How many unnecessary deaths (American included) has American imperialism caused from the Korean War till now?

Question

Bush has just acknowledged a parallel between Iraq and Vietnam, both unnecessary wars resulting from America's desire to impose its will on the rest of the world since 1945.

Answer 1

How ignorant. Are you by any chance a veteran? No? Didn't think so.

Answer 2

Very well assessed. The problems with warmongers is that they view war as a game such as football and they just want the satisfaction of saying, "we won." The point is, most wars like the Iraq war, the Korean war and the Vietnam wars were totally unnecessary. The reason that I give for this is that in Vietnam, after the massive loss of life on both sides, America finally get to restore relationship with them and its business as usual. All the poor American soldiers who died in that war thought they were fighting for a really important and solid reason, and not one in which the President says it is no longer worth the effort and withdraws his troops. I fear the same for Iraq and Afghanistan and I fear for the brave British and American soldiers fighting a hard battle for a cause that they have been given. Is it all worth while in the end? What would we tell the brave men and women if someone decides enough is enough and things remain the same. This is the reason I did not support the wars and I think things like Iraq should have been given more consideration and forward planning made to cover this type of situation where we are not winning but we are not losing. Being in between is worst. Where we have to make a decision that will provide us with a conclusive answer to the question, "Was it all a bl***y waste of effort?".

Answer 3

Lol to all those who say US Imperialism doesn't exist... American Imperialism is fact. Read some books from Prof. Noam Chomsky, Alex Cockburn, Howard Zinn or Prof. Niall Ferguson.

All of them Americans or work in the US, Chomsky and Ferguson are very well respected and both agree that American foreign policy since 1945 has been Imperialistic if you don't believe that then you don't know enough about the subject to comment on it really.

The sources below will give you a good start on counting how many have been killed to feed US Imperial policy.

You do need to add to it figures from countries where US companies have had civilians killed by their actions through deliberate enviromental damage for profit, famines, death squads supported by Intel services, wars supported covertly by the US etc.

I would hazard a rough guess from what I know through 17 years of actively reading history and politics to around 5-8 million however its a rough guess.

Answer 4

A very loaded question Gary and you show your colours by your additional comments. I don't think that the Americans want to impose their will on the rest of the world[although I'm sure that there is one or two who do] especially through military means[Americans don't like to see their troops getting killed]. I am no Bush lover{George that is] and I believe that in hindsight Iraq was a major error as it seems like the war in Iraq has actually been a recruiting poster for the terrorists. I do believe that those in power who aid and shelter terrorists should be removed from power,how,? I'm not really sure. Lastly if America had done nothing do you think that the world would be a better place now? Think carefully before you answer, and try to be objective and constructive not destructive in your questions on so-called American Imperialism.

Answer 5

The Korean War was fought by the United Nations against the North Koreans and Chinese.

It may have involved a lot of U.S troops but it was not a U.S war.

It was probably the first and last time that the U.N did something decisive.

Answer 6

Well, if you look at it from the point of view of the powers that be in the US (and the powers that have been), the answer is ZERO.

Any deaths are part of the price to pay; collateral damage does not apply only to non-US soldiers.

I wouldn't read much in the parallels discovered by Mr Bush between Iraq and Vietnam for a very simple reason. The parallel is too restrictive. It's not just Iraq and Vietnam... The US has been involved all around the world, in the open and under covers, or via proxies.

Also please do not blame Mr Bush, or the Republicans, Democrats have been as actively involved in the unrelenting, single minded, at any-cost-to-others pursuit of the interests of Big Business in the US.

This includes and is certainly not restricted to (from the top of my head) :

Bombing of Guatemala and ousting of Arbenz (suiting United Fruit), of Yugoslavia (which triggered the genocides, please check the chronology, deaths increases AFTER the bombings).

Invasions of Philippines (ousted colonial power Spain negotiating with new colonial power US after independence was declared), Grenada (where the Cubans were building an airstrip under British supervision and immediately offered to negotiate before the invasion started and where Margaret Thatcher was deluded into believing the attack hadn't taken place), Haiti...

Proxy wars in Colombia (including widespread 'fumigation' causing people to leave the areas where they had been living for generations), Afghanistan (yes, the Mujahideen were armed by the US, prolonging the stay of the Russians who had already decided to cut their losses and pull-out; and yes these armed Mujahideen do form the backbone of the Taleban and possibly Al Qaeda). Also in Iraq where Saddam Hussein was armed to quell protests against him (including the use of chemical weapons) and to fight Iran (who had overthrown the Shah who had been 'installed' in the place of democratically elected Mossadegh.

Regime changes, from Iran (for the Shah against democratically elected Mossadegh) to Chile (for Pinochet against democratically elected Allende)...

My point is that people need to understand that the US simply wants to ensure its survival as the top dog at any cost, and that this overriding policy has little to do with who is in power, and has been around for a very very long time. Check out the Monroe doctrine, or the Wilsonian Corolary to the Monroe Doctrine.

Remember that the Invasion of Cuba was under JFK, the Bombing of Yugoslavia under Clinton... It's not just republicans...

Also remember that gunboat diplomacy where Japan was forced literally at canon-point to open up for trade was thanks to Commodore Perry around 1850...

Answer 7

I'm in the US air Force now and I must say that most anybody didn't die for no reason. We all signed our names giving our life up to our country. If that means fighting in another country for a dumb reason and dieing then so be it. No American soldier death is truly unneccesary if done so defending their country. And get your ideas straight, Vietnam happened AFTER the Korean Conflict. I'm 21 and I'm currently stationed at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea as a Security Forces member (= to MP and Infantry in one) and I'm proud of the many veterans before me, both of my grandfathers being a couple of them. Sure people die for what some see as an unjust cause but it's that cause we're are going against that is killed those people not our own government.

Answer 8

both wars were unecessary, but i have respect for the soldiers over there. But i agree North Korea would be a big mistake cos it wouldn't just be embarassing a war on 3 fronts there is a real possibility of defeat. I just hope Britain comes to it's senses before then hoew long r we gonna be in debt for ww2

Answer 9

WOW Gary......A little anger management here please. I had this argument with a foofy all black clothed poly sci major who was sucking on a crappy little latte.

Better read up on what imperialism is and who actually got us involved in both the Korean War and Viet Nam. Harry Truman, a Dem brought us into the Korean conflict by proxie under the UN and the infamous Democratic coxswain JFK started Viet Nam without a clear course of action. Your favorite liberal heroes creating two of the most heinous wars and mismanaged them into debacles.

Know your history before you spout rhetoric.

Answer 10

He acknowledged there's a paralles in the fact that the US was at War in Vietnam and Iraq. Impose its will? How so? Saddam had every chance to declare what he'd done with his weapons but instead hid his programs (or lack thereof) in violation of the UN.

Answer 11

The first thing that history teaches is that 'imperialism is a one way road'. When you start there is no going back. I cannot count how many have died but i can feel deeply sorry for the continuous effort of human race's 'strong' to impose their will to those who are not.
The many but less powerful want peace but they can't make it happen. The less but powerful can make peace happen but they don't want to!