terribly good at covering Wars Between Black People either. If there were 3,6 million deaths occurring in a war in pretty much any continent, CBC would be there like flies on a meat wagon; as it is, it took my dad to go down and do a documentary, basically by himself and this one other dude for the French service. I mean, we heard about the refugee movements, and UN bickering, and so forth, but we didnā€™t have Peter Mansbridge with exclusive video and eight journalists like we did during the Gulf Wars, the Bosnian war, etc. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428/44 "2005-04-29T05:31:20Z")
As for biggest v. deadliest, I think the fact that it involved [nine neighbouring nations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Congo_War) counts for ā€œbiggestā€ too. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428/45 "2005-04-29T10:54:08Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > Well, if ya canā€™t trust federal government investigative panels, who can ya trust? :dubious: Well, I for one donā€™t want this to become an off-topic subject that belongs in Great Debates, but I will say this once and if you want more start a thread in GD. > [@](#): > > Iā€™d suggest hitting the [survivorsā€™ website](http://www.ussliberty.com/) again. Iā€™d suggest [http://www.libertyincident.com/](http://www.libertyincident.com/), whcih actually deals with facts rather than quotes and emotions. > [@](#): > > The quotes from high-ranking American officials who held office at the time seem to suggest no one was under the impression that the attack was anything other than deliberate all by themselves. A handful of quotes doesnā€™t change the results of the investigations. Every piece of evidence points to it being an accident. To beleive the quotes on the survivors website as well as the more emotional accounts would mean that even the Captain of the ship was invovled in a coverup from the moment bullets were fired. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428/46 "2005-04-29T11:54:38Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > (What do they call those? Deck Cruisers?) I remember seeing this on the UK History channel, Sea Control vessels? Once considered by the US government but strongly resisted by the US Navy. > [@Raguleader](#): > > On a related note, I heard somewhere that Britain was building itā€™s own supercarrier. Any truth to this? The [Queen Elizabeth class](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_Class_aircraft_carrier) carriers. Mr Blair seems to fancy a bit of power projection it would seem šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428/47 "2005-04-29T12:35:26Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > I remember seeing this on the UK History channel, Sea Control vessels? Once considered by the US government but strongly resisted by the US Navy. My interpretation was that we allready had those in the form of the Amphibious Assault Carriers. Basically a very small aircraft carrier sardine-packed with Marines and various waterborne and airborne landing craft and Harrier jumpjets. Really cool just for the hanger for the water-based landing craft it has. [QUOTE The [Queen Elizabeth class] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen\_Elizabeth\_Class\_aircraft\_carrier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_Class_aircraft_carrier)) carriers. Mr Blair seems to fancy a bit of power projection it would seem šŸ˜‰ [/QUOTE] Nifty. You think that in a few years, heā€™ll have us all speaking English again? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428/48 "2005-04-29T20:23:51Z")
> [@Mr. Miskatonic](#): > > Iā€™d suggest [http://www.libertyincident.com/](http://www.libertyincident.com/), whcih actually deals with facts rather than quotes and emotions. The quotes contain or are facts, and I hardly think that the chronological eyewitness accounts of the men on the Liberty constitute ā€œemotion.ā€ One errant attack on the ship seems to plausibly constitute an error. That the attack could continue for _two hours_ suggests otherwise. I donā€™t think anyone is going to change anyone elseā€™s mind by taking this to GD, but I think that tossing out all of the facts presented on a website that won The Top Military History Website in the United States award from the University of Kansas Military History Department is good GQ practice either. I say let the reader contrast and compare, and am content to leave it at that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-dog-in-this-fight-biggest-wars-that-us-has-stayed-out-of/301428.md?page=2)