Is America's involvement in any war justifiable? If so which one(s)?

Answer 1

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence,[1] was a war between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen British colonies, who declared their independence as the United States of America in 1776. The war was the culmination of the American Revolution, a colonial struggle about whether the British colonies should be subject to the Parliament in London (where they were not represented) or (before the Declaration of Independence) only to their colonial assemblies. The war eventually widened far beyond British North America; many American Indians also fought on both sides of the conflict.

The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and Great Britain and its nearby colonies, Canada and Nova Scotia, from 1812 to 1815 on land and sea. The Americans declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812, for a combination of reasons—a psychological desire to assert full independence, outrage at the impressment (seizure) of thousands of American sailors, frustration at British restraints on neutral trade while Britain warred with France, and anger at British support for Indian attacks on the frontier.

The Mexican-American War, known in the United States as The Mexican War and in Mexico as la intervención norteamericana (the North American Intervention) or la guerra del 47 (the War of '47), was a military conflict fought between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848, in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas. Mexico had not recognized the secession of Texas in 1836 and announced its intention to take back what it considered a rebel province.

The Spanish-American War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Spain and the United States of America that took place from April to August 1898. The war ended in victory for the United States and decimation of the Spanish empire in the Caribbean and Pacific. The Treaty of Paris gave the United States control over all the colonies of Spain in the Caribbean and Pacific. Under that treaty, Cuba became independent of Spain, which was completed in 1902.

The reasons for the outbreak of World War I are a complicated issue; there are many factors that intertwine. Some examples are:

Fervent and uncompromising nationalism
Unresolved previous disputes
The intricate system of alliances
Convoluted and fragmented governance
Delays and misunderstandings in diplomatic communications
The arms races of the previous decades.
Rigidity in military planning
Colonial rivalry
Economic rivalry
Nationalism between the countries
Alliances formed

The immediate Causes of World War II are generally held to be the German invasion of Poland, and the Japanese attacks on China, the United States, and the British and Dutch colonies. In each of these cases, the attacks were the result of a decision made by authoritarian ruling elites in Germany and Japan. World War II started after these aggressive actions were met with an official declaration of war, armed resistance or both.

The Korean War, occurring between June 25, 1950 and a ceasefire on July 27, 1953, was a war between the partition states of North Korea and South Korea that were created respectively out of the post-World War II Soviet and American occupation zones in Korea, with large-scale participation by other countries.

The principal support on the side of the North Korean communists was the People's Republic of China, with limited assistance by Soviet combat advisors, military pilots, and weapons. South Korea was supported by "United Nations" (UN) forces, principally from the United States, although many other nations also contributed personnel. When conflicts began, North and South Korea existed as provisional governments competing for control over the Korean peninsula after the Division of Korea. (note here that this was a UN action SUPPORTED by the US which is a member of the UN. The US did NOT instigate this war.)

Vietnam War:The chief cause of the war was the failure of Vietnamese nationalists, in the form of the Viet Minh, to gain control of southern Vietnam both during and after their struggle for independence from France in the First Indochina War of 1946-1954.

The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991) was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of approximately 30 nations[1] led by the United States and mandated by the United Nations in order to liberate Kuwait.

The Iraq War, the jury is still out on this one. The issues run the gamut from oil to violating the UN resolutions. Perhaps in 10 years, there will be a more definitive answer to be had.

I have included my sources for all of the above informaion for you to learn more and follow-up from the tidbit I took out. Have fun.

Answer 2

Gee the first person to respond says no... big surprise.

The answer to that question is yes, a few of the wars have been under extreme situations where it became inevitable and quite justified for The United States to either a) become involved or b) defend it's self.

Naturally not all the wars have been justified. And a few even sit in a shade of Grey. But it is easier to know that now, decades after the fact when we can see the archives and can appreciate the thoughts of both sides of the conflict.

The War of 1812 is a good example of a justified war (although it was almost avoidable, i will explain in a moment). England and France were both challenging and attacking the sovereign rights of the united states by capturing American ships, sailors and goods while at war with each other. America which was neutral at the time, and found its self attacked time and again by both powers. although still small and relatively weak in comparison to the two world powers the United states had to act on its own best interests and to preserve its right to free trade. Now I mentioned this war was avoidable, England and France had decided days before the declaration of WAR was proclaimed to stop Attacking American shipping, However because there was no form of rapid communications in those days the Americans did not know about the decision until it was too late.

WW2 - The most blatantly obvious of the Justified wars. If for no other reason than the fact that America was attacked first by Japan then two days later War was declared by Germany. In the end it was revealed that The world was dealing with two bloodthirsty and murderous governments (there were actually three, sadly one was an ally so their evil was not stopped for a long time to come) and had it not been for the war (which they started by they way) then millions more would have perished for their idea of "a perfect world".

There is one problem with your question however, and the first person responding is an example of what that problem is. Its a matter of perception, and modern forms of information and communications make the world a smaller place and make it easy to say "World war one was fought on a pre-text that proved to be dubious and weak at best."

But at the time there was no computer animation and modern forensics to figure out what happened. There was no 24 hour news where we can hear the other side of the story. Back then you go with gut feeling, instinct and your perception of what happened. In their eyes most of the wars seemed justifiable. As he old adage goes, hind site is 20/20.

It is almost foolhardy to try and put today's view on yesterday's events. If you want to understand why they did what they did you have to figure out why they think like they did, did what they did or even said what they did. Don't let modern thinking and ideas cloud your judgments. Understand why it happened, not if it should have happened or not.

Sorry if I was rambleing

Answer 3

Yes war is absolutely justifiable when a nation is attacked or whenever there is a truly credible threat to the survival of a nation or its way of life. Especial care however has to be taken with credibility when some kind of pre-emptive action is contemplated. There is no justification for aggression to advance an ideology such as communism, democracy or Islam. For if that was established as a principle virtually any nation, group or religious persuasion would be justified in going to war.

Answer 4

Yes...

The first one (1776), our revolution gave us the RIGHT to ask such questions.

Barbary Wars (1801-1815) - Pirates were raiding our shipping

War of 1812 - Justified as England was impressing US citizens and into Royal Navy service and supporting Indian attacks on our frontier

Mexican-American War (1846) Mexico trying to steal back Texas

Spanish-American War (1898) Spains oppression of her colonies

World War's I & II, Korea, Vietnam... all documentd

PLEASE stop with the revisionist liberal-history.

Answer 5

well lets see,.. had we not faught in the revolutionary war there would be no america

if not for our involvement in WWII many countries wouldn't have existed, not to mention we didn't start that one

as far as not super justifiable yet reason enough

we could have let iraq completely rape kuwait back in 91, but we decided to help ou the kuwaitis instead

We had an obligation through alliance to get involved in WWI and had we not, htat one might have gone the other way, although it started for really dumb reasons sooo,. eh...

as far as everyother war, you can argue one way or another on opinions alone as to whether they were justafiable or not

Answer 6

With uncovery of all the facts its no longer a question of justifiability its a question of madness?
When a president flip flops after creating mass paranoia then disregards all prudence in the matter, and is allowed to continue to act in such a way is unacceptable.

Going against the grain, when Military generals on record state additional troops will not impact this bizarre stay a failing course plan, this president continues to flex muscles that should be ripped from him. It just doesnt make sense to anyone accept the billions of dollars that contractors are getting overthere. I wonder if Bush' future cut from the kickbacks he is earning will be worth the lives hes destroyed with this madness.

the only satisfaction is that bush will have to answer for for every life hes destroyed one day. And hopefully he gets remembered for the utter idiot hes become.
But then again to be elected twice, whos more the idiot, him or us for allowing him to continue his madness?

Answer 7

War is ALWAY justified by those who fight it. Why else would they do it?

Answer 8

Yes; all of them with the possible exception of the Spanish-American war.

Answer 9

My Grandfather was killed Dec. 7, 1941, remember that one. Guess you already know what my answer is. I support Our Troops.

Answer 10

Yes.