Random Thought - War (follow up)

As requested, I went about seeing how many years, since the Declaration of Independence, this country has been at war. I looked at five different websites (from official US military sites to historical sites). I defined war as a large US government military action against another country or region (I did count the Civil War though) in which there were many casualties. My research has shown that the US has been at War for 97 out of 230 years (42% of the time). However, I further researched to include smaller wars and conflicts, such as taking over the Philippines, pro-active battles against the Indians, basically all US military actions that we caused, in which at least 100 soldiers on our side died and at least 1,000 people died overall. This does not include any small single battled or actions taken to defend US soil. With this standard, the US has been at war or in an armed conflict for 150 out of 230 years (65%). Since 1900, the rate has increased to 91% and does not reflect the fact that there were often in more than one conflict at any given time.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize all five US presidents that kept this country out of conflicts for more than half their term (4 year term min.). George Washington (8 of 8 years), John Quincy Adams (4 of 4 years), James Monroe (6 of 8 years), Grover Cleveland (7 of 8 years), and Benjamin Harrison (4 of 4 years). Honorable mention: Bill Clinton (4 of 8 years).

Are we simply a country of war, is this bad, and if so is it too late to change?

Comments

Anonymous said…
The fact that we have been at war since the inception of the U.S. for the greater majority (redundancy) of our history is interesting... But I also think we should note the nature of the "wars" themselves. It seems to me that wars at first were the result of more "social concerns" followed in time by wars that resulted from "political issues" and now "economic gains." But that is just my opinion and you may not agree with me, but that would just make you wrong.
lonnie
8:42 PM
lindy said…
it seems people are just naturally warlike. We are animals and most animals seem to feel the constant need to defend or expand their territory if they can. If we weren't animals then we would just decide that any conflicts would be worked out through best two out of three rochambeau, chess, and science fair entries. As it is we decide who wins based on who kills the most people. Seems a bit animalistic to me... At least animals have the good sense to eat what they kill. Unfortunately i think the bad guys are onto a new development in warfare. Televised beheadings are right up there with climbing trees and firing on goosestepping redcoats for advancement in horrifying the enemy. We should know by now that the only next step we ever take is escalation. Do we really have to blow ourselves up or can we actually become civilized and find some better way to solve our problems? Bonobo chimps solve all their conflicts with food or sex- if only we were smart enough to just offer our enemies a banana.
10:15 PM
Anonymous said…
the fact that clinton presided over 4 of peace contradicts your previous random thought-war where it states he presided over 8 years of peace...i think the former is right considering kosovo...
-crabby
1:51 AM
Dan Lipka said…
I counted Kosovo as a conflict (not a war) for the US (although it was certainly a war for the countries more directly involved). During the conflict, the US did not have any casualties during this conflict. Nevertheless, Clinton's four years with no war and four with conflict is still one of the better records in our history. Of course, maybe we should have gone into Kosovo earlier, but that is another story for another time.

And to the earlier posts about the nature of war, I believe that wars are sometimes necessary and worth the ultimate sacrifice, but each and every instance has to be fully understood, analyzed, and justified. I think that there are absolute atrocities happening all around the world, places where genocide, rape, and torture are commonplace, and I think that it is the moral responsibility of any government that can help to help. More on another time.
12:50 PM
Anonymous said…
Dan, I think you are an optimist - a rare breed on the American landscape these days . . . nay, global landscape. This talk of war - should we or shouldn't we? Do we have to? If so, why? - is irrelevant. Once I realized that the human race is nothing but a brief, troublesome rash on the face of the blue-green rock, the idea of who kills whom and what for seems kind of pointless. As Lindy said, it may be human nature but maybe it's just nature. When I was in Africa, I was disturbed to discover that adorable hippos kill more people than any other animal on the continent. "But, Heather!" you protest, "Those very huggable creatures are herbivores! What is the need for such violence???" You know why? They don't like us, they don't like they way we smell, the noises we make and how our little skinny bodies are always nosing around. They just like to snap us in half like bugs. They know we are a passing phase and aren't likely to last. Sure, it's fatalistic viewpoint but it helps me sleep at night.
HEATHER
1:00 PM
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