|
|
The USA Engaged in These Wars
IUS AD BELLUM
The issue is, in good English, justice to war. Did the United States engage in war for a just cause? Going to war is a right and an obligation when a nation is attacked militarily from abroad. It also has a right to enter a war when a friendly nation is attacked and/or is requested by a friendly nation to assist in its defense. For full details go to Wikipedia.org.
- Spanish-American War, 1898-1902
- Philippine-American War, 1899-1901
- Mexico Intervention, 1914-17
- Mexico Intervention again, 1918
- Soviet Union Intervention, 1918
- World War I, 1917-18
- World War II, 1941-45
- Korean War, 1950-53
- Vietnam War, 1964-75
- Iran Hostage Rescue Attempt, 1980
- Grenada Invasion, 1983
- Panama Invasion, 1989
- Gulf War, 1991
- Haiti Invasion, 1994
- Kosovo Intervention, 1999
- Afghanistan War, 2001
- Iraq War, 2003
1776 This can be argued; though in 1776 the United States was declared to be a free nation, rather than actually formed as such, and technically the attack - on the arms cache in Concord, MA in 1775 for example - was made by soldiers of the 'legitimate' government of the day rather than a foreign one. Certainly the Revolutionary War was justified, provoked by King George III. See the list of grievances in our Declaration of Independence..
1812 In 1812 the British Royal Navy pirated American MERCHANT shipping to force sailors to join it; a hostile act without question, but it was not on US soil and not part of a war the British Government initiated against the US one. It could (and should) have been handled by the merchant shippers - by arming their vessels, or hiring better-armed ones to accompany convoys. Instead, the US Government took up their cause and turned the incidents into a full war. So it's very questionable whether there was an act of foreign aggression against the USA even in 1812.
1861 The Southern States wanted to secede from the Union, but they were not 'foreign' so the Civil War does not count for this purpose. I will not go into details on this, the most deadly of our wars. Some say it was justified to end slavery. Some say it was fought over tariffs imposed by northern states so as to make the South buy American made machinery and tools. This war stands as precedent for not allowing a state to secede, and enabled much strengthening of the federal government.
1917 I do not know of any provoked or unprovoked attack upon America by the German Government. The Feds had been openly assisting the British by supplying armaments, sometimes almost certainly hidden aboard passenger ships like the Lusitania, a British liner sunk in 1915 by a U-boat for that reason - but the war on Germany was initiated and declared in Washington, not Berlin. In the final analysis, Germany attacked American property, which justifies our entering the war. In addition, we were urged by several friendly nations to assist in their defense.
1941 Pearl Harbor is by far the best known, alleged 'unprovoked attack' on the USA, on December 7th 1941. In fact, President F D Roosevelt had been striving to get America involved in WW-II for several years, against opposition by a huge majority of public opinion; and he deliberately provoked the Pearl attack by cutting off (in July 1941) supplies of oil and metal to Japan. This was a proper step for the U.S. to take, since Japan had immorally been on the war-path in the Pacific to commandeer raw materials. In the Atlantic, our ships were attacked by German U-boats, and friendly nations appealed to us for assistance.
So no, Pearl Harbor was in no way unprovoked - or even unexpected. The United States obviously fought wars on several fronts with full justification.
1948 The Korean War. Korea had divided into a Communist state in the north and a Republic in the south in 1945 after Japan gave up control. The cause of the war was the invasion by North Korea of the south in 1950. Being unwilling to use the best means of war available, America let the war end in a draw in 1953, establishing the north-south border at the 38th parallel.
1952 The Vietnam War. Our involvement began by placing military advisers there while France was waging war with the Communist north. After France gave up the fight, the U.S. government increased troop strength and ended up embroiled in a war we were unwilling to complete. In the end, we capitulated. However, communism did not succeed, leading to Vietnam becoming a pro-western nation.
2001 Eighteen men who espoused militant Islamism hijacked four U.S. passenger planes and flew them into the New York World Trade Center, into the Pentagon and into a farm field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 Americans died in that attack. Although a religious and cultural hatred of the West is apparent, no one has fully explained why this happened. One of the most scandalous aspects of 9/11/2001 is that not on that day or since, has any serious explanation been offered by the US Government as to WHY the Muslim fanatics wrought so much havoc.
We are left fighting sporadic after-shock wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as police actions elsewhere, purportedly to put an end to terrorism, led by the Arab organization Al Qaida. However, under current appeasement policies and fear of killing "innocent civilians," progress is not being made. |
Most of these wars were fought under principles that evolved through various American foreign policies. A war had to be justified based on defense against foreign attack, be deemed to be winnable, carried out by the best means available that would bring victory, with priority placed on protecting our troops.
Since World War II however, the U.S. has been caving in to other standards, avoiding the use of the most effective weaponry and putting the lives of American troops at risk in the name of saving "innocent civilians." As a result, those wars have been generally inconclusive, and have resulted in gaining us enemies instead of friends.
|
