By Tom Clifford
US threats of intervention and military action, are not unusual; they are the norm. From the end of WW1 in 1918 to 2002 there have been 248 armed conflicts across 153 regions, the United States was involved in 201.
The Monroe Doctrine in 1823 declared US dominance over the Western Hemisphere. It was aimed at rapacious European colonial powers but it set the path for aggressive expansionism in the guise of liberty.
American interference in Latin American affairs was viewed as natural. It set the way for the Spanish-American War in 1898, which handed the US control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, to the brutal occupation of Haiti in 1915 and the endless meddling in Central American politics.
There have been cases where US involvement has benefited mankind. The defeat of Nazi Germany was morally right. In the Balkans during the 1990s, NATO airstrikes, led largely by the US, helped stop the ethnic cleansing of Bosnians and Kosovars. Relief delivered to post-genocide Rwanda or support given to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, undoubtedly saved lives. US power, when wielded with restraint and genuine multilateral cooperation, is without question a force for good.
But too often commercial interests were the guiding lights. If Kuwait was, say, an exporter of vegetables rather than oil, it is doubtful if Desert Storm would have taken place in 1991.
The Cold War provided ample opportunity for the CIA to indulge in regime change. Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh was ousted in 1953 in a CIA-led coup after he nationalized the oil industry. A year later, the US toppled Guatemala’s president, Jacobo Árbenz, fearing land reforms would threaten the profits of the United Fruit Company. These operations had a cover of anti-communist and pro-democracy rhetoric.
The dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos was fully backed by the CIA. He was overthrown in 1986 by People Power and Cory Aquino took office. Ronald Reagan was US president at the time and he initially refused to congratulate Aquino as Marcos was a close friend. In 1973 Washington facilitated the overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile.
US policy could be summed up in a quote often attributed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt who is said to have remarked in 1939 about the Nicaraguan president: “Somoza may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch.”
After 9/11 the United States’ appetite for military adventurism only intensified. Under the banner of the War on Terror, dubbed the War of Error in the Middle East, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq claimed hundreds of thousands of civilian lives and trillions of dollars, while concurrently sowing seeds of further extremism.
Even as recently as April, during a meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Donald Trump tied military aid to a mineral deal.
###
Related articles:
Tensions Escalate as U.S. Deploys B-52 Bombers Over Caribbean Amid Venezuela Standoff
Follow the debates online on our Facebook pages at:
Facebook.com/StMaartenNewsDotCom
Facebook.com/StMaartenNewsOnline
###
ADVERTISEMENT
