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How Many Wars is the US Fighting Right Now? (1 Viewer)

LowDown

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One? No. More like five. At least.

In addition to these two large-scale conflicts the US is also fighting a number of unannounced and undeclared “wars”. These unannounced wars are fought mainly with air power and increasingly with drones rather than ground troops. If we define war to include conflicts where the US is launching extensive military incursions, including drone attacks, but that are not officially “declared,” then the US is directly involved in at least three wars – in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia – in addition to Iraq and Afghanistan. These unannounced wars follow in the tradition of many previous covert US military incursions, such as in Chile, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The difference is that advanced military technology now enables the US to fight such wars in a different way, which is far less transparent, and to sustain operations over several years.

Who knew? The American people are barely even aware that the US is at war. It makes no difference to them in their lives unless they are in the military or know someone who is, and that is an increasingly small portion of the American people.

How Many Wars Is the US Fighting Today? : Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy
 
I've lost track of how many wars we are in right now. :(
 
One? No. More like five. At least.



Who knew? The American people are barely even aware that the US is at war. It makes no difference to them in their lives unless they are in the military or know someone who is, and that is an increasingly small portion of the American people.

How Many Wars Is the US Fighting Today? : Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy

I never realized it. Yemen & Somalia i never had a clue that we were

screwing around there.

IMO I'd like to see us bring everybody home,defend our borders

and the heck with the rest of the world.

It'll never happen, not sure how good an idea it is but my:twocents:
 
Amazing what one can find with a bit of searching can come up with:

2000–2009

2000 – Sierra Leone. On May 12, 2000 a U.S. Navy patrol craft deployed to Sierra Leone to support evacuation operations from that country if needed.[RL30172]

2000 - Nigeria. Special Forces troops are sent to Nigeria to lead a training mission in the county.[7]

2000 – Yemen. On October 12, 2000, after the USS Cole attack in the port of Aden, Yemen, military personnel were deployed to Aden.[RL30172]

2000 – East Timor. On February 25, 2000, a small number of U.S. military personnel were deployed to support the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). [RL30172]

2001 – On April 1, 2001, a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals surveillance aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II interceptor fighter jet resulted in an international dispute between the United States and the People's Republic of China called the Hainan Island incident.

2001 – War in Afghanistan. The War on Terrorism begins with Operation Enduring Freedom. On October 7, 2001, U.S. Armed Forces invade Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks and "begin combat action in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda terrorists and their Taliban supporters."[RL30172]

2002 – Yemen. On November 3, 2002, an American MQ-1 Predator fired a Hellfire missile at a car in Yemen killing Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, an al-Qaeda leader thought to be responsible for the USS Cole bombing.[RL30172]

2002 – Philippines. OEF-Philippines. January 2002 U.S. "combat-equipped and combat support forces" have been deployed to the Philippines to train with, assist and advise the Philippines' Armed Forces in enhancing their "counterterrorist capabilities."[RL30172]

2002 – Côte d'Ivoire. On September 25, 2002, in response to a rebellion in Côte d'Ivoire, U.S. military personnel went into Côte d'Ivoire to assist in the evacuation of American citizens from Bouake.[8]

[RL30172]

2003–2011 – War in Iraq. Operation Iraqi Freedom. March 20, 2003. The United States leads a coalition that includes Britain, Australia and Spain to invade Iraq with the stated goal being "to disarm Iraq in pursuit of peace, stability, and security both in the Gulf region and in the United States."[RL30172]

2003 – Liberia. Second Liberian Civil War. On June 9, 2003, President Bush reported that on June 8 he had sent about 35 U.S. Marines into Monrovia, Liberia, to help secure the U.S. Embassy in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and to aid in any necessary evacuation from either Liberia or Mauritania.[RL30172]

2003 – Georgia and Djibouti. "US combat equipped and support forces" had been deployed to Georgia and Djibouti to help in enhancing their "counterterrorist capabilities."[9]

2004 – Haiti. 2004 Haïti rebellion occurs. The US first sent 55 combat equipped military personnel to augment the U.S. Embassy security forces there and to protect American citizens and property in light. Later 200 additional US combat-equipped, military personnel were sent to prepare the way for a UN Multinational Interim Force, MINUSTAH.[RL30172]

2004 – War on Terrorism: U.S. anti-terror related activities were underway in Georgia, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Eritrea.[10]

2004–present: Drone attacks in Pakistan

2005–06 – Pakistan. President Bush deploys troops from US Army Air Cav Brigades to provide Humanitarian relief to far remote villages in the Kashmir mountain ranges of Pakistan stricken by a massive earthquake.

2006 – Lebanon. U.S. Marine Detachment, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit[citation needed], begins evacuation of U.S. citizens willing to leave the country in the face of a likely ground invasion by Israel and continued fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.[11][12]

2007 – Somalia. Battle of Ras Kamboni. On January 8, 2007, while the conflict between the Islamic Courts Union and the Transitional Federal Government continues, an AC-130 gunship conducts an aerial strike on a suspected al-Qaeda operative, along with other Islamist fighters, on Badmadow Island near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia.[13]

2008 – South Ossetia, Georgia. Helped Georgia humanitarian aid,[14] helped to transport Georgian forces from Iraq during the conflict. In the past, the US has provided training and weapons to Georgia.

2010–present

2010-11 War in Iraq. Operation New Dawn. On February 17, 2010, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that as of September 1, 2010, the name "Operation Iraqi Freedom" would be replaced by "Operation New Dawn". This coincides with the reduction of American troops to 50,000.

2011 - Libya. Operation Odyssey Dawn. Coalition forces enforcing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 with bombings of Libyan forces.

2011 - War on Terrorism. Osama Bin Laden is killed by U.S. military forces in Pakistan as part of Operation Neptune Spear.

2011 - Drone strikes on al-Shabab militants begin in Somalia.[15] This marks the 6th nation in which such strikes have been carried out, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and Libya.[citation needed]

2011 - Uganda. US Combat troops sent in as advisers to Uganda.[16]

2012 - Jordan. 150 US troops deployed to Jordan to help it contain the Syrian Civil War within Syria's borders.

2012 - Turkey. 400 troops and two batteries of Patriot missiles sent to Turkey to prevent any missile strikes from Syria.

2012 - Chad. 50 U.S. troops have deployed to the African country of Chad to help evacuate U.S. citizens and embassy personnel from the neighboring Central African Republic's capital of Bangui in the face of rebel advances toward the city.

2013 - Mali. US forces assisted the French in Operation Serval with air refueling and transport aircraft.

2013 - Somalia. US Air Force planes supported the French in the Bulo Marer hostage rescue attempt. However, they did not use any weapons.

2013 - North Korea crisis


From Timeline of United States military operations | Ask.com Encyclopedia

And these do not include our military presence in Kosovo and other countries.

[And remember - President Bush is the blame for all of it!!!]
 
I never realized it. Yemen & Somalia i never had a clue that we were

screwing around there.

IMO I'd like to see us bring everybody home,defend our borders

and the heck with the rest of the world.

It'll never happen, not sure how good an idea it is but my:twocents:

Sorry, thanks for the laugh though. I am always amazed when somebody says they do not know where a country like Somalia is.

And funny that you mention our borders, what about our ships? Or has the MV Maersk Alabama already been forgotten?

am.starr.maersk.alabama.cnn.640x360.jpg


A US ship, with a largely US crew, taken over by Somali pirates, and the US captain taken hostage.

Seems like a legitimate use of US military force to me.

No all US citizens that need protecting are actually inside the US. Or are you going to try and say we should bring all of our Merchant Marine back to the US as well?
 
I believe we are still somewhat active in the Philippines. There are also drug war operations with troops in Columbia, Mexico and other countries.

If you want to know more about where your tax dollars are going look up the lists of military bases. We have hundreds, maybe thousands of them.
 
I never realized it. Yemen & Somalia i never had a clue that we were

screwing around there

The reason you didn't realise it was because you weren't suppose to know. The first Navy SEAL to be killed fighting Al Qaeda was Ens. Jerry “Buck” Pope who was killed in Yemen in 2002.

Why most Americans are unaware of this, because President G.W. Bush never politicized the war against Al Qaeda for his own political gain. It was known as "Bush's Secret War Against Al Qaeda."

The strategy is the less Americans know about the war against Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other Islamist fanatics being fought, the less our enemy knows.

Obama should give it a try, less Americans would be bleeding and dieing.

Back in 2004 I talked to a Marine Gunnery Sergeant who just got back from being deployed in Sub Sahara Africa in 2003 conducting operations along with Army Special Forces making sure that Al Qaeda didn't gain a base of operations in two certain countries.

Talked to a Navy Sea-Bee who was involved in a fire fight against Al Qaeda in the Philippines in 2003.

There are a lot of secret military operations against Al Qaeda and other enemies of America that took place in parts of the world from 2001 to 2008 that you would have never thought we had troops operating in.

What I understand Obama decided to continue "Bush's Secret War against Al Qaeda" but Obama couldn't keep it a secret, he had to allow leaks or brag about the once secret war for his own political gain. He also didn't want to capture high level Al Qaeda to gather intelligence from because he didn't want to add to the population of GITMO.

Here's a list of all Navy SEAL's killed since 9/11. As was reported, after the death of Osama bin Laden classified information poured out of the Obama White House for Obama's own political gain that described how Navy SEAL's operate and their tactics. Since those White House leaks casualties with in the Special Operations and Special Forces have significantly increased. You'll notice that by going to these links. ->Our Fallen Heroes | Navy Seal Foundation

Green Beret Foundation | Memorial Wall

Fallen Special Operators | ShadowSpear Special Operations
 
Too bad the provision of the Constitution that only allowed Congress to authorize war was repealed.

Anyone remember when that was done?
 
Anybody who follows the news.

Yeah, well, the point is that that is a depressingly small proportion of American citizens. Maybe 10%.

Circulation of the New York Times: 1.8 million. Wall Street Journal: 2.4 million. USA Today: 1.6 million. LA Times and NY Daily ~1 million each.

ABC World News: ~7 million. NBC: ~8 million. CBS: ~6 million. Fox News: ~1.2 million. CNN: ~0.6 million. MSNBC: ~0.4 million.

So, the maximum served by these news outlets assuming each person uses one and only one of them: 31 million (Which is a gross over-estimate since many people use more than one.)

US adult population: ~250 million.
 
Yeah, well, the point is that that is a depressingly small proportion of American citizens. Maybe 10%.

Circulation of the New York Times: 1.8 million. Wall Street Journal: 2.4 million. USA Today: 1.6 million. LA Times and NY Daily ~1 million each.

ABC World News: ~7 million. NBC: ~8 million. CBS: ~6 million. Fox News: ~1.2 million. CNN: ~0.6 million. MSNBC: ~0.4 million.

So, the maximum served by these news outlets assuming each person uses one and only one of them: 31 million (Which is a gross over-estimate since many people use more than one.)

US adult population: ~250 million.

Of course, those numbers completely miss the number that get their news from the Internet, or from Radio.

I almost never watch news broadcasts, and do not think I have picked up a newspaper since we got Stars & Stripes downrange. So I am not going to show up in any of those statistics you listed.

But I listen to an average of 2 hours of news radio per day. And no, I am not talking about talk radio, news radio (KCBS FM).

And I bet a lot of people in other major cities do the same thing. In LA we have KNX and KFWB, both 24 hour news stations. And I forget the one out of New York I listened to when I lived in Connecticut.

But in major cities, a lot of people listen to them just for the traffic reports, and get the news at the same time.
 
Yeah, well, the point is that that is a depressingly small proportion of American citizens. Maybe 10%.

Circulation of the New York Times: 1.8 million. Wall Street Journal: 2.4 million. USA Today: 1.6 million. LA Times and NY Daily ~1 million each.

ABC World News: ~7 million. NBC: ~8 million. CBS: ~6 million. Fox News: ~1.2 million. CNN: ~0.6 million. MSNBC: ~0.4 million.

So, the maximum served by these news outlets assuming each person uses one and only one of them: 31 million (Which is a gross over-estimate since many people use more than one.)

US adult population: ~250 million.

You left out Comedy Centrals "The Daily Sow" where most of America's uninformed get their news from. .7 million.
 
Of course, those numbers completely miss the number that get their news from the Internet, or from Radio.

I almost never watch news broadcasts, and do not think I have picked up a newspaper since we got Stars & Stripes downrange. So I am not going to show up in any of those statistics you listed.

But I listen to an average of 2 hours of news radio per day. And no, I am not talking about talk radio, news radio (KCBS FM).

And I bet a lot of people in other major cities do the same thing. In LA we have KNX and KFWB, both 24 hour news stations. And I forget the one out of New York I listened to when I lived in Connecticut.

But in major cities, a lot of people listen to them just for the traffic reports, and get the news at the same time.

With further research I learned that about 42 million is the total circulation of newspapers and news magazines in the US. This includes internet portals.

The figure for broadcast news was about right - a total of 23 million viewers. Limbaugh is said to have 12 million listeners with other talkers far less.

I thought there was a poll that asked people if they keep up with current events, but I can't find it at the moment.

Regardless, it seems that if you know enough to post about current events on DP you're practically a freeking member of the literati.
 
The figure for broadcast news was about right - a total of 23 million viewers. Limbaugh is said to have 12 million listeners with other talkers far less.

I thought there was a poll that asked people if they keep up with current events, but I can't find it at the moment.

Regardless, it seems that if you know enough to post about current events on DP you're practically a freeking member of the literati.

And since when has Rush Limbaugh become "radio journalism"? He is a commentator and pundit, not a journalist. He does not broadcast news, but opinion.

ASo I still have absolutely no idea where you are trying to go. You basically just repeated the same thing over again, and have no new information at all.
 
I believe we are still somewhat active in the Philippines. There are also drug war operations with troops in Columbia, Mexico and other countries.

If you want to know more about where your tax dollars are going look up the lists of military bases. We have hundreds, maybe thousands of them.

Yes, we DO have some "training forces" in the Philippines and they're almost begging us to reopen our bases there.
 
Yeah, well, the point is that that is a depressingly small proportion of American citizens. Maybe 10%.

Circulation of the New York Times: 1.8 million. Wall Street Journal: 2.4 million. USA Today: 1.6 million. LA Times and NY Daily ~1 million each.

ABC World News: ~7 million. NBC: ~8 million. CBS: ~6 million. Fox News: ~1.2 million. CNN: ~0.6 million. MSNBC: ~0.4 million.

So, the maximum served by these news outlets assuming each person uses one and only one of them: 31 million (Which is a gross over-estimate since many people use more than one.)

US adult population: ~250 million.

Yeah, but that's a personal choice of Americans. I don't believe it's deliberate deception by anyone. Most Americans just don't give a **** that Yemen is in the midst of a serious internal struggle. Media caters to its audience, they run stories that sell.
 
And since when has Rush Limbaugh become "radio journalism"? He is a commentator and pundit, not a journalist. He does not broadcast news, but opinion.

ASo I still have absolutely no idea where you are trying to go. You basically just repeated the same thing over again, and have no new information at all.

The point is: how much impact can the news media have if no one is paying attention?

It can be argue that all journalism these days is opinion journalism.
 
Yeah, but that's a personal choice of Americans. I don't believe it's deliberate deception by anyone. Most Americans just don't give a **** that Yemen is in the midst of a serious internal struggle. Media caters to its audience, they run stories that sell.

That is true, and they aren't even selling that well
 
We are current in a cyber war with China.
Also in a low profile stealth war with Iran. People involved with their nuclear plans are not dying randomly.
We have soldiers hunting down terrorists in the Congo.
The piracy war off from Africa.
The DRUGS WAR which in itself is pretty huge.
 
How many US troops died in Afghanistan in the last few weeks?

What's that have to do with anything? That doesn't necessarily define a war. There were soldiers killed in Europe after 8 May 1945. That war was over, but soldiers still died.
 

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