Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,186,228 times
Reputation: 57820
In my opinion, there have been 6: The Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican-American War of 1846, Civil War, WWI, WWII. There were over 100 wars with the American Indians from 1540-1953, some were protecting Americans from attacks, others were forcefully taking land from them. It's questionable whether the U.S. military actions in the Middle East have been to protect our citizens, but Korea and Vietnam were definitely not, yet the loss of U.S. soldier lives was 34,000 and 47,000.
When it comes to declared wars, I would not include the War of 1812 or the Mexican War. The former, we lost. We achieved non of our objectives in Canada and impressment continued. When the US declaration of war was received in Britain, Parliament had already repealed its trade restrictions. The Mexican War was about a boundary. Both wars were unpopular, hence, IMHO folks did not feel like it was an existential threat to the Republic.
The Mexican War was somewhat similar to the Pig War of 1859. That boundary dispute was settled peacefully, except of course for the dead pig.
The Revolutionary War, and War of 1812, that's it. All the rest we could have passed on, and still remained fairly secure, but smaller in size without the Mexican American War. Perhaps there would still be a cold war with the USSR and communist world, if they could have defeated Germany, if not, then a possible cold war with Kaiser Wilhelm, Hitler or whatever government emerged from WW1. Hitler might not even come to power had we sat out WW1 and Germany won.
I often hear that America has been in needless war after needless war.
I’m asking the smart people here to tell me the truth.
Which wars had an active role in significantly protecting/improving/securing the American people?
There are declared wars, undeclared wars, and covert wars. There is a much higher hurdle to get public support for a declaration of war since the administration have to go through Congress. There is a lower hurdle when the administration uses an open-ended authorization such as the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force. They still have to justify why the US is deploying air support. There is no hurdle at all when they use the CIA, a CIA trained paramilitary force, providing advisory support to an allied government, or supporting paramilitary forces trained by allied governments. If the involvement deepens, the administration can issue an executive order authorizing the CIA (often applying it retroactively). Quite often, when the covert war falters, the State Department and CIA lobby the White House to use the military to save their bacon by bringing in air support.
The Revolutionary War, and War of 1812, that's it. All the rest we could have passed on, and still remained fairly secure, but smaller in size without the Mexican American War. Perhaps there would still be a cold war with the USSR and communist world, if they could have defeated Germany, if not, then a possible cold war with Kaiser Wilhelm, Hitler or whatever government emerged from WW1. Hitler might not even come to power had we sat out WW1 and Germany won.
So, WWII is one you would have sat out, even after Japan and Germany declared war on us, and proceeded to attack US assets? Not fighting WWII would have resulted in the US mainland being attacked, and severe losses. Far better to have the losses somewhere else.
I often hear that America has been in needless war after needless war.
I’m asking the smart people here to tell me the truth.
Which wars had an active role in significantly protecting/improving/securing the American people?
Even "smart people" are going to have different opinions. For some smart people, every war is needless.
That is great, at least until America's enemies think it is not needless. America goes through isolationist trends, the war in Europe in 1939, and Asia, was seen needless for many in the US for years. That is, until an attack in Pearl Harbor that took thousands of lives.
I'm not going to play that game, the "debate". One thing we have learned from history however, as recent as an event called 911 - what happens 6,000 miles away eventually impact the US as long as we are a world leader. Of course, if we want to shy away from world leadership, retrench into a "has been" world power and have other countries make decision for us, that option is always there.
I often hear that America has been in needless war after needless war.
I’m asking the smart people here to tell me the truth.
Which wars had an active role in significantly protecting/improving/securing the American people?
You mean intervened and invaded, right? Perhaps intervening everywhere there is dissent isn't necessary. Not saying the wonderful human beings who went these places to fight weren't the heroes.
Vietnam War Lost:
*humanitarian disaster under the guise of anti-communism
*napalm was genetic destruction, America not told the truth about this
Iraq War Lost:
*18 year war
*Cheney said they had WMD which they did not
*Killed the bad guy dictator that was preventing radical groups from rising
*created a humanitarian disaster
Afghanistan War Ongoing:
*killed Osama of Al Queda and created ISIL
*military invention became a humanitarian disaster
Syria:
*intervened between clashing rebels against Assad
*bombing created humanitarian disaster
Libya
* killed the bad guy dictator who had a tight rein on radical groups
* fanned flames of a civil war
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
