U.S. War Crimes

Great Debates
1

The following is an excerpt from the book “War Crimes, a Report on United States War Crimes Against Iraq” by Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General, and others:

*"The Commission of Inquiry for an International War Crimes Tribunal was initiated by Ramsey Clark and the Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark travelled 2,000 miles through Iraq during a time when the U.S. was running up to 3,000 bombing sorties a day. He first documented the systematic destruction of the civilian infrastructure, a view later confirmed by the UN’s own team of investigators. Tribunal delegates came from 33 countries. International media covered the public Tribunal with 1500 observers packing a hall in New York City to hear evidence of U.S. war crimes. The major U.S. media did not cover the tribunal at all.

Among other findings, the Tribunal found that President Bush ordered the destruction of facilities essential to civilian life and economic productivity throughout Iraq. The United States reports it flew 1110,000 air sorties against Iraq, dropping 88,000 tons of bombs, nearly seven times the equivalent of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. 93% of the bombs were free falling bombs, most dropped from higher than 30,000 feet. Of the remaining 7% of the bombs with electronically guided systems, more than 25% missed their targets, nearly all caused damage primariuly beyond any identifiable target. Most of the targets were civilian facilities."*

During the Gulf War, George Bush Sr. maintained that “smart bombs” and other advanced technology were being used in order to focus on military targets and minimize civilian casulties. If the above findings are correct, the citizens of the U.S. were misled and the operations actually being carried out by the U.S. military bore little resemblence to the speeches and news reports being presented to the public.

Approaching the Afghanistan conflict, we have George Bush, Jr., along with many of the senior staff of advisors during the Gulf War, planning the actions to take place, and giving speeches to the public regarding how they plan to conduct their military operations. I happen to believe in the integrity of the findings of the above War Crimes Tribunal. I also happen to believe that George Bush, Jr. and his senior staff, occupied with many of his father’s key advisors, is very likely to conduct military operations that bear little resemblance to the impressive speeches that have been presented to the public. I would be very interested in hearing the views of other Dopers.

2

It sure sounds like a group with an ax to grind, rather than some official, impartial investigatory commission.

Why do you believe in the integrity of this group, HP? Why should their report be taken seriously?

3

Who?

4

**

Since when was it a war crime to economically cripple the country you’re fighting? If I cripple you economically then you’ll have a hard time buying tanks, bullets, and other objects which might help your war effort. Sounds like a legitimate strategy to me. And all those faculties which were essential to civilian life. Were any of them at all useful to the military effort? What specific war crimes is this tribunal accusing the US of?

[quote]
**
Of the remaining 7% of the bombs with electronically guided systems, more than 25% missed their targets, nearly all caused damage primariuly beyond any identifiable target. Most of the targets were civilian facilities."*

Let’s face it if you start dropping bombs some of them are going to miss. Is this a war crime now?

Marc

5

I’m not really sure the total tonnage of bombs is particularly relevant to anything. (It reminds me a bit of that Timothy McVeigh biography cranked out by a couple of journalists which pointed out that his truck bomb weighed as much as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.) The point would be, where and how were those bombs be used? Yes, most of the bombs the U.S. dropped were unguided old-fashioned bombs dropped from B-52’s. But that doesn’t mean we were necessarily carpet-bombing downtown Baghdad. Carpet-bombing helpless Iraqi farmboys–who also happen to be (probably conscripted) Iraqi soldiers who are dug in way the hell and gone out in the desert–won’t cause many (if any) civilian casualties, and while it does a lot of gruesome things to the poor hapless human beings who are stuck in the Iraqi Army, merely doing gruesome things to enemy soldiers is not and never has been a war crime. The expensive, fancy, laser-guided bombs and cruise missiles were reserved for the targets that were in downtown Baghdad, where getting within a few football fields of the target wasn’t good enough–because the target was a single building in the middle of large city.

No–if we used “smart bombs” on targets in Baghdad, and “dumb bombs” on massed troop formations in the desert, then we were indeed using advanced technology to focus on military targets and minimize civilian casualties. It probably is true that our propaganda focused on pictures of the antiseptic destruction of buildings rather than showing people (even enemy soldiers) being blown to bits, which may have implied–to people who weren’t thinking about it very much–that not only were Allied casualties very low, and not only were we taking pains to minimize civilian casualties, but that somehow we were fighting the war without hurting anybody.

6

Ramsey Clark. Is he a credible spokesperson? Decide for yourself:

http://members.tripod.com/codemage/appeal.htm

7

Please read this. This plan, which clearly laid out what “civilian targets” would be struck, is what I remember George Bush (41) talking about.

I think if you research you will find a “military value” test is used in international war crimes law. Going after “civilian infrastructure” as opposed to civilian residential areas makes a difference.

Some background on your source,here and here.

He seems to like some war criminals. Saddam, for one, who used poison gas on his own people. Where is the outrage?

8

If Clark actually said this, it would be sedition.

This Ramsey Clark War Crimes Tribunal thing has been sitting around on Usenet since time immemorial. The “War Crimes Tribunal” it refers to is not actually part of the UN or the Hague convention or anything else official; it’s a political organization opposed to the United States’s foreign policy, and as such isn’t really a “Tribunal” at all.

Clark detests the U.S. government for firing his sorry ass in the 60’s, when he helped J. Edgar Hoover do a variety of offensive and disgusting things. In 1980 - 21 years ago, 11 years before the Gulf War - he chaired a “Tribunal” in Tehran during the hostage crisis called “Crimes of America.” He advised Qaddafi in 1986 and in 1989 represented Nutbar Supremus Lyndon LaRouche in a mail fraud case. Later he went abroad and claimed that the U.S. was prosecuting LaRouche because LaRouche was a serious threat to topple the government. I swear to God I’m not making this up. Later in 1990, Clark signed on the represent a Stalinist group called the Workers’ World Party which not only opposed everything the U.S. did, but supported Kremlin hardliners who were against the USSR adopting democracy and freedom. Later he supported the Hutu ringleaders of the 1994 Rwanda massacre.

Clark is a liar and a traitor, and can’t be trusted to tell you the correct time. He is, absolutely and without question, the LEAST credible human being involved in international politics today, and maybe ever; he is certainly the worst possible “Expert” you could ever cite to support an argument. There isn’t a war criminal in the world Clark hasn’t personally cuddled up to, which goes a long way towards explaining why he’s forever accusing the U.S. of being war criminals; you always project your faults onto others. If Ramsey Clark supports something, it’s probably something worth destroying.

9

I like it when folks cite Ramsey Clark. I’ve debunked his crap so often that I no longer even feel the need to look at his latest pile of ignorance.

10

Beagle,

I looked up the links you provided on Ramsey Clark, and they certainly do make him sound like a highly questionable source. I appreciate you pointing me to background on Clark of which I had been unaware.

11

My respect for you just went up.

12

I would like to point out that Ramsey Clark is not the only person to have documented the impact of the Gulf War on Iraqi civilians and the Iraqi infrastructure. So far as I know, this is not disputed by anyone, although Americans rarely read about it in mainstream media. What some of you have demonstrated is that 1) as a peace activist Clark feels justified in urging US troops to disobey orders; and 2) that a left-wing alternative publication (The Shadow), about which I know almost nothing, finds Clark’s motives and past on a wide range of issues dubious.

As to #1–I personally don’t advocate that kind of activism; among other problems, I think it’s unfair to the troops. So I would agree that if Ramsey Clark were being cited as on authority on how to deal with troops in time of war, he would represent a very controversial position or tactic.

As to 2–The Shadow seems interesting–but they do not seem a likely publication to disagree with the undisputed fact that the Gulf War (as well as post-Gulf War US policy on Iraq) has been very harsh on Iraqi civilians. Indeed, does anyone here disagree with that fact?

The Shadow doesn’t seem to have published anything on the Gulf War but here’s an excerpt from something not entirely irrelevant.

“Drugs, weapons and money laundering have always been tools of the trade for U.S. clandestine operations abroad. But never in United States history has the importation of cocaine risen so dramatically as it did during the Reagan Administration’s clandestine war against the government of Nicaragua, spear-headed by the “contras,” a group of right-wing expatriate rebels pieced together by the CIA.”

13

Mandelstam, what about the Salon article? Did you read that one? The fact is, Ramsey Clark is a joke. Citing him on US war crimes is like citing Osama bin Ladin. He is a toady of dictators and fascists.

Of course the Gulf War was hard on Iraqi civilians. Their dictator started a war and lost. That’s going to hurt, no matter what. But what about the effects of the embargo? Doesn’t that starve thousands of Iraqi children? Um, no. We allow shipments of food and medicine to Iraq. But the trouble is, that food and medicine never gets to the people. The dictatorship is smuggling food OUT of Iraq, to sell. Every person in Iraq who is starving is a victim of the Iraqi dictatorship.

It is simply not true that the US and our allies are not allowing food to enter Iraq.

14

Lemur, allow me further to clarify lest my relation to the OP not be misunderstood. I have no investment in Ramsey Clark. (Nor for that matter do I care to weigh in on the question of whether certain acts do or don’t qualify as “war crimes.”) My point was only that the excerpt posted by Hairy more or less tallies with an account of the impact of Gulf War that is not, so far as I know, in dispute. If I saw E=mc 2 posted on this message board I would recognize it as part of the theory of relativity whether it was posted by Einstein himself or by an escaped lunatic.

You seem to take for granted that it’s ethical to harm the Iraqi people so severely b/c “their dictator” started a war. Some, however would counter that the alleged point of the Gulf War was to get Saddam out of Kuwait, and not to punish the Iraqi people for the actions of a leader over whom they–as you seem to recognize–have no control.

From a purely pragmatic perspective, one has to ask, what was achieved?

As to your allegations with regard to the sanctions on Iraq, you’re going to have provide a source for that.

15

re: US war crimes

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11463

America’s Terrorist Roots
<author’s name deleted>, WorkingForChange.com
September 11, 2001

“Throughout the world, on any given day, a man, woman, or child is likely to be displaced, tortured, killed, or ‘disappeared’, at the hands of governments or armed political groups. More often than not, the United States shares the blame.” – Amnesty International, 1996
…

As people recoil in horror at what is undeniably, well, a horror and tragedy, and as the U.S. undoubtedly starts to mount retaliatory attacks, here are a few brief reminders of how we got here.
…

Yesterday, Henry Kissinger was facing accusations…of being a war criminal. He’s not alone. Here’s a short list of additional recent American war criminals-- essentially the American leaders of the last decades:

William Clinton, former President, for 78 days and nights of bombing the civilians of Yugoslavia (carried out by U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark under NATO auspices); continuation of sanctions and rocket attacks upon the people of Iraq; and illegal bombings of Somalia, Bosnia, Sudan, and Afghanistan. Gen. Colin Powell, Secretary of State, for his leading role in the attacks on Panama, Iraq, and covering up My Lai.

George Bush, former President, for the murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and thousands of Panamanian civilians (along with kidnapping the country’s leader, a former CIA protégé).Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, former Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command, for his role in attacking Iraqi civilians.

Ronald Reagan, former President, for illegal attacks on El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Grenada, and Libya.

Elliot Abrams, former Assistant Secretary of State (and back in the new Bush Administration), for overseeing much of the death and fascism in Central America. Also Casper Weinberger, Secretary of Defense; Lt. Col.Oliver North; and many others.

Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State: Chile, Vietnam, East Timor, Angola, Iraq, and Cambodia.

Gerald Ford, former President, for giving approval to Indonesia for the genocide of East Timor.

And on, back through the war in Southeast Asia. “War criminal” means just that–inflicting a level of carnage barbaric and unacceptable even in time of war. It does not even begin to touch the many regimes – today, Israel comes to mind – that the U.S. has supported, armed, advised, and even installed, who have inflicted horrors on their own populations.

This is a day of complete horror in the history of the United States; and the American public as well as its leaders will demand retribution. Let’s not forget, however, how we got to this day.

16

**
Right. I just wanted to make sure that no one took Clark seriously, and I in no way wanted to imply that you do. And of course sometimes Clark must say something true, if only via the law of large numbers.

**
Yes, but how are you going to get the Iraqi military to abandon the invasion of Kuwait without using military force? When we attacked Japan and Germany we had to attack their soldiers and infrastructure. It doesn’t matter that perhaps most of the enemy soldiers we shot at were not responsible for the actions of their government.

Shooting soldiers and dropping bombs are NOT war crimes. Engaging in wars that you disagree with is NOT a war crime. You seem to imply that prosecuting a war is by definition a war crime. But that is not true. War != to war crime. Fighting the Iraqi army was not a war crime, so stop pretending it was. Destroying Iraqi infrastructure, even though that destruction had a high probability of killing civilians was not a war crime, so stop pretending that it was.

You are certainly free to believe that it was wrong. You are certainly free to believe that it was a mistake. But it was not a war crime.

Well, The Iraqi army was removed from Kuwait, and the status quo ante was restored. And given that this was the stated goal of the war, then it was successful, no? You and I know that the coalition probably couldn’t have survived an invasion of Kuwait designed to occupy Baghdad and topple Hussein.

Here’s a source from the New Republic about the myths of the sanctions:
http://www.thenewrepublic.com/061801/rubin061801.html

I admit that in my searches I was shocked by how completely the leftists have fallen for Saddam’s lies.

It is not a myth that the Iraqi people suffer. But they suffer because it is useful to Saddam Hussein that they suffer. We allow Iraq to buy food and medicine in exchange for oil. There is no need for starvation in Iraq.

17

This thread is heading in the direction of another thread:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=87848&pagenumber=2

check it out for a vigorous discussion of the crediblity (or lack thereof, depending on your persuasion) of the “U.S. is a war criminal” issue.

18

…do you think that the United States needed to oppose the Soviets lebensraum plans anywhere in the world? If so, where?

Have you heard of the The Warsaw Pact, Fulda Gap, Stalin, The Iron Curtain, or the Killing Fields? Or, do you just take lists of countries we supposedly attacked for no reason on faith from biased, admittedly communist, sources? Geov Parrish is a communist, BTW. Sad fact, even most once communist countries have given up on it. Geov is a little behind.

You named so many different U.S. interventions, I thought I would give you a center left (as compared to your source anyway) viewpoint of what actually happened in many of them here.

There are so many unsubstantiated claims in what you posted I will just mention two. “Bombing of civilians in Yugoslavia.” Sure, some civilians were bombed, but we were bombing to protect those civilians, and hitting them was accidental. If we made a mistake, it was not involving ground troops to oppose the real war criminal. I opposed that intervention, but my reasoning was that we would involve Russia and end up in WWIII. I was wrong, whew!

Somalia, ah, it was to feed the people of Somalia, a UN operation, and our troops were attacked by militias in part supported by, guess who? Osama Bin Laden. Is bombing in self defense, on a food mission, OK? Apparently not, according to Geov the communist.

I would get carpal tunnel syndrome pointing out all the half truths. Is it only a war crime if the United States does it? It sure sounds like it.

You are obviously opposed to war generally, fine. Not practical or realistic, but your right. There are laws, treaties, and conventions laying out ACTUAL war crimes, not assuming ALL wars are crimes. To me, that is cheating in the debate. U.S. War Crimes? Yes, every war, ever.

Something really strange, why did Geov not mention our bombing of Dresden in WWII, that would have been one of his best arguments. Oh yeah, we were WITH the communists in that one, bombing fascists. Not a war crime then, even if it was not a military target, which it wasn’t. sigh

19

A German WWII era term, meaning “living space.” Very similar to the communist belief that once the capitalists were wiped out, THEN communism would work. The Germans just needed a little “elbow room.” Of course, Hitler conquered practically all of Western Europe.

Warsaw Pact: involuntary alliance of communist countries in Eastern Europe with Soviet puppet governments.

Fulda Gap: where the Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces were once planning to drive their thousands of tanks into Western Europe.

Stalin: Killed tens of millions of his own people in the Soviet Union, not to mention what he did elsewhere.

Iron Curtain: Winston Churchill invented this term referring to the conquering of Eastern Europe by the Soviets. “An Iron Curtain has descended…”

Killing Fields: mass murder (of millions) in Cambodia after the United States left Southeast Asia, and it fell into communist hands.

Geov calls his particular brand of communism “anarchy.” Wonder why?, Couldn’t be because communism is largely discredited as a system. So, he is not really an “admitted communist.” In this an admitted communist says Geov does more to get the “slogans” out than they do. (emphasis theirs) He nitpicks that Geov is really a social-democrat. Whatever. So I guess Geov is a lying, communistic, social-democratic anarchist.

Add a question mark in the Dresden sentence. OK, all better now.

20

Beagle, you make some good points and probably know more about this topic than me. However, the US has been involved in a lot of questionable military activities and wars in the last 100 years or so. Some are on this list:

From: Z. G. <mtn@igc.org>

PLEASE CIRCULATE

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A CENTURY OF U.S. MILITARY INTERVENTIONS:
From Wounded Knee to Afghanistan

Compiled by Z. G. (revised 09/20/01)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The following is a partial list of U.S. military interventions from 1890 to 2001. This guide does NOT include:
*Demonstration duty by military police
*Mobilizations of the National Guard
*Offshore shows of naval strength
*Reinforcements of embassy personnel
*The use of non-Defense Department personnel (such as the DEA)
*Military exercises
*Non-combat mobilizations
*The permanent stationing of armed forces
*Covert actions where the U.S. did not play a command and control role
*The use of small hostage rescue units
*Most uses of proxy troops
*U.S. piloting of foreign warplanes
*Covert operations not directly involving the Dep’t of Defense
*Foreign disaster assistance
*Military training and advisory programs not involving direct combat
*Civic action programs and many other military activities.

Among sources used, besides news reports, are the Congressional Record (23 June 1969), 180 Landings by the U.S. Marine Corps History Division, Ege &
Makhijani in Counterspy (July-Aug. 1982), and Daniel Ellsberg in Protest & Survive. “Instances of Use of United States Forces Abroad, 1798-1993” by Ellen C.
Collier of the Library of Congress Congressional Research Service.

SOUTH DAKOTA
1890 (-?)
Troops
300 Lakota Indians massacred at Wounded Knee.

ARGENTINA
1890
Troops
Buenos Aires interests protected.

CHILE
1891
Troops
Marines clash with nationalist rebels.

HAITI
1891
Troops
Black workers revolt on U.S.-claimed Navassa Island defeated.

IDAHO
1892
Troops
Army suppresses silver miners’ strike.

HAWAII
1893 (-?)
Naval, troops
Independent kingdom overthrown, annexed.

CHICAGO
1894
Troops
Breaking of rail strike, 34 killed.

NICARAGUA
1894
Troops
Month-long occupation of Bluefields.

CHINA
1894-95
Naval, troops
Marines land in Sino-Japanese War.

KOREA
1894-96
Troops
Marines kept in Seoul during war.

PANAMA
1895
Troops, naval
Marines land in Colombian province.

NICARAGUA
1896
Troops
Marines land in port of Corinto.

CHINA
1898-1900
Troops
Boxer Rebellion fought by foreign armies.

PHILIPPINES
1898-1910(-?)
Naval, troops
Seized from Spain, killed 600,000 Filipinos.

CUBA
1898-1902(-?)
Naval, troops
Seized from Spain, still hold Navy base.

PUERTO RICO
1898(-?)
Naval, troops
Seized from Spain, occupation continues.

GUAM
1898(-?)
Naval, troops
Seized from Spain, still use as base.

MINNESOTA
1898(-?)
Troops
Army battles Chippewa at Leech Lake.

NICARAGUA
1898
Troops
Marines land at port of San Juan del Sur.

SAMOA
1899(-?)
Troops
Battle over succession to throne.

NICARAGUA
1899
Troops
Marines land at port of Bluefields.

IDAHO
1899-1901
Troops
Army occupies Coeur d’Alene mining region.

OKLAHOMA
1901
Troops
Army battles Creek Indian revolt.

PANAMA
1901-14
Naval, troops
Broke off from Colombia 1903, annexed Canal Zone 1914-99.

HONDURAS
1903
Troops
Marines intervene in revolution.

DOMINICAN REP.
1903-04
Troops
U.S. interests protected in Revolution.

KOREA
1904-05
Troops
Marines land in Russo-Japanese War.

CUBA
1906-09
Troops
Marines land in democratic election.

NICARAGUA
1907
Troops
“Dollar Diplomacy” protectorate set up.

HONDURAS
1907
Troops
Marines land during war with Nicaragua.

PANAMA
1908
Troops
Marines intervene in election contest.

NICARAGUA
1910
Troops
Marines land in Bluefields and Corinto.

HONDURAS
1911
Troops
U.S. interests protected in civil war.

CHINA
1911-41
Naval, troops
Continuous occupation with flare-ups.

CUBA
1912
Troops
U.S. interests protected in Havanna.

PANAMA
19l2
Troops
Marines land during heated election.

HONDURAS
19l2
Troops
Marines protect U.S. economic interests.

NICARAGUA
1912-33
Troops, bombing
20-year occupation, fought guerrillas.

MEXICO
19l3
Naval
Americans evacuated during revolution.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
1914
Naval
Fight with rebels over Santo Domingo.

COLORADO
1914
Troops
Breaking of miners’ strike by Army.

MEXICO
1914-18
Naval, troops
Series of interventions against nationalists.

HAITI
1914-34
Troops, bombing
19-year occupation after revolts.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
1916-24
Troops
8-year Marine occupation.

CUBA
1917-33
Troops
Military occupation, economic protectorate.

WORLD WAR I
19l7-18
Naval, troops
Ships sunk, fought Germany

RUSSIA
1918-22
Naval, troops
Five landings to fight Bolsheviks.
PANAMA
1918-20
Troops
“Police duty” during unrest after elections.

YUGOSLAVIA
1919
Troops
Marines intervene for Italy against Serbs in Dalmatia.

HONDURAS
1919
Troops
Marines land during election campaign.

GUATEMALA
1920
Troops
2-week intervention against unionists.

WEST VIRGINIA
1920-21
Troops, bombing
Army intervenes against mineworkers.

TURKEY
1922
Troops
Fought nationalists in Smyrna (Izmir).

CHINA
1922-27
Naval, troops
Deployment during nationalist revolt.

HONDURAS
1924-25
Troops
Landed twice during election strife.

PANAMA
1925
Troops
Marines suppress general strike.

CHINA
1927-34
Troops
Marines stationed throughout the country.

EL SALVADOR
1932
Naval
Warships sent during Farabundo Marti revolt.

WASHINGTON DC
1932
Troops
Army stops WWI vet bonus protest.

WORLD WAR II
1941-45
Naval,troops, bombing, nuclear
Fought Axis for 3 years; Over 200,000 civilian casualties in 1st nuclear strikes.

DETROIT
1943
Troops
Army puts down Black rebellion.

IRAN
1946
Nuclear threat
Soviet troops told to leave north (Iranian Azerbaijan).

YUGOSLAVIA
1946
Naval
Response to shooting-down of U.S. plane.

URUGUAY
1947
Nuclear threat
Bombers deployed as show of strength.

GREECE
1947-49
Command operation
U.S. directs extreme-right in civil war.

CHINA
1948-49
Troops
Marines evacuate Americans before Communist victory.

GERMANY
1948
Nuclear threat
Atomic-capable bombers guard Berlin Airlift.

PHILIPPINES
1948-54
Command operation
CIA directs war against Huk Rebellion.

PUERTO RICO
1950
Command operation
Independence rebellion crushed in Ponce.

KOREA
1950-53
Troops, naval, bombing, nuclear threats
U.S.& South Korea fight China & North Korea to stalemate;
A-bomb threat in 1950, & vs. China in 1953. Still have bases.

IRAN
1953
Command operation
CIA overthrows democracy, installs Shah.

VIETNAM
1954
Nuclear threat
Bombs offered to French to use against siege.

GUATEMALA
1954
Command operation, bombing, nuclear threat CIA directs exile invasion after new gov’t nationalizes U.S. company lands; bombers based in Nicaragua.

EGYPT
1956
Nuclear threat, troops
Soviets told to keep out of Suez crisis; marines evacuate foreigners

LEBANON
1958
Troops, naval
Marine occupation against rebels.

IRAQ
1958
Nuclear threat
Iraq warned against invading Kuwait.

CHINA
1958
Nuclear threat
China told not to move on Taiwan isles.

PANAMA
1958
Troops
Flag protests erupt into confrontation.

VIETNAM
1960-75
Troops, naval, bombing, nuclear threats Fought South Vietnam revolt &
North Vietnam; 1-2 million killed in longest U.S. war; atomic bomb threats in 1968 and 1969.

CUBA
1961
Command operation CIA-directed exile invasion fails.

GERMANY
1961
Nuclear threat Alert during Berlin Wall crisis.

CUBA
1962
Nuclear threat
Naval
Blockade during missile crisis; near-war with USSR.

LAOS
1962
Command operation
Military buildup during guerrilla war.

PANAMA
1964
Troops
Panamanians shot for urging canal’s return.

INDONESIA
1965
Command operation Million killed in CIA-assisted army coup.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
1965-66
Troops, bombing Marines land during election campaign.

GUATEMALA
1966-67
Command operation Green Berets intervene against rebels.

DETROIT
1967
Troops
Army battles Blacks, 43 killed.

UNITED STATES
1968
Troops
After King is shot; over 21,000 soldiers in cities.

CAMBODIA
1969-75
Bombing, troops, naval Up to 2 million killed in decade of bombing, starvation, and political chaos.

OMAN
1970
Command operation U.S. directs Iranian marine invasion.

LAOS
1971-73
Command operation, bombing U.S. directs South Vietnamese invasion; “carpet-bombs” countryside.

SOUTH DAKOTA
1973
Command operation Army directs Wounded Knee siege of Lakotas.

MIDEAST
1973
Nuclear threat World-wide alert during Mideast War.

CHILE
1973
Command operation CIA-backed coup ousts elected marxist president.

CAMBODIA
1975
Troops, bombing Gas captured ship, 28 die in copter crash.

ANGOLA
1976-92
Command operation CIA assists South African-backed rebels.

IRAN
1980
Troops, nuclear threat, aborted bombing Raid to rescue Embassy hostages;
8 troops die in copter-plane crash. Soviets warned not to get involved in revolution.

LIBYA
1981
Naval jets Two Libyan jets shot down in maneuvers.

EL SALVADOR
1981-92
Command operation, troop advisors, overflights aid anti-rebel war,
soldiers briefly involved in hostage clash.

NICARAGUA
1981-90
Command operation, naval CIA directs exile (Contra) invasions, plants
harbor mines against revolution.

LEBANON
1982-84
Naval, bombing, troops Marines expel PLO and back Phalangists, Navy
bombs and shells Muslim and Syrian positions.

HONDURAS
1983-89
Troops
Maneuvers help build bases near borders.

GRENADA
1983-84
Troops, bombing invasion four years after revolution.

IRAN
1984
Jets
Two Iranian jets shot down over Persian Gulf.

LIBYA
1986
Bombing, naval Air strikes to topple nationalist gov’t.

BOLIVIA
1986
Troops Army assists raids on cocaine region.

IRAN
1987-88
Naval, bombing US intervenes on side of Iraq in war.

LIBYA
1989
Naval jets Two Libyan jets shot down.

VIRGIN ISLANDS
1989
Troops
St. Croix Black unrest after storm.

PHILIPPINES
1989
Jets
Air cover provided for government against coup.

PANAMA
1989-90
Troops, bombing
Nationalist government ousted by 27,000 soldiers, leaders arrested, 2000+ killed.

LIBERIA
1990
Troops
Foreigners evacuated during civil war.

SAUDI ARABIA
1990-91
Troops, jets
Iraq countered after invading Kuwait; 540,000 troops also stationed in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Israel.

IRAQ
1990-?
Bombing, troops, naval Blockade of Iraqi and Jordanian ports, air strikes;
200,000+ killed in invasion of Iraq and Kuwait; no-fly zone over Kurdish north, Shiite south, large-scale destruction of Iraqi military.

KUWAIT
1991
Naval, bombing, troops Kuwait royal family returned to throne.

LOS ANGELES
1992
Troops
Army, Marines deployed against anti-police uprising.

SOMALIA
1992-94
Troops, naval, bombing U.S.-led United Nations occupation during civil
war; raids against one Mogadishu faction.

YUGOSLAVIA
1992-94
Naval
Nato blockade of Serbia and Montenegro.

BOSNIA
1993-95
Jets, bombing No-fly zone patrolled in civil war; downed jets, bombed Serbs.

HAITI
1994-96
Troops, naval
Blockade against military government; troops restore President Aristide to office three years after coup.

CROATIA
1995
Bombing
Krajina Serb airfields attacked before Croatian offensive.

ZAIRE (CONGO)
1996-97
Troops
Marines at Rwandan Hutu refuge camps, in area where Congo revolution begins.

LIBERIA
1997
Troops
Soldiers under fire during evacuation of foreigners.

ALBANIA
1997
Troops
Soldiers under fire during evacuation of foreigners.

SUDAN
1998
Missiles
Attack on pharmaceutical plant alleged to be “terrorist” nerve gas plant. Over 30, 000 civilian casualties. US blocks UN war-crimes inquiry at the security council.

AFGHANISTAN
1998
Missiles
Attack on former CIA training camps used by Islamic fundamentalist groups alleged to have attacked embassies.

IRAQ
1998-?
Bombing, Missiles
Four days of intensive air strikes after weapons inspectors allege Iraqi obstructions.

YUGOSLAVIA
1999-?
Bombing, Missiles
Heavy NATO air strikes after Serbia declines to withdraw from Kosovo. Continued U.S. occupation as NATO force in southeastern Kosovo.

YEMEN
2000
Naval
Suicide bomb attack on USS Cole.

MACEDONIA
2001
Troops
NATO troops shift and partially disarm Albanian rebels.

UNITED STATES
2001
Jets, naval
Response to hijacking attacks.

AFGHANISTAN
2001
Massive U.S. mobilization to attack Taliban, al-Qaeda forces.
War could expand to Iraq, Pakistan, and beyond.

For more information or with comments and additions please contact: E-mail: mtn@igc.org
Permission to reproduce this list in its entirety is granted by the author, please send any published copy to the above address.

Also see:
List of U.S. military interventions since 1890
http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/interventions.htm
A briefing on the history of U.S. interventions
http://www.zmag.org/grossmanciv.htm