# So What Bad Things Is the USA Up To Today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 22, 2020, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219 "2020-09-22T07:59:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/1 "2020-09-22T07:59:21Z")
As I already said [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-henry-kissinger-do/919181), the US has done some pretty nasty things in the past. But was it only in the past? I know people often talk about American fascism in past tense terms. Like it is a nightmare we would all like to forget. But _is_ it? I mean to say, is there any really bad things _NOW_ that the USA is doing in the world, that we should know about? You don’t hear about it in the news. I don’t at least. I know President Trump said his foreign policy will just focus on US economic interests. That outraged people, I know. But don’t they always? Feel free to post news stories too, if applicable. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/2 "2020-09-22T17:49:32Z")
There’s police brutality. For example, in 2014 Eric Gardner was choked to death by plainclothes police during a warrentless arrest on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes. Our recent treatment of asylum seekers at the southern border comes to mind; keep in mind that the right of asylum is a human right. British resident and former U.S. Army translator Shaker Aamer was abducted by bounty hunters while doing charity work in Afghanistan in 2001, then bought by the U.S. and detained for thirteen years without charge or trial in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He was cleared for release in 2007 and 2009, but was not actually released until 2015. During Donald Trump’s presidency, U.S. airstrikes have [killed](https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR5299522019ENGLISH.PDF) at least nine civilians in Somalia, probably fourteen (including two children). The ATF gunwalking scandal was as recent as Bush/Obama. The Ukraine scandal of last year also comes to mind. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/3 "2020-09-22T17:52:25Z")
Splittings families at the border and throwing kids in jail isn’t enough for you? If not, try to find the article in the Times Sunday magazine two days about an Iranian scientist lured to the US by the FBI who issued him a fake visa and tried on trumped-up charges that were thrown out by the judge. Whereupon he was re-arrested by ICE for using that fake visa and thrown from prison to prison. They wouldn’t let him out because he might flee (yes, all he wanted to do was escape to Iran) when they wanted to deport him. It was a real horror story and it was carried out by your (and, unfortunately my) government. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/4 "2020-09-22T18:00:27Z")
Also there’s [that one time](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/us/politics/trump-suleimani.html) we assassinated the top general of another country which we are not at war with. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/5 "2020-09-23T14:16:26Z")
Thank you for your insightful replies 🙂. I was looking more for foreign policy (and some of you did touch on that–thank you). What are we doing in the Middle East? And South America? Also Canada is often crying foul, that we are encroaching on their national sovereignty. What is _that_ all about? Thank you in advance 🙂. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/6 "2020-09-23T15:28:02Z")
I’m often stricken by our refusal to assist refugees to an extent comparable to so many poorer nations - including refugees from conflicts we played a significant role in creating/exacerbating. Not sure if our refusal to takes steps to reduce climate change fits within your expectations. And our self-centered economic policies have greatly contributed to increased Chinese influence throughout Asia and Africa. The strings attached to that influence are not generally “a good thing.” ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/7 "2020-09-24T05:15:19Z")
Trying to drag the UN into Iran sanctions after the US unilaterally pulled out. Pulling out of the Paris Accords on global warming. Defunding WHO ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/8 "2020-09-24T05:25:29Z")
An Iranian professor, visiting his grown children in the U.S., was locked up in prison in 2017 for years because he wouldn’t spy for the FBI. > **[The Man Who Refused to Spy](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/21/the-man-who-refused-to-spy)** > > The F.B.I. tried to recruit an Iranian scientist as an informant. When he balked, the payback was brutal. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/9 "2020-09-24T16:59:58Z")
Yet another example of the Kafkaesque institution we call Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/10 "2020-10-27T17:09:14Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Also Canada is often crying foul, that we are encroaching on their national sovereignty. What is _that_ all about? That’s probably over who controls the Northwest Passage. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/11 "2020-10-27T20:23:57Z")
More like Canada considers it to be internal waters and the US (and some others) has it as an international strait. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/12 "2020-10-29T20:50:36Z")
Northwest passage is probably going to big in the future. The most recent major squabbles were about fishing rights in the [Straight of Juan de Fuco](https://www.jstor.org/stable/23908773?seq=1). But there are [others](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_areas_disputed_by_Canada_and_the_United_States) as well. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/13 "2020-10-30T09:43:57Z")
Not directly attributable to US state as a national policy, but the love of drugs - especially Cocaine based substances is having an absolutely devastating effect in South America, with areas of some nations being effectively narco-nations. It reaches the very highest levels of nation governance - but its all fuelled by drug money. > **[U.S. Charges Maduro With Narco-Terrorism](https://editorials.voa.gov/a/u-s-charges-maduro-with-narco-terrorism/5363782.html)** > > On March 26, the United States Department of Justice charged Venezuela's former President, Nicolás Maduro, and 14 members of his inner circle with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, and corruption. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/14 "2020-11-03T14:19:16Z")
Are these more what you are looking for? > **[America is likely complicit in war crimes in Yemen. It's time to hold the US...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/03/yemen-airstrikes-saudi-arabia-mbs-us)** > > Saudi-led forces have deliberately targeted civilians since the war’s early days – and US officials have done little to stop it > **[Venezuelans hit hard by international sanctions – DW – 10/01/2019](https://www.dw.com/en/the-human-cost-of-the-us-sanctions-on-venezuela/a-50647399)** > > The US has a total embargo on Venezuela. The EU has imposed new sanctions. The goal is to oust President Nicolas Maduro. But the measures are hitting Venezuelans hard and are likely to kill many people. > **[Silence reigns on the US-backed coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia | Mark...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/18/silence-us-backed-coup-evo-morales-bolivia-american-states)** > > The Organization of American States had a key role in the destruction of the country’s democracy last November, says Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/15 "2020-11-07T01:10:10Z")
during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars we told a lot of natives if they helped the US military we’d give them citizenship here. they put their safety and the safety of their families at risk working with the US. the US then refuses to give them citizenship afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bad-things-is-the-usa-up-to-today/921219/16 "2020-11-07T03:29:55Z")
I suspect the truly heinous shit we’re up to involves poor people from foreign countries. We won’t know about the current shit for 20 years. But it’s for freedom. We’ll be told.