This is for those who think that the US was the aggressor during time of wars, possibly a bit of reading will help put things in perspective.
World War I
When war broke out in Europe in August 1914, Americans opposed the involvement of U.S. troops, and President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) declared the country's neutrality. But as the fighting continued and the German tactics threatened civilian lives,
Americans began siding with the Allies.
After the sinking of the passenger liner SS Lusitania, Germany adopted restricted submarine warfare. But early in 1917 Germany again began attacking unarmed ships, this time American cargo boats, goading the United States into the war. Meantime, German U-boats were positioning to cut off shipping to and from Britain, in an effort to force the power to surrender. Tensions between the United States and Germany peaked when the British intercepted, decoded, and turned over to President Wilson a telegram Germany had sent to its ambassador in Mexico. The so-called "Zimmermann note," which originated in the office of German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann (1864-1940), urged the German officials in Mexico to persuade the Mexican government into war with the United States-in order to reconquer lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The message was published in the United States in early March. One month later, on April 6, 1917, the U.S. Congress declared war on Germany after President Wilson had asserted that "the world must be made safe for democracy."
Read more:
http://www.answers.com/topic/why-did-th ... z1XYb4iNvgWorld War 2
It is a popular misconception among Americans
[and apparently many peoplethat the US voluntarily entered WW2, at least against the Germans. In fact, the US didn't. The US entered the general war as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor. But the US entered against Japan and did not, repeat not, declare war on Germany. However, a few days after Pearl Harbor, Hitler declared war on the US, thereby putting an end to the US dilemma. After a meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt, it was agreed that the British and Americans would have a "Germany first" policy. Whether the Americans would have declared war on Germany had not Hitler made the decision for them is one of the great unanswered questions of history. The US had, of course, been completely isolationist prior to 7 December 1941 - Roosevelt's Lend-Lease program had got through Congress by one, repeat one, vote. The answer is that yes, probably the US would have entered the war against Germany, but possibly not on the scale that it did, and almost certainly not with Germany being given priority over Japan. But nobody will ever know for sure.
U.S. interests had been attacked. U.S. ships were attacked in the Atlantic when Germans didn't like U.S. supplies being sold to England in support of their efforts to defend Europe while Germany was making its plans to gain control of all of Europe as a first step in control of the world. BTW, the League of Nations had placed sanctions against Germany that was intended to prevent buildup of a German military after the end of WW1. That's why the U.S. was involved in the Atlantic. U.S. interests were attacked in the Pacific when Japan was trying to gain control of all islands in the Pacific.
Read more:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_did_the_U ... z1XYgEbQhtThe military history of the United States during World War II covers the involvement of the United States during World War II. The Empire of Japan declared war on the United States of America on 7 December 1941, immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor on the same day. On 11 December 1941, Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States. Until that time, the United States had maintained neutrality, although it had, since March that same year, supplied the Allies with war materiel through the Lend-Lease Act. During the war over 16 million Americans served in the United States military.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_h ... rld_War_IIKorean War
Americans became involved in the Korean conflict when the United Nations (UN), only five years old, called upon member countries to give military support to South Korea, which had been invaded by troops from Communist-ruled North Korea on June 25, 1950. The United Nations considered the invasion to be a violation of international peace and called on the Communists to withdraw. When they did not, 16 countries sent troops and some 40 countries sent supplies and military equipment to the aid of the South Korean armies. About 90 percent of the UN aid came from the United States. But North Korea received aid too-the Chinese sent troops and the Soviet Union provided equipment for them to sustain the war, which lasted until July 27, 1953. After three years of fighting, an armistice was called, but a formal peace treaty was never drawn up between the neighboring countries, prompting the United States to maintain military forces in South Korea in an effort to discourage any further acts of aggression from the north.
Read more:
http://www.answers.com/topic/why-did-th ... z1XYcyIffNVietnam War
Vietnam War The Vietnam War was the longest war ever fought by the United States. It lasted more than 15 years, from 1959 to 1975. It was also the first war that the United States lost.
WHY THE WAR WAS FOUGHT The United States entered the war to stop the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. American leaders feared that Communist forces would gain control of Vietnam. After that, nation after nation might fall to Communism. Communism is a political and economic system that the United States strongly opposed. Vietnam had been split in half in 1954, after fighting a war to gain independence from France. When French forces withdrew, Vietnamese Communists gained control of North Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the North Vietnamese Communists. South Vietnam had a non-Communist government. This government was weak. But the United States supported it in order to keep the Communists from taking control of all of Vietnam.
Read more:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_did_the_U ... z1XYdg1udTYou will note that the US
joined allies in wars. Joined as in there were other countries involved - get it?
Could you imagine what kind of world it would be if Hilter won? Could you imagine what kind of world it would be if communism succeeded?
-- Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:23 pm --
desertdudeshj wrote:event horizon wrote:I don't understand your point, there were few CIA operatives in Pakistan during the Afghan-Soviet War. For whatever few peasants the CIA trained, the Pakistanis trained, funded, armed and equipped several orders of magnitude more men than the United States would have been capable of.
All with the blessings of big daddy USA
2 48,250,000 China: Mao Zedong's regime. (incl. famine) 1949-76 : Not an international conflict
3 20,000,000 USSR: Stalin's regime (incl. WW2-era atrocities) 1924-53 ** Not an international conflict
4 *
5 *
6 *
7 *
8 2,800,000 Korean War 1950-53
9 2,700,000 2nd Indochina War (incl. Laos & Cambodia) 1960-7510 2,500,000 Chinese Civil War 1945-49 Not an international conflict
11 2,100,000 German Expulsions after WW2 1945-47 Not an international conflict
12 1,900,000 Second Sudanese Civil War 1983- Not an international conflict
13 1,700,000 Congolese Civil War 1998- Not an international conflict
14 1,650,000 Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Regime 1975-79 Not an international conflict
15 1,400,000 Afghanistan: Civil War 1980- Not an international conflict, although the date is wrong
15 1,400,000 Ethiopian Civil Wars 1962-92 Not an international conflict
17 *
18 1,250,000 East Pakistan: Massacres 1971 Not an international conflict
19 1,000,000 Iran-Iraq War 1980-88
19 1,000,000 Nigeria: Biafran revolt 1967-70 Not an international conflict
21 800,000 Mozambique: Civil War 1976-92 Not an international conflict
21 800,000 Rwandan Massacres 1994 Not an international conflict
23 650,000 French-Algerian War 1954-62
24 600,000 First Indochina War 1945-54
25 500,000 India-Pakistan Partition 1947
25 500,000 Indonesia: Massacre of Communists 1965-67 Not an international conflict
25 500,000 Angolan Civil War 1975-94 Not an international conflict
25 500,000 First Sudanese Civil War 1955-72 Not an international conflict
25 *
30 *
31 350,000 Somalia: Civil War 1991- Not an international conflict
? Unknown North Korea: Communist Regime 1948- Not an international conflict
The US did that all by itself??? The US just went in and invaded all those countries??
You should do your homework before putting up stats.