ABOUT FACTS NET War

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The U.S. has been in many wars since it became a country and even before when we were just colonies. I think we were in far more wars than most of us realize. I may have missed some but here are most of them:

In 1680 we fought a war that was known as King William's War, it lasted about 8 years.

In 1702 we fought Queen Anne's War. This war lasted about 10 years. Some of the indians joined the French against us.

In 1739 we were again at war. This was called The War of Jenkin's Ear. It started in 1739 and lasted about 5 years. It was between the colonies and Spain.

We just couldn't relax and a year later we fought another war known as King George's War. This war lasted about 5 years.

We had a year of peace after this war but then we had to fight the most famous pre revolutionary war. In 1755 we fought the French and Indian Wars. This war lasted about 8 years.

But even in between these wars were we at peace during those short periods where war didn't exist? No because we were fighting with other European countries and the indians. This was called the Colonial Indian Wars.

Now we have the American Revolution and that lasts about 8 years from 1775 to 1783. At the same time we have another war called the Indian Wars. Its starts in 1775 but continues until 1890. Its the war with the various indian tribes. We began fighting this war before we were even a country.

Not long after the Revolutionary War, 1798 to be exact, we fought an undeclared naval war with our former friend, France. This lasted for about 3 years and is almost forgotten by history.

We had various rebellions through out this period but I am not counting them as wars.

In 1800 we fought the Tripelitanian War and this one lasted almost 6 years.

The war of 1812 was fought against the British and lasted about 3 years.

Then there was the Algerian War in 1815, that lasted about a year.

In 1819 we decided to attack Florida and seized it from Spain.

1846 brought us the Mexican War. This lasted from 1846 to 1847.

We had a nice little war in Kansas in 1855 that lasted about 6 years. Both sides of the slavery issue were fighting it out.

In 1861 the Civil War Began and lasted until 1865.

In 1893 we got mixed up in the Hawaiian War.

1898 saw us attacking Spain because we thought that they sunk the Maine, a US battleship.

In 1899 we fought the Philippine - American War. This lasted about 14years if you count the More Rebellion.

In 1900 we got involved in the Boxer Rebellion in China with many other European Governments.

We sent troops to Panama in 1903 to prevent Colombia from overthrowing the government.

From 1909 to 1933 we intervened in various tropical countries, this is known as the Banana Wars.

1914 saw us invade and occupy Vera Cruz, Mexico.

In 1916 we sent a force into Mexico to capture Pancho Villa. This went on for two years.

The Big War, World War I, began for us in 1917 and ended in 1918.

A year later we intervened in the Russia Civil War with other European countries. This lasted about 3 years.

We finally had a period of peace that lasted until the next world war.

World War II started for us in 1941 and ended in 1945.

It wasn't long before we were at war again, the Korean War started in 1950 and lasted about 4 years.

A few years later in 1958 we sent troops to Lebanon.

In 1964 we became involved with Vietnam. This was a long war that lasted from 1964 to 1973.

There were other wars in the area that we got involved with, some covertly. They were the Laotian Civil War which started somewhere around 1960 and lasted for 15 years and the Cambodian Civil War that began around 1970 and lasted until 1975.

In 1965 we intervened in the Dominican Republic.

In 1980 we decided to help Iraq by giving them intelligence info about Iran. By 1988 the war finally ended.

We did the same thing in Lebanon in 1982 but this lasted about 3 years.

In 1983 we invaded Grenada.

In 1987 we sent our navy to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf from the Iranians.

1989 saw us invade Panama.

In 1991 we fought the Second Persian Gulf War. After this war in which we had soundly defeated Iraq we maintained a no fly zone until 2003.

The Somalia involvement took place in 1992 and lasted for about 2 years.

In 1994 we occupied Haiti and still have troops there.

1995 saw us involved in the Bosnian War.

In 1999 we were involved with the war in Kosovo.

In 2001 we invaded Afghanistan and are still fighting there.

In 2003 we invaded Iraq and are also still fighting there.

And finally in 2004 we again intervened in Haiti.

So what do all these wars cost? Besides the obvious in human lives, the financial cost is tremendous. Just looking at the major wars and what they cost in Billions of dollars, gives us this list:

he Revolution                      1.2  
War of 1812                        0.7     
Mexican War                        1.1      
Civil War   Combined              44.4    
Spanish American War               6.3      
World War I                      196.5    
World War II                   2,091.3   
Korea                            263.9   
Vietnam                          346.7    
Gulf War                          61.1
Afghanistan And Iran             300.0 (so far)

You can see by the list above that I have left out many smaller conflicts.

Its hard to believe that one country could have fought so many wars. If I had counted all the revolts and small skirmishes there would have been so many more. It seems that we are always at war. Maybe it is time to rethink our policies.