The Violent History of the USA

Many geopolitical observers and “experts” in my country India; are giving close attention and undue importance to the 2024 Presidential Elections in the USA. India being a large mix of quasi–socialist, communist influenced left–wing intellectuals on one side of the political spectrum and with the currently very vocal Nationalist-pride infused influencers on the opposite side; is forecasting how bi-lateral relations between India and the USA will develop or deteriorate, based on whether the Republican or the Democrat candidate wins this election. The reality is that neither candidate is going to favour India, beyond the commercial and political requirements of their own country. As history is witness, the foreign policy of the USA is immoral, unethical and prone to violence since their very existence, as can be noted from the synopsis below.

The history of U.S. foreign policy, including military and covert actions, spans a wide range of events where the country has used its power to influence or destabilize other nations. Here, I will outline key periods and incidents with historical backing, focusing on those that involved direct or indirect use of violence or economic destabilization.

1. Early Years and Expansionist Policies (1776–1800s)

• War of Independence (1775–1783): While the American Revolution was a war for independence, it set a precedent for military action as a means to achieve political ends.
• Manifest Destiny and Displacement of the Natives of the Land: Throughout the 19th century, the U.S. pursued aggressive westward expansion, leading to wars and forced removals of Native American tribes, resulting in significant loss of life and cultural destruction.

2. 19th Century Foreign Interventions

• Mexican-American War (1846–1848): The U.S. invaded Mexico, leading to Mexico ceding large territories (present-day California, Nevada, Utah, etc.) under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
• Spanish-American War (1898): The U.S. intervened in Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. This conflict resulted in U.S. control over former Spanish colonies like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

3. Early 20th Century: “Banana Wars”

• Central America and the Caribbean: The U.S. military intervened in countries such as Nicaragua (1912–1933), Haiti (1915–1934), and the Dominican Republic (1916–1924). These interventions were largely aimed at protecting American commercial interests and maintaining regional stability.
• Philippine-American War (1899–1902): Following the Spanish-American War, the U.S. fought against Filipino independence fighters, leading to significant casualties and widespread destruction.

4. Cold War Era (1947–1991)

• Korean War (1950–1953): The U.S. led a United Nations coalition to repel North Korean and Chinese forces, creating a longstanding division of Korea.
• Vietnam War (1955–1975): The U.S. engaged in a prolonged conflict in Vietnam to counter the spread of communism, resulting in millions of deaths and widespread devastation.
• Coup in Iran (1953): The CIA orchestrated Operation Ajax to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and reinstate the Shah, driven by concerns over oil nationalization.
• Guatemala (1954): The CIA-backed Operation PBSUCCESS overthrew President Jacobo Árbenz after he sought land reforms affecting American business interests (e.g., United Fruit Company).
• Chile (1973): The U.S. supported the coup that ousted President Salvador Allende, leading to the establishment of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship.
• Nicaragua and the Contras (1980s): The U.S. funded Contra rebels in their fight against the Sandinista government, which involved significant human rights abuses.
• Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961): An unsuccessful CIA-sponsored attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba.

5. Post-Cold War and Modern Interventions

• Iraq (1991, 2003): The U.S. led a coalition during the Gulf War in 1991 to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. In 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq under the pretext of eliminating weapons of mass destruction, leading to prolonged conflict and instability.
• Afghanistan (2001–2021): The U.S. invasion was a response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, initially targeting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban but resulting in a two-decade-long war with significant casualties and an eventual U.S. withdrawal.
• Libya (2011): U.S.-led NATO forces conducted airstrikes that contributed to the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi, leaving the country in a state of ongoing conflict.

6. Economic Sanctions and Covert Operations

• Sanctions on Cuba (1960s–present): U.S. sanctions aimed at isolating Cuba economically following the Cuban Revolution.
• Iran Sanctions: Various economic sanctions to curb nuclear capabilities have impacted the Iranian economy.
• Interventions via Covert Operations: The CIA and other agencies have engaged in numerous operations to sway elections or destabilize governments, such as those in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. 

The U.S. has utilized a combination of military might, covert operations, and economic measures to influence global politics and economics. Each of these actions seem to have complex motivations, including political, economic, and ideological interests. However, in reality, the USA geopolitics is never about winning a conflict, as can be seen that over the years the USA has faced political and military defeat in almost every war that they started.

The reality is that the President of the USA is not really a ‘leader of the free world’, a myth that has been propagated over the past few decades by a continuous and effective public relations strategy. The President of the USA is not the only power center of that country. There are three centers of power that heavily influence the foreign policy of the USA.

The first is the military arms manufacturing lobby that has the backing and support of the military bureaucracy of the US government, and who in turn are heavily favored by the military lobby with regular and mostly immoral gifts. Corrupt money can be tracked and used in legal prosecution of the bureaucrats, but moral corruption in the form of easy access to contraband pharmaceuticals, illegal narcotics and sexual playmates (of all types) is part of a regular menu of favors in their politics.

The second center of power is the military–intelligence agencies mafia. With an annual budget of over a Trillion dollars (12 zeros after the initial digit), these agencies prepare “threat reports” for the political class and create a sense of constant insecurity among the members of their Congress and the people of their country. The intelligence agencies have no real audit or over-watch over their actions and have been caught many times in spreading misinformation and lies, but high-ranking members of their organizations or the American military have never been investigated, prosecuted or punished for illegality.

The third center of power is the cabal of the leaders of the two political parties. This cabal comprises of former Presidents (and in some cases their wives and mistresses), former high-ranking officials of past administrations, political financiers, and political lobbyists. In many cases, some individuals are a mixture of some or all of the above defined roles.

The President of the United States is nothing more than a puppet of these three power centers; from the time they decide on the candidates for the election to controlling the winning candidate for the subsequent four years in power. And repeat every four years. That is the reality of American politics, and instead of the overused cliché ‘God Bless America’ the people of that country should say: “God Save Us from America”.  

 

Proportionate Response to terrorism, or overkill? - West against Middle-East

On 11^th September 2001, 19 Islamic terrorists divided into four teams carried out a targeted attack against the United States of America that killed 2,977 people immediately and thousands suffered health disorders due to the toxic dust spread from the debris of the attack sites. In retaliation, USA invaded Afghanistan to hunt down the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who they had identified as the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. The Afghanistan invasion by the USA and its allies led to other conflicts worldwide and the total fatalities of this 22 years War-on-Terror is estimated by the ‘Costs of War Project’ is over 4.5 million. [Let that number sink into our minds – 4.5 million dead over a period of 22 years].

Not satisfied with the invasion of Afghanistan, the USA, under then President George W. Bush began actively motivating their leadership and their allies for a military intervention in Iraq in late 2001. In the lead-up to the invasion, the United States and the United Kingdom falsely claimed that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, covertly supporting al-Qaeda and that he presented a threat to his neighbours and to the world community. Throughout the years of 2001 to 2003, the Bush Administration worked to build a case for invading Iraq, and the Iraq War officially began on 20 March 2003, when the US, joined by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, launched a "shock and awe" bombing campaign. Shortly following the bombing campaign, US-led forces launched a ground invasion of Iraq.

Shortly after the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency, and the British M.I6 publicly discredited the evidence related to the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (which never existed) as well as Iraq’s alleged links to al-Qaeda. At this point George W. Bush and his co-conspirator Tony Blair (the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) shifted to secondary rationales for the war, such as Saddam Hussein’s human rights record, and as per GW Bush, the holy crusade of the West to promote democracy in Iraq. There is no doubt that the vast reserves of highly pure crude oil did set the stage for the Western armies’ invasion of Iraq, greatly increasing the incentives to take over Iraq by any means possible. In this political greed for controlling the oil reserves in Iraq, the USA lost 4,507 soldiers, the UK lost 179, and other countries that comprised the ‘coalition of the unwilling’ lost 139, bringing the invading forces total to 4.825 lives sacrificed.  On the other side, the Iraqi forces lost 17,690 soldiers, and over 100,000 civilians were killed.

As the world knows, the USA and its allies had to vacate Iraq by 2011; losing men, materials and any semblance of honour, having handed the country of Iraq to a local government supported by Iran. In 2014, with the rise of the Islamic State in that region, the USA sent in 5,000 troops to “assist” the Iraqi government, however the Iraqi parliament voted to have the US military presence removed in 2020.

In an almost identical fashion, the USA vacated Afghanistan in a hurry on 30 August 2021, a withdrawal that was seen across the world in the media. In the early hours of 31 August, the Taliban (whom the US had declared as terrorists in 2001 and had tried hard to defeat for 22 years) marched unopposed into Kabul and declared that Afghanistan was finally free of the invaders.

Coming to the present war of Israel against HAMAS, Hezbollah, the Yemen Houthis and Iran itself.

The war began on 07 October 2023, when Hamas–led terrorists groups launched an attack that breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, attacking Israeli civilian communities and military bases. During this attack 1,139 Israeli and foreign nationals were killed and 251 were taken hostage and kidnapped into Gaza. In retaliation Israel invaded Gaza on 27 October 2023 and to date, their military campaign has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Exchange of strikes between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been occurring along the Israel–Lebanon border and in Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights since 8 October 2023. It is currently the largest escalation of the Hezbollah–Israel conflict to have occurred since the 2006 Lebanon War. Significant escalation in this conflict occurred in Sept 2024 with the Hezbollah being targeted by Israeli air-strikes and targeted assassinations of Hezbollah commanders. More than 1,000 people have been killed in the last two weeks of September in Lebanon and more continue to die as Israel keeps up its assault.

So, the moot question is: How many lives being destroyed can be defined as a “proportionate response” to terrorism? The USA’s war-on-terror killed over six million civilians, the current Israel–Hamas war will claim many thousands more. It is very clear to any geo-political observer that Israel will not stop till it runs out of money or military munitions, or both. Unlike the USA, UK or EU countries that have faced terrorist attacks, Israel is fighting for its very existence as a country and a negotiated peace with terrorists is not on their agenda. The Israeli Prime Minister has been very clear in his recent address to the United Nations. Only the complete surrender of Hamas (and possibly Hezbollah) will bring this conflict to an end, and there might – just might – be a fractured peace.

What lessons can the Govt of India take from the actions of Israel to counter and destroy the terrorist activities that are being constantly financed and promoted by Pakistan. There is no doubt that the funding for Pakistan’s terrorism activities comes from Qatar and to a large extent from the USA. While Qatar wants to impose Islamic influence on Indian continent, the USA wants to destabilize this region. The current forced change of government in Bangladesh is a clear example of the American strategies in the region. Well, our government can no longer afford to be either a neutral observer or respond passively to threats to our unity and democracy.

There is an urgent need for a three-fold strategy to secure our region from these influencers. The first is a precision armed strike on Pakistani Army formations. The second is the targeted assassinations of all Pakistani senior officials who are associated with or have been associated with the Pakistani ISI. The third strategy is to have a squadron of the Indian navy’s missile cruisers patrol the international waters close to Qatar, with a clear diplomatic message to the ruling al-Thani family. “Sponsor terrorism at their own risk.”

However, the above will remain nothing but flights of fancy if the Government of India does not act. The ‘bear-hug’ diplomacy is meaningless if it gives a clear message that India is afraid of conflict, which many observers like me believe to be true. And finally, Government officials, especially from the MEA should stop taking about Pakistan on public forums. It is our Babus who are giving more importance to Pakistani leaders, than the Pakistani people themselves.

So, we must ask this crucial question. 

Is overkill a proportionate response to terrorism?