A foreign friend asked, Why does the USA keep having blood on it's hands?

Question

I couldn't answer honestly, even being a patriot...

He quoted that for a country only 300 years old, we have Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Iraq 1 &2, and we are still looking for more blood in Iran.....

How do you honestly answer this question without losing credibility?

Answer 1

We do seem to constantly be in some sort of conflict.

I put it down to arrogance and the corrupting influence of power.

*Lots of corrupted and arrogant answers here huh?

Answer 2

The United States sees itself as a watchdog over the world. We have helped many in desperate situations, we have done some great things. We have also done some questionable things. The United States has a military presence in a foreign country somewhere in the world at almost all times.
The list of countries we have taken military action in is quite impressive, in fact, too big to list here:

http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html

The countries we have bombed? (this may or may not be complete):

Korea and China 1950-53 (Korean War)
Guatemala 1954
Indonesia 1958
Cuba 1959-1961
Guatemala 1960
Congo 1964
Laos 1964-73
Vietnam 1961-73
Cambodia 1969-70
Guatemala 1967-69
Grenada 1983
Lebanon 1983, 1984 (both Lebanese and Syrian targets)
Libya 1986
El Salvador 1980s
Nicaragua 1980s
Iran 1987
Panama 1989
Iraq 1991 (Persian Gulf War)
Kuwait 1991
Somalia 1993
Bosnia 1994, 1995
Sudan 1998
Afghanistan 1998
Yugoslavia 1999
Yemen 2002
Iraq 1991-2003 (US/UK on regular basis)
Iraq 2003-05
Afghanistan 2001-05

Source: http://members.aol.com/superogue/bomb.htm

The list is impressive because most people don't know or don't remember many of these incidents.

Sometimes the truth is hard to swallow, but always keep in mind, sometimes a military solution is necessary.

For those who think we always intervene for humanitarian or altruistic causes, where were we in rwanda during the genocide of 1994 in which hundreds of thousands were killed many of which with such primitive tools as machetes? Surely it doesn't take many fully armed soldiers to resist that force? Could it be that the people of a poor African country that has nothing to offer us simply isn't worth our trouble?

Answer 3

You call yourself a patriot? You couldn't educate your friend that Vietnam and Korea were fought to stave off a more brutal end, the spread of Stalinist communism?

You couldn't provide him with the fact that Imperial Japan tried to conquer and brutalize most of the Pacific rim? How Japan attacked us on December 7, 1941? Then in turn it was the US that pushed back Japan and free countries like China, the Philippians, and many others almost single handed? How we dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order to saVe countless lives on both sides of the conflict?

Don't you think he should know about the fact that Iraq, led by a brutal dictator, committed some of the most brutal atrocities since the fall of Communism? The invasion of Kuwait, the use of chemical weapons on his own people and the Iranian civilians?

Our brave men and women have died and been buried in so many places. They fought for freedom! Not only our freedoms but at times the freedoms of other peoples! The US, she has defended England, won back France, Pushed for freedom in many former Russian satellites! WE HAVE LEAD THE WAY AND THE WORLD IS BETTER FOR IT!!!

HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF A PATRIOT. WITH ONE HAND YOU WOULD SPIT ON THE SACRIFICES MADE BY SO MANY OF MY BROTHER AND SISTERS AND WITH THE OTHER LOOK AT US IN SHAME!

YOU ARE NO PATRIOT SIR!!!!!

Answer 4

I would like to know where your foreign friend is from because chances are there is blood on their hands too. It's real convenient for people to cover up the blood on their hands by pointing out ours. It's like the restaurant scene it Scarface, when Tony was being stared at by all the people who made their living "legally" steeling from other people and he said "You need people like me so you can point your finger at me and say There! That's the bad guy!"

I have no interest in defending America's honor to countries that have no honor themselves. Is there a country in Europe that isn't living off of fish and produce that is taken from Africa? While the people there are left only with the food provided by American charities? We're not the only dirty players on the world stage, but we're the only ones who the world wants to be accountable.I'm not normally a bible quoting kind of guy, but "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"

Answer 5

Let's see....Japan attacked us, North Korea invaded South Korea (a country predominantly made up of farmers) with Communist aid, North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam ( Again a bunch of farmers) with Communist aid. In Desert Storm Iraq invaded Kuwait and killed innocent women and children for not giving allegiance.

And as far as Iran is concerned right now, you are more than welcome to don some body armor to c'mon down and visit me in Iraq to watch the Iranian 'Quds' forces train insurgents on how to use IED's on us.

Sounds like to me that the reason we have so much blood on our hands is because we defend those who cannot defend themselves. Now tell your friend from wherever he/she is from not to ask for help when needed, and to no longer accept our money or assistance in any way whatsoever!

Get real!

UPDATE: Steelgrave...I love research! Very good, Very good!

Answer 6

All countries make mistakes. As for The U.S. ... the wars that you quote -except for Japan- were because of arrogance and a need to tell others what to do and how to live....as well as greed and the need to have domination over others. For Japan,... I understand that to mean World War 2. Japan attacked The U.S.. at Pearl Harbor, so The U.S. had every right to declare war on Japan. As for the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan... wellll, I really don't know. The reason that is given for the bombs being dropped is that it ended Japan's involvement in the war. Afterwards, Japan had a policy of not getting involved in any hostilities....now Japan is starting to help the U.S. in it's policy to occupy Muslim countries. Why???? Ask the Japanese leadership why they are changing their foreign policy after decades of being pro-peace!

Answer 7

It’s too bad your friend didn’t ask why the U.S. spends more of it’s taxpayer’s money in more countries than all other countries combined on aide, poverty relief, medical assistance and disaster relief, including billions to our enemies in time of crisis. Oh well, no good deed goes unpunished.

I notice your friend didn’t mention either world war. A 250 year old country with a population of less than 230 million liberating all of Europe in the bloodiest conflict in the history of the planet doesn’t deserve mention, eh?

Viet Nam should have been over in a year. The protraction of that conflict can be attributed to LBJ and family holding major stock in General Dynamics, Bell Helicopter and Colt firearms to name just a few. The U.S. fixed that problem by passing legislation requiring anyone seeking national office to divest themselves of holdings which represent conflict of interest. This legislation was largely successful until Hillary started bashing “big pharmaceuticals” while selling short on drug stock margins.

Korea was, and still is a Chinese puppet with nuclear capabilities and directly threatened the U.S. If you feel the need to hang your head in shame because your country defended itself and protected your parents, you’re free to do so but I believe Korea’s hands were bloody on that one.

Japan? Was he referring to the nuclear strikes that ended WWII and liberated nearly 15% of the world’s population? O.K. I guess we should be ashamed of ourselves for being so selfish on that one, eh?

Kuwait, an independent and democratic republic and ally of the U.S. ASKED for our help in repelling an invasion from a major hostile force. We repelled said hostile force and stopped short of invading Iraq because that’s not why we were there. In fact, Saddaam’s surrender at the border included an agreement to dismantle all weapons of mass destruction and the programs that produced them. He also agreed to allow U.N. inspectors oversee and verify the process.

This brings us to 9/11/2001 when a bloody and horrible act of war was perpetrated on the U.S. by terrorists from the Middle East. We tracked the responsible parties to Afghanistan where the trail cooled off. Intelligence gathered there (follow the money) led us to Baghdad. Many Al Qaeda camps were being maintained in Iraq and funded by Husein.

Combining this information with Husein’s repeated (17 times) violations of the U.N. sanctions concerning his weapons programs and continued aggression toward other countries in the region (including Kuwait) led us to Iraqi Freedom. Now you can perpetuate the lies about WMD and Bush lied and all the rest of the party line B.S. if you want. You may even get some respect as soon as you come up with a common-sense alternative or a reasonable solution to the current situation.

I also noticed your friend didn’t mention Kosovo, Somalia or any of the other “little wars” started by the Clinton Administration. Since Clinton was responsible for deploying more troops in more places than any 3 presidents in our history, maybe your friend should ask you about THAT. Oh yea. Clinton is a liberal Democrat so he’s above reproach!

Answer 8

I love this country. By birth. By life and freedom and friendship.

I love this planet. By heritage I am from Europe, Northern Europe and Britain. By association with friends and by study I have learned and continue to learn about the lives, cultures and histories of the rest of the planet.

There is so much to live for. So much to share. It is so frustrating to realize that throughout recorded history, mankind has fought against itself.

"Credibility?" I can only sound childlike and simplistic. As much as America wants to be the heroic guardian of the world, we just are not. And now, we have the most repulsive and ignorant set of leaders in our history with the power to take us deeper into chaos.

Answer 9

Was he perhaps from Europe.

Anglo-Irish War or Irish War of Independence (1919-1921)
Armenian-Azeri War
Austro-Prussian War (1866–1866)
Balkan Wars (1912–1913)
Chechen Wars (1994–present)
First Chechen War (1994–1996)
Second Chechen War (1999–present)
Cod Wars (1893–1976)
The Cod War of 1893 (1893–1896)
First Cod War (1958)
Second Cod War (1972–1973)
Third Cod War (1975–1976)
Crimean War (1854–1856)
Czechoslovakia-Hungary War (1918–1919)
Easter Rising (1916)
Eighty Years' War (1568–1648)
English Civil War (1642–1651)
Estonian Liberation War (1917–1920)
Finnish Civil War (1918)
Hungen-Rodheim War (1877-1881)
First Greco-Turkish War (1897)
First Schleswig War 1848-1851
Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871)
French Revolution (1789–1799)
Great Turkish War (1667–1683)
First Greco-Turkish War (1897)
Italian Independence wars (1848–1866)
First Italian Independence War (1848–1849)
Second Italian Independence War (1859)
Third Italian Independence War (1866)
Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815)
Russian Civil War (1918–1920)
Russian Revolution (1917)
Russo–Swedish Wars (1496–1809)
Swedish–Novgorodian Wars
Russo–Swedish War (1496–1499)
Russo–Swedish War (1554–1557)
Russo–Swedish War (1558–1583)
Russo-Swedish War (1590–1595)
Ingrian War (1610–1617)
Russo–Swedish War (1656–1658)
Russo–Swedish War (1700–1721)
Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)
Russo–Swedish War (1788–1790)
Finnish War (1808–1809)
Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
Scottish Civil War (1639–1651)
Second Schleswig War 1864
Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885)
Seven Years' War (1756–1763)
Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)
Ten Days Campaign (1830)
Thirty Years' War (1618–1648)
Turkish War of Independence
Turkish Invasion of Cyprus (1974)
War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748)
Wars of Castro (1641–1649)
War of Devolution (1667–1668)
War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738)
War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718-1720)
War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1740)
War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1713)
Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691)
World War I (1914–1918)
World War II (1939–1945)
Soviet-Japanese Border Wars (1938-1945)
Winter War (1939–1940)

I see you include Japan but leave out Germany. That is what they call a lie of omission my friend.

Maybe he was Persian or Middle Eastern.

1948 Arab-Israeli War
1956 Suez War
1967 Six Day War
1970 War of Attrition
1973 Yom Kippur War
1982 Lebanon War
First Intifada
1982-2000 South Lebanon conflict
al-Aqsa Intifada
2006 Lebanon War

Thats just the last 60 years.

Lets not even talk about Africa or South America.

You're a hypocrite dude.

Answer 10

Because we have taken on the role of the World's Defender. There may be blood, but it's the result of noble causes. If you don't know that then you don't know the history of your own Country, which is very sad. That's the reason we want to institute No Child Left Behind nationwide.

Answer 11

Pray tell, what is the nationality of your friend? I'm sure we can find ample evidence of blood, greed, oppression, etc on the part of the country he is from, too.

As for the US, we are now the only country with the capability and the will-power (conservatives only, apparently) to do what is right (stand up to murderous despots and tyrants) than to do what is expedient (appease them in return for oil). Appeasement of evil governments, like what was done in the 1930's, only leads to increased bloodshed.

Apparently, only some of us learned that lesson from history.