hun the sun:
Last time I`ve been in France, they british and american
cemetries were in excellent condition.
hello hun,
yes! in my country too, they are...but what's about american cemetries in all the other countries? are they in an excellent condition too? what do you think?
most euros, when they think about americans and war they think at WW2 and iraq and there's not much inbetween, like 'they must have been at war with someone, but i just don't remember any name right now...'
as amis (french: 'friends') know all this much better because they certainly are told at school, i looked for an overview to understand what they are talking about:
American Military Interventions
of the 20th Century
William Blum, from his book "Rogue Nation"
Please be aware that this listing does not include many, many U.S. "interventions" where U.S. troops were not the primary force - such as the U.S. intervention in the Greek civil war during the 1950s - nor does it include the many, many U.S. nuclear threats that one might well consider a form of intervention - such as the U.S. nuclear threat during the '73 Arab-Israeli war - nor does it include many CIA organized war efforts, such as the long war against the leftist Angolan government which was waged by the U.S. and racist South Africa - nor does it include all the countries intervened/invaded by the U.S. in World War I and World War II.
But anyway, here's some food for thought. The listing is comprised of the Country/Date/type of intervention/and a few specifics:
SOUTH DAKOTA 1890 (-?) Troops
ARGENTINA 1890 Troops
CHILE 1891 Troops
HAITI 1891 Troops
IDAHO 1892 Troops
HAWAII 1893 (-?) Naval, troops
CHICAGO 1894 Troops
NICARAGUA 1894 Troops
CHINA 1894-95 Naval, troops
KOREA 1894-96 Troops
PANAMA 1895 Troops, naval
NICARAGUA 1896 Troops
CHINA 1898-1900 Troops
PHILIPPINES 1898-1910 (-?) Naval, troops
CUBA 1898-1902 (-?) Naval, troops
PUERTO RICO 1898 (-?) Naval, troops
GUAM 1898 (-?) Naval, troops
MINNESOTA 1898 (-?) Troops
NICARAGUA 1898 Troops
SAMOA 1899 (-?) Troops
NICARAGUA 1899 Troops
IDAHO 1899-1901 Troops
OKLAHOMA 1901 Troops
PANAMA 1901-14 Naval, troops
HONDURAS 1903 Troops
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1903-04 Troops
KOREA 1904-05 Troops
CUBA 1906-09 Troops
NICARAGUA 1907 Troops
HONDURAS 1907 Troops
PANAMA 1908 Troops
NICARAGUA 1910 Troops
HONDURAS 1911 Troops
CHINA 1911-41 Naval, troops
CUBA 1912 Troops
PANAMA 1912 Troops
HONDURAS 1912 Troops
NICARAGUA 1912-33 Troops, bombing
MEXICO 1913 Naval
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1914 Naval
COLORADO 1914 Troops
MEXICO 1914-18 Naval, troops
HAITI 1914-34 Troops, bombing
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1916-24 Troops
CUBA 1917-33 Troops
WORLD WAR I 1917-18 naval, troops
RUSSIA 1918-22 Naval, troops
PANAMA 1918-20 Troops
HONDURAS 1919 Troops
YUGOSLAVIA 1919 Troops/Marines
GUATEMALA 1920 Troops
WEST VIRGINIA 1920-21 Troops, bombing
TURKEY 1922 Troops
CHINA 1922-27 Naval, troops
HONDURAS 1924-25 Troops
PANAMA 1925 Troops
CHINA 1927-34 Troops
EL SALVADOR 1932 Naval
WASHINGTON DC 1932 Troops
WORLD WAR II 1941-45 Naval, troops, bombing, nuclear
DETROIT 1943 Troops
IRAN 1946 Nuclear threat
YUGOSLAVIA 1946 Nuclear threat, naval
URUGUAY 1947 Nuclear threat
GREECE 1947-49 Command operation
GERMANY 1948 Nuclear Threat
CHINA 1948-49 Troops/Marines
PHILIPPINES 1948-54 Command operation
PUERTO RICO 1950 Command operation
KOREA 1951-53 (-?) Troops, naval, bombing , nuclear threats
IRAN 1953 Command Operation
VIETNAM 1954 Nuclear threat
GUATEMALA 1954 Command operation, bombing, nuclear threat
EGYPT 1956 Nuclear threat, troops
LEBANON l958 Troops, naval
IRAQ 1958 Nuclear threat
CHINA l958 Nuclear threat
PANAMA 1958 Troops
VIETNAM l960-75 Troops, naval, bombing, nuclear threats
LAOS 1962 Command operation
CUBA l961 Command operation
GERMANY l961 Nuclear threat
CUBA l962 Nuclear threat, naval
PANAMA l964 Troops
INDONESIA l965 Command operation
DOMINICAN REPUBLI 1965-66 Troops, bombing
GUATEMALA l966-67 Command operation
DETROIT l967 Troops
UNITED STATES l968 Troops
CAMBODIA l969-75 Bombing, troops, naval
OMAN l970 Command operation
LAOS l971-73 Command operation, bombing
SOUTH DAKOTA l973 Command operation
MIDEAST 1973 Nuclear threat
CHILE 1973 Command operation
CAMBODIA l975 Troops, bombing
ANGOLA l976-92 Command operation
IRAN l980 Troops, nuclear threat, aborted bombing
LIBYA l981 Naval jets
EL SALVADOR l981-92 Command operation, troops
NICARAGUA l981-90 Command operation, naval
LEBANON l982-84 Naval, bombing, troops
GRENADA l983-84 Troops, bombing
HONDURAS l983-89 Troops
IRAN l984 Jets
LIBYA l986 Bombing, naval
BOLIVIA 1986 Troops
IRAN l987-88 Naval, bombing
LIBYA 1989 Naval jets
VIRGIN ISLAND 1989 Troops
PHILIPPINES 1989 Jets
PANAMA 1989 (-?) Troops, bombing
LIBERIA 1990 Troops
SAUDI ARABIA 1990-91 Troops, jets
IRAQ 1990-? Bombing, troops, naval
KUWAIT 1991 Naval, bombing, troops
LOS ANGELES 1992 Troops
SOMALIA 1992-94 Troops, naval, bombing
YUGOSLAVIA 1992-94 Naval
BOSNIA 1993-? Jets, bombing
HAITI 1994-? Troops, naval
ZAIRE (CONGO) 1996-97 Troops
LIBERIA 1997 Troops
ALBANIA 1997 Troops
SUDAN 1998 Missiles
AFGHANISTAN 1998 Missiles
IRAQ 1998-? Bombing, Missiles
YUGOSLAVIA 1999 Bombing, Missiles
YEMEN 2000 Naval
MACEDONIA 2001 Troops
UNITED STATES 2001 Jets, naval
AFGHANISTAN 2001-? Troops, bombing, missiles
YEMEN 2002 Missiles
PHILIPPINES 2002 Troops, naval
COLOMBIA 2003-? Troops
IRAQ 2003-? Troops, naval, bombing, missiles
details about 'interventions' since 1945 can be found at william blum's page but also everywhere else
so, reading the postings here gives me a strange feeling as i always (already as a child) held the 'amis' for friends, but when i see 'they truly hate us' and 'consider them as enemies' etc. i have to wonder, if i want friends with so many enemies after all, friends at war all the time?