Countries the United States has bombed/invaded

gimmeheroine what else is missing? Mar 19, 2012

sakhalinskii Wow. Nov 5, 2009

sargentaaron2004 Korea and China 1950-53 (Korean War)

Guatemala 1954

Indonesia 1958

Cuba 1959-1961

Guatemala 1960

Congo 1964

Laos 1964-73

Vietnam 1961-73

Cambodia 1969-70

Guatemala 1967-69

Grenada 1983

Lebanon 1983, 1984 (both Lebanese and Syrian targets)

Libya 1986

El Salvador 1980s

Nicaragua 1980s

Iran 1987

Panama 1989

Iraq 1991 (Persian Gulf War)

Kuwait 1991

Somalia 1993

Bosnia 1994, 1995

Sudan 1998

Afghanistan 1998

Yugoslavia 1999

Yemen 2002

Iraq 1991-2003 (US/UK on regular basis)

Iraq 2003-05

Afghanistan 2001-05
Plus
Iran, April 2003 — hit by US missiles during bombing of Iraq, killing at least one persdon.

Pakistan, 2002-03 — bombed by US planes several times as part of combat against the Taliban and other opponents of the US occupation of Afghanistan.

China, 1999 — its heavily bombed embassy in Belgrade is legally Chinese territory, and it appears rather certain that the bombing was no accident.

France, 1986 — After the French government refused the use of its air space to US warplanes headed for a bombing raid on Libya, the planes were forced to take another, longer route; when they reached Libya they bombed so close to the French embassy that the building was damaged and all communication links knocked out.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1985 — A bomb dropped by a police helicopter burned down an entire block, some 60 homes destroyed, 11 dead, including several small children. The police, the mayor’s office, and the FBI were all involved in this effort to evict a black organization called MOVE from the house they lived in. Nov 4, 2009

sargentaaron2004 China, 1999 — its heavily bombed embassy in Belgrade is legally Chinese territory, and it appears rather certain that the bombing was no accident. Nov 4, 2009

sargentaaron2004 France, 1986 — After the French government refused the use of its air space to US warplanes headed for a bombing raid on Libya, the planes were forced to take another, longer route; when they reached Libya they bombed so close to the French embassy that the building was damaged and all communication links knocked out. Nov 4, 2009

sakhalinskii If the bombing/invasion itself is one of the only reasons it didn't become a country, then I guess that counts. Nov 12, 2008

chained_bear I beg to differ, rolig, on the fact that "there is no question." The southern states that formed the Confederacy were in rebellion against their government; sedition does not make right nor does it make independence. If the Confederacy had won its war, yes, it would have been an independent country. But it did not, and during the war was not recognized by any foreign nations; it remained an area under rebellion and as such the U.S. government was fully within its powers under the Constitution to put down the internal rebellion.

Just sayin'. :) You can disagree, of course, but "there is no question" is simply false.

FYI, I have lived in Dixie for about half of my life. :)

and that said, I promised myself I would not comment on this list and I've gone and broken my own rule. *imposes gag yet again* Nov 11, 2008

rolig I just added another one that might be controversial - the CSA (aka The South, Dixie, etc.). But there is no question that this entity was attacked by the USA. (Caveat: I am the child of a mixed marriage: my father was from Philadelphia, my mother from Danville, Virginia.) Nov 11, 2008

sakhalinskii And thanks for putting in Italy, I wasn't sure about whether or not it was actually bombed by America in World War II. But, then again, I suppose I should know that because I have read Catch-22. Nov 11, 2008

sakhalinskii In a vain attempt to end this, I said Palestine because it's more concise than Palestinian National Authority. Also, I included countries which have suffered dictators the US has supported, because the effect is about the same. Nov 11, 2008

john I've been a ham-fisted censor a couple of times over the past few weeks, and frankly, it felt pretty good. Wordie is so totally not the place to argue Middle Eastern politics that I will consider locking this list if things get shrill. Just to let you know.

Nov 10, 2008

sionnach This is actually way beyond boring. Nov 10, 2008

shevek "I expect most people living in the West Bank and Gaza would think of Palestine as their 'country.'"

They thought of it as Jordan and Egypt until 1967. Judea and Samaria are part of Israel. Nov 10, 2008

rolig It's up to the listmaker - Sakhalinskii - to determine how he wants to interpret the word country, which, to my ear at least, has more emotional connotations than state or even nation. In British usage, by the way, Wales, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are all "countries" (which makes me wonder what the United Kingdom is); in Spain there is an entity called the Basque Country. I expect most people living in the West Bank and Gaza would think of Palestine as their "country." These territories are neither Israel nor Jordan, so what are they if not a country? They have a seat at the UN, and the peace talks with Israel are conducted on an officially equal government-to-government basis. To my mind, Palestine is a country, a nation, and a de facto state. Nov 10, 2008

Prolagus I think the list name could be interpreted as "Nations the United States have bombed/invaded" and everything would be OK. Nov 10, 2008

shevek Political views aside as to whether it ought to be, I am merely making a factual point. Currently, Palestine is not a country. (Furthermore, I don't see why preference ought to be given to those who think it ought to be a country. If the issue is beyond the scope of Wordie, one shouldn't promote Palestinian nationalism either.) Nov 10, 2008

bilby With respect, Shevek, I think that issue is a bit beyond the scope of Wordie. Nov 9, 2008

shevek Palestine should not be on this list, because it isn't a country. Nov 9, 2008

pterodactyl You can add the United States of America to this list -- we've bombed our own land plenty of times. Nov 8, 2008

whichbe This list is intense. I bet if you include covert military operations, this list would double in size. Nov 8, 2008

bilby I'd be tempted to suggest Indonesia for the CIA's involvement in deaths of half a million PKI members or supporters in the late 60's. But it was neither bombs nor an invasion. They simply handed over lists of party members to right-wing death squads who were happy to do the job with machetes. Nov 8, 2008