Uhh.
There are so many inaccuracies in this, it’s not even funny.
1. The Mexican-American War lasted only two years, 1846-1848. Including the Texas Revolution is incorrect as Texas was an independent, sovereign nation, not part of the United States until 1845.
2. The Spanish-American War only lasted the spring and summer of 1898.
3. American involvement in World War I began in 1917, not 1914. In fact, the U.S. was quite hostile to the idea of war in Europe at the time and only joined the war because of unrestricted German submarine warfare on any and all shipping.
4. Dating the Cold War is almost impossible and calling it a traditional war is quite wrong as the U.S. or Soviet Union never attacked each other. While the U.S. did many unsavory things around the world, I’d never call them wars. It is generally accepted that the Cold War began in 1947 with the pronouncement of the Truman Doctrine and ended sometime between 1989 and 1991, either with the beginning of the breakup of the Warsaw Pact or with the formal end of the Soviet Union.
5. The Korean War, 1950-53, is curiously absent. While not actually a declared war (and a war that hasn’t ended yet technically), so many things on this list are not declared wars either.
6. Dating the Vietnam War, also not a declared war, is difficult as well. If you want to get extremely fine, American ground troops entered Vietnam in 1965 and bombing of North Vietnam began the same year. I have no idea where the year 1962 comes from.
7. The Invasion of Grenada lasted a little over a month in 1983.
And as for matters of interpretation, is there anyone seriously against the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, or World War II? I’ve never heard anyone on any side of the political spectrum dispute the merits of American involvement in those conflicts (with the exception of Confederate apologists in the case of the Civil War).
It’s hard not to stand behind Operation Desert Storm (the allied repulsion of Iraqi troops in Kuwait), Operation United Shield (humanitarian operations in Somalia), Operation Determined Falcon (the NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia on the behalf of Kosovo), and Operation Freedom Falcon (NATO intervention in Libya) given that they were undertaken with the best of intentions and based in the Wilsonian ideal of national self-determination.
What Billy said.
(Source: snacktown)
2 months ago • 41 notes
