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“二战”后美国发动的13场海外战争

美国自1776年7月4日宣布独立以来，在240年的历史中，没有战争的时间仅有21年，即在美国223年的历史中，美国一直在世界某个国家或地区与其他国家军队处于交战状态[1]。据不完全统计，从二战结束到2001年，全世界有153个地区发生了248次武装冲突。其中，美国以执行联合国决议、实施人道主义援助、维护世界和平、保护美国公民生命财产安全等为由，发起了其中的201场，占到81%，导致3亿人死亡[2]。

英国《简氏防务周刊》（Jane's Defence Weekly）于2016年底发布的世界各大国军费统计显示：2016年，美国的国防支出排名世界第一，军费开支为6220亿美元，占GDP的3.59%[3]，远远超过其他国家，并在100多个国家建有大约1000个军事基地。据2017年3月16日《华盛顿邮报》报道，美国白宫公布了2018财年联邦政府预算纲要报告，该报告名为《美国优先：让美国再次伟大的预算蓝图》，提议增加军费开支540亿美元，以凸显“军事优先”，进一步增强美国国防安全和“硬实力”。

现以时间为序，历数二战后美国发动的13场海外战争，以此考察美国频繁发动战争背后的种种动因：

一、入侵朝鲜

（1950.6.25—1953.7.27）

朝鲜战争和越南战争是二战后美国在亚洲用军事手段遏制“共产主义扩张”的具体尝试。其中，朝鲜战争起源于朝鲜半岛上朝韩之间的内战，分别支持朝韩双方的苏联、中国、美国等多个国家不同程度地卷入其中，致使内战迅速演变为国际战争，成为冷战时期的第一场大规模热战。

1945年8月二战结束、日本投降时，美苏两国以北纬38度线为界（简称“三八线”），在朝鲜划界而治，留下内战隐患。1950年6月25日，朝鲜不宣而战，进攻韩国，历时三年的朝鲜战争爆发。1950年7月7日，联合国安理会通过第84号决议，派遣联合国军支援韩国抵御朝鲜的进攻。8月中旬，朝鲜人民军将韩军驱至釜山一隅，攻占了韩国90%的土地。9月15日，以美军为主，包括英国、法国、加拿大、澳大利亚等16个国家的联合国军队在韩国仁川登陆，开始大规模反攻。10月25日，中国人民志愿军应朝鲜请求赴朝，与朝鲜并肩作战，历经数次战役，最终将战线稳定在三八线一带。1951年7月10日，中华人民共和国和朝鲜方面与联合国军的美国代表进行停战谈判，于1953年7月27日签署了《朝鲜停战协定》。战后，美国的年度军费由朝鲜战争前的150亿美元飙升至400亿美元以上，同苏联展开了旷日持久的军备竞赛，导致冷战局面进一步加剧。[4]

二、武装干涉黎巴嫩

（1958.7.15—10.25）

黎巴嫩位于亚洲西南部地中海东岸，属于中东国家。中东地区因其重要的地缘政治地位和丰富的石油资源，在冷战中成为美苏争夺的重点区域之一。

1957年，美国总统德怀特·艾森豪威尔向国会提出关于中东的特别咨文，中心思想是“中东出现的真空必须在俄国人进来之前由美国来填补”[5]，要求国会授权他在中东实行“军事援助和合作计划”。他还提交了中东决议案，宣称保持中东地区国家的独立和完整关系到美国的重大利益，从而授权总统动用2亿美元，给这些国家以经济和军事援助：美国可在这一地区使用武力，以对付“国际共产主义的武装侵略”。3月7日，美国国会通过该决议，决议的基本原则被称为“艾森豪威尔主义”。1958年7月，根据艾森豪威尔主义，美国出兵黎巴嫩，干预黎巴嫩内政。

黎巴嫩总统卡米勒·夏蒙宣布接受艾森豪威尔主义，引起人民的反对。1958年5月，黎巴嫩爆发了反对夏蒙政权的武装起义。7月15日，美国总统艾森豪威尔以应黎巴嫩政府请求和“保护黎巴嫩主权”、“保护美国侨民”为由，批准了“蓝蝙蝠行动”（Operation Blue Bat），宣布出兵黎巴嫩，保护其“被国际共产主义威胁的政权”，以加强亲西方黎巴嫩政府，支持夏蒙总统反对来自叙利亚和埃及的威胁。7月16日下午3时，在美国海军第6舰队护送下，1400名美国陆军和海军陆战队人员，在贝鲁特以南国际机场附近的哈尔迪湾实施登陆[6]。尔后，美国又通过西德“空中走廊”不断增兵。到8月上旬，美国侵黎兵力达到4.8万人。

美国的武装干预持续了大约三个月，直到要求援助的夏蒙总统完成其总统任期。美国和黎巴嫩政府部队成功占领了贝鲁特港口和国际机场。危机结束后，美军于10月撤出。

三、侵略越南

（1961—1975）

越南战争简称“越战”，其本质是美国等资本主义阵营国家武装干涉越南，支持南越（越南共和国）与由苏联和中国等社会主义阵营国家支持的北越（越南民主共和国）及“越南南方民族解放阵线”相对抗的一场战争。[7]

1965年，北越向南越发动攻击，美国出兵援助南越，代号为“滚雷行动”（Operation Rolling Thunder）。该行动由美国空军、海军和越南共和国空军于1965年3月2日至1968年11月1日对越南民主共和国进行轰炸。由于北越获得盟国援助，拥有了精良的空对空和地对空武器系统，使得该行动成为冷战时期最激烈和艰难的空战[8]。一年未到，美国已损失170架飞机，南越空军损失8架飞机。空袭北越耗资约9亿美元，整个越南战争花费美国约7380亿美元，期间有超过5.8万美国士兵阵亡。1965-1975年间，美国空军在越南、老挝及柬埔寨投放了大约760万吨炸弹，几乎是二战的三倍。美国最终在1973年撤军，北越于1975年统一了越南[9]。美国最终战败。

关于美国在越战中为何失败，当时主导越战的美国国防部长罗伯特·麦克纳马拉认为，主要是因为美国低估了越南人的民族主义精神力量，高估了自身现代化武器对付第三世界民族解放战争的力量；约翰逊总统的国防部长克拉克·克利福德认为是美国所支持的南越政府贪污腐化，内斗不已、军心涣散、兵无斗志；尼克松总统和福特总统的国务卿亨利·阿尔弗雷德·基辛格将此归咎于美国国内激烈的反战运动；美国哲学家、语言学大师艾弗拉姆·诺姆·乔姆斯基则认为，越战是美国对第三世界进行的武装干涉，是一场不义的战争，必然遭到越南人民和全世界人民的反对，所以难逃失败命运[10]。

越战是二战以后美国参战人数最多、影响最大的战争，也是美国历史上持续时间最长、败得最惨的战争。越战极大改变了冷战态势，使美国由冷战中强势一方转为弱势。越战加剧了美国国内的种族问题和民权问题，使国家处于分裂状态，给美国人民造成巨大的精神创伤。

四、入侵格林纳达

（1983.10.25—11.2）

北美洲岛国格林纳达位于加勒比海东部向风群岛最南端，是加勒比海通向大西洋的门户，扼守着由南部非洲和南美通向巴拿马运河的咽喉，战略地位十分重要。

1979年3月，格林纳达国内发生政变，亲西方政权倒台，新政权亲苏联、古巴倾向日趋明显。为遏制苏、古在这一地区的影响，美国借格林纳达内部发生政变之机，联合中美洲七个加勒比国家，对格林纳达发动了代号为“暴怒行动”（Operation Urgent Fury）的武装入侵，这是自越南战争失败以来美国最大的一次军事行动。

1983年10月25日拂晓，美国出动“快速部署部队”，采用突然袭击方式，对格林纳达实施伞降和机降着陆，陆海空联合作战，揭开战争帷幕。1983年10月26日，美军攻占格军司令部。28日，美军控制首都圣乔治，主要战斗基本结束。此后，美军派出小分队，对撤至格岛北部山区的对方残部进行搜剿，查缴了岛上所有武器弹药库。至11月2日，美军完全控制了格林纳达，战争遂告结束，整个过程历时仅8天。此次战争的结果是，美军仅19人阵亡，116人受伤，损失直升机9架。格林纳达军方亡40余人，被俘15人，其余逃散。

美军控制格林纳达后，由英国女王任命的格林纳达总督重新组织新政权，美军陆续撤出。总体而言，这场战争是美国对一个主权国家发动的侵略战争，遭到包括其西欧盟国在内的绝大多数国家的反对，美国的国际形象因此大为受损。

五、空袭利比亚

（1986.4.15）

20世纪60年代，北非国家利比亚政局动荡。1969年9月1日，以奥马尔·穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲为首的“自由军官”组织发动“九月革命”，推翻伊德里斯王朝，成立阿拉伯利比亚共和国，后改国名为大阿拉伯利比亚人民社会主义民众国。1976年，美、利关系紧张，卡扎菲下令收回美国在利比亚德惠勒斯空军基地，使美国在中东的战略利益受损。70年代，利比亚为抵制美国的影响和渗透，废除与美国签订的一系列军事、经济、技术协定。卡扎菲在推行反美政策的同时，积极向苏联靠拢，尤其是在第四次中东战争（1973.10.6—10.26）以后，苏利关系发展迅速。1980年，美国宣布利比亚为“支持恐怖主义国家”，关闭了驻利比亚大使馆。

1986年4月5日，在西德柏林，美国驻军常去的一家迪斯科舞厅发生爆炸，两名美军士兵和一名土耳其裔德国妇女死亡，另有230人受伤，其中包括50多名美军人员[11]。美国声称从东德的利比亚特工处获得了有关袭击事件的电话记录。在与欧盟和阿拉伯合作伙伴进行数天外交谈判之后，罗纳德·里根总统于4月14日下令对利比亚进行打击。

1986年4月15日，美国以打击国际恐怖主义为由，发动代号为“黄金峡谷”（Operation Eldorado Canyon）的行动，对利比亚实施海空联合打击行动。在此次行动中，美国使用当代最先进的电子战、精确制导、高速反辐射雷达和远程航空等高技术武器装备，对利比亚实施了一次“外科手术”式的空袭作战。美国海空军以电子战飞机为先导，首先压制干扰对方的防空系统，尔后再出动大批战机实施精确打击，仅用短短23分钟，就摧毁了重点预定目标。在此次袭击中，卡扎菲本人受伤，其一岁半的养女死亡，两个5岁左右的儿子炸成重伤，美国达成了所谓“降低了利比亚支持和训练恐怖分子的能力”的作战目的[12]。

其间，美国飞机从英国基地起飞，准备对利比亚城市的黎波里和班加西进行轰炸，但由于法国和西班牙拒绝为美军飞机开放领空，美军飞机通过空中加油才得以完成轰炸任务。

六、巴拿马战争

（1989年—1990年）

中美洲最南部国家巴拿马连接大西洋与太平洋的巴拿马运河，拥有重要的战略地位，是南、北美洲的分界线，被誉为世界七大工程奇迹之一的“世界桥梁”。巴拿马战争是指1989年底，美国为争夺巴拿马运河权益、悍然入侵巴拿马、推翻诺列加政府的军事行动。

1989年12月15日，巴拿马全国民众代表大会采取紧急措施，任命军事强人曼纽尔·诺列加为政府首脑，授予其绝对权力，并宣布巴、美处于战争状态。12月16日晚21时，4名美国军官乘车经过巴拿马国防军司令部所在大街时，与巴拿马国防军士兵发生冲突，美海军陆战队一名上尉死亡，另一名军官受伤，巴拿马3人受伤，其中一人是路边女童[13]。

1989年12月20日凌晨，美国政府以“保护美国侨民生命财产安全”为由，出动由陆海空三军组成的2.6万名精锐部队，趁着夜色对巴拿马实施“正义事业行动”（Operation Just Cause），首次动用了6架F-117A隐形战斗轰炸机，向巴拿马军队的27个重要目标同时发动突然袭击。巴国防军司令、政府首脑诺列加指挥巴军及准军事部队“尊严营”奋起抵抗，但终因寡不敌众，仅8个小时就失去了有组织的抵抗能力。美国作战行动在48小时内完成，控制了巴军的大部分兵营，推翻了诺列加政府。1990年1月3日，诺列加被迫走出梵蒂冈驻巴使馆，向美军投降。1990年1月12日，巴拿马战争结束。

美国总统布什声称，美军入侵巴拿马的目的是“为美国人创造安全的环境；确保巴拿马运河的完整；为自由选举的安达拉政府提供稳定的环境；把诺列加捉拿归案”[14]。在此次冲突中，美军23人阵亡，325人受伤；巴方205人阵亡，1236人被俘，产生难民约2万人左右[15]。

七、利比里亚武装撤侨

（1990.6.3—1991.1.9）

利比里亚共和国位于非洲西部。1980年，原住民塞缪尔·卡尼翁·多伊军士长率领士兵发动政变，结束了美国黑人移民后裔的统治，建立军政府。1989年，利比里亚全国爱国阵线领导人查尔斯·泰勒（Charles Taylor）率部打回国内，内战爆发。

1990年6月3日，美国以利比里亚内战威胁到本国侨民的安全为由，宣布实施“利刃行动”（Operation Sharp Edge），派遣一支由4艘战舰、27架作战飞机和2300名海军陆战队队员，从地中海驶抵利比里亚附近的海域待命。8月5日，位于利比里亚海岸的美国特遣部队的海军陆战队攻入利比里亚首都蒙罗维亚，控制了美驻利使馆及周围地区，开始了撤离行动，最终撤出2690人，其中包括330名美国公民，以及利比里亚、意大利、加拿大和法国等国的国民。美国海军支持了这次行动，成为美国海军历史上持续时间最长的非战斗人员撤离行动[16]。

八、海湾战争

（1991.1.17—2.28）

20世纪90年代初，东欧剧变，两德统一，美苏之间结束长期冷战状态，全球战略格局从两极向多极转换，国际政治力量失调，局部地区力量失衡，区域不稳定因素增加。

在中东，伊拉克为了解决与科威特的边界纠纷和石油争端，于1990年8月2日凌晨向科威特发起突然进攻，占领了科威特全境，引发海湾危机，成为海湾战争的直接导火索。美国在海湾地区拥有巨大经济利益。8月7日凌晨2时，布什总统正式批准了“沙漠盾牌”行动（Operation Desert Shield）计划，向海湾地区紧急增��，以阻止伊拉克进一步入侵沙特，并迫使伊拉克从科威特撤军。

1991年1月17日至2月28日，以美国为首的多国部队在联合国安理会授权下，为恢复科威特领土完整而对伊拉克发动了局部战争。此次战争代号“沙漠风暴行动”（Operation Desert Storm），持续仅42天，是人类战争史上现代化程度最高、使用新式武器最多、投入军费最多的一场战争。

在海湾战争中，美军将大量高科技武器投入实战，取得了压倒性的制空、制电磁优势。以美军为首的多国部队出动了各种用途的飞机，实施空中作战，对伊军进行了全方位、全天候的空袭。战争开始前，美军使用电子作战飞机对伊军电子设备实施强烈干扰，压制伊军的通信和预警雷达系统，保证空袭行动的突然性。在作战过程中，美军针对伊军的指挥、控制、通信和情报系统实施强大的电子战，对伊军电子设备、防空雷达和通信网络等进行了压制，致使伊军指挥失灵，通信中断，空中搜索与反击能力丧失，只能处于被动挨打的地位。此外，美军飞机、坦克、步兵战斗车乃至单兵武器都装备有红外夜视装置、激光夜视仪和红外热成像设备等夜视夜瞄器材，能够昼夜不停地连续作战，有效打击了伊军。最终，多国部队以较小代价取得决定性胜利，使伊拉克接受联合国660号决议，从科威特撤军。

在海湾战争中，伊拉克损失惨重，2—3万名士兵阵亡，超过7万名受伤。美国在这场战争中使用了贫化铀武器，造成伊拉克军方和平民的癌症发病率在4年内上升了大约20倍[17]。

关于海湾战争，美国当代著名国际政治理论家塞缪尔·亨廷顿在其著作《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》中如此阐释：“海湾战争是冷战后文明间发生的第一场资源战争。最关键的问题是：世界上最大的石油储备，将由依靠西方军事力量保护其安全的沙特政府和酋长国政府控制，还是由有能力并有可能利用石油武器反对西方的独立的反西方政权所控制？西方未能推翻萨达姆·侯赛因，却获得了某种使海湾国家在安全上依赖西方的胜利，并扩大了和平时期在海湾的军事存在。战争之前，伊朗伊拉克海湾合作委员会和美国曾为获取对海湾地区的影响展开了竞争。战争之后，波斯湾变成了美国的内湖。”[18]

九、武装干涉索马里

（1992.12.4—1994.3.21）

索马里位于非洲大陆最东部的索马里半岛上，因其突出的地形而被形象地称为“非洲之角”，是各国货轮出入苏伊士运河的必经海路。索马里局势长期动荡，内战连绵不断。

1992年12月4日，根据联合国安理会的决议，美国以“人道主义援助”为由，组织名为“重建希望”（Operation Restore Hope）的维和行动，宣布派遣一支2.8万人的部队，参加在索马里的援助行动。索马里势力最大的军阀法拉赫·艾迪德认为维和部队阻碍其扩张势力，因此伏击了巴基斯坦部队，造成24名巴基斯坦士兵死亡。

1993年8月，联合国安理会授权维和部队采取一切必要措施，抓捕艾迪德。10月2日，“线人”报告，艾迪德的两名高级助手出现在摩加迪沙奥林匹克饭店。10月3日，美军开始抓捕行动。该行动由美国陆军“游骑兵”部队和“三角洲”特种部队合作进行，但由于准备不充分及情报错误，导致该行动陷入混乱，两架美军160航空团的黑鹰直升机被先后击落，机上幸存人员陷入民兵的包围之中，原本计划1个小时完成的秘密抓捕行动衍生成战争事件。陷入索马里民兵甚至平民重重围攻下的美军在摩加迪沙激战15小时后，才在巴基斯坦维和部队掩护下撤回安全区。行动中，共有19名美军丧生，1人被俘，70余人受伤；除上述两架直升机被击落外，还有3架被击伤，数辆卡车和“悍马”车被击毁，索马里平民和民兵伤亡超过1000人[19]。此次行动成为美军自越战以来最为惨重的军事失败。10月4日下午，美国的电视屏幕上反复出现索马里人用绳子在地上拖着一具美国特种作战队员的尸体游街示众的画面，被俘美军也上了电视[20]。美国舆论一片哗然。1993年底，美国克林顿总统最终下令撤军。1994年3月21日，美军从索马里撤出[21]。2001年，美国哥伦比亚影片公司拍摄了反映这一事件的影片《黑鹰坠落》（Black Hawk Down），“黑鹰坠落”后也指代美军失败的索马里军事行动。

十、科索沃战争

（1999.3.24—6.10）

科索沃位于欧洲巴尔干半岛，东、北面为塞尔维亚其余部分，南临马其顿共和国，西南面为阿尔巴尼亚，西北为黑山，原为南斯拉夫联盟共和国（简称南联盟）中塞尔维亚的一个自治区。二战结束后，南斯拉夫在铁托总统的管控下，民族矛盾暂时掩盖。铁托去世后，多种势力涌动。科索沃战争便是一场由南斯拉夫民族矛盾直接引发、在以美国为首的北约推动下爆发的局部战争。

科索沃阿族人希望成立“科索沃共和国”，但没有得到国际社会承认，致使局势动荡。1999年3月末，以美国为首的北约未经联合国授权，声称“防止科索沃人道主义危机”，于3月24日起对南联盟发动代号为“盟军行动”（Operation Allied Force）的大规模空袭[22]。在持续78天的轰炸中，联军投射的炸弹总数超过2.5万枚，其中精确制导攻击炸弹约8千枚，占总数的三分之一。

在科索沃战争中，以美国为首的西方国家利用绝对的空中优势，打击弱势的南联盟，通过武力，迫其就范。此次战争的作战样式为典型的非接触式交战，即双方始终都未在战场上近距离作战，这在世界战史上极为少见。在交战过程中，北约主要采用三种战法：一是在距战场上千公里处发射巡航导弹进行攻击；二是从美国本土或盟军基地出动隐形轰炸机，在电子干扰机的支援下，深入战区，投射精确制导炸弹；三是在掌握战区制空权的前提下，使用作战飞机从防区外发射精确制导武器，攻击预定目标[23]。

南联盟作为弱势一方，在战争初期利用山多洞多、地形复杂的地形优势，修建了许多洞库和地下设施，在北约空袭前将大部分飞机、坦克、导弹等重型装备藏于地下，躲过大规模空袭，保存主战装备和作战部队实力，但没有有效的反击手段。6月中旬，北约同南联盟签订停战协议，由3.7万人组成的国际维和部队打着联合国旗号开进科索沃[24]。

这场战争造成南联盟约296亿美元的经济损失，超过1700名平民死亡，约1万名平民受伤。境内7个地区的20多个军事目标被击中，位于贝尔格莱德市中央的中国驻南大使馆也遭到轰炸，死伤超过20人。此外，北约盟军至少向科索沃和塞尔维亚境内投放了1.5吨的贫化铀弹，被认为是造成该国癌症病发率激增的主要原因[25]。

十一、阿富汗战争

（2001.10.7—2014.12.29）

“9·11”恐怖袭击之后，布什政府提出了一反国际法规则的所谓“先发制人”政策，被称为“布什主义”，即在国家安全政策和对外交往中遵循“美国利益至上”和“以实力求和平”两大原则，对恐怖主义和谋求核武器、大规模杀伤性武器的不友好国家采取先发制人的打击政策，在全球地缘战略格局上以更具进攻性的军事部署为基础，采用强硬态度追求美国的国家利益。在“反恐”名义下，布什发动了阿富汗和伊拉克战争两场战争，将“布什主义”推向了极致。

“9·11”事件后，美国以阿富汗塔利班政权拒绝交出涉嫌策划“9·11”恐怖袭击的“基地”组织头号人物本·拉登为由，发动军事行动，打击塔利班政权[26]。塔利班是一个伊斯兰宗教激进主义组织，由毛拉·穆罕默德·奥马尔于1994年在巴基斯坦与阿富汗边境成立。“塔利班”源于阿拉伯语，意为“学生”，如此命名源于成员多是当地不满军阀混战的学生。

2001年10月7日，美国发起了代号为“持久自由”（Operation Enduring Freedom）的军事打击行动，对阿富汗盖达组织和塔利班发起战争，标志美国反恐战争的开始。美军动用15架轰炸机，25架战斗机，6小时内实施4轮轰炸，攻击30多个阿富汗境内目标[27]。截止到2001年12月31日，美军共出动作战飞机5000架次以上，投射炸弹导弹1.2万多枚，其中60％以上是精确制导弹药。通过军事打击行动，塔利班政权被推翻，“基地”组织在阿富汗的网络基本被摧毁[28]。

阿富汗战争是美国以“反恐”名义发动，以空中精确打击为主要打击样式的战争。由于双方实力对比悬殊，属于非对称战争。2011年5月1日，奥巴马宣布美国特种部队在巴基斯坦境内击毙了本·拉登。2014年12月29日，美国总统奥巴马正式宣布阿富汗战争结束。

十二、“第二次海湾战争”

（2003.3.20—2011.12.15）

美国以伊拉克藏有大规模杀伤性武器并暗中支持恐怖分子为由，绕开联合国安理会，单方面对伊拉克实施军事打击。由于伊拉克战争实际上是1991年海湾战争的继续，所以，也被称为“第二次海湾战争”。

美英联军从2003年3月20日起向伊拉克发动代号为“斩首行动”（Decapitation Strike)和“震慑行动”（Operation Shock and Awe）的大规模空袭和地面攻势。美国总统乔治·布什在战争打响后向全国发表电视讲话，宣布推翻萨达姆政权的战争开始，强调战争将“速战速决”。在这一阶段，美英联军先后向伊拉克十余座城市和港口投掷了各类精确制导炸弹2000多枚，其中战斧巡航导弹500枚。与此同时，伊拉克总统萨达姆·侯赛因也向全国发表讲话，号召伊拉克人民抗击美国侵略，击败美英联军。2003年4月9日，美军进入巴格达。5月1日，乔治·布什宣布，伊战主要作战行动结束。2003年12月13日，美军在提克里特抓获萨达姆·侯赛因[29]。2010年8月，美国战斗部队撤出伊拉克。此次战争历时7年多，美方最终没有找到所谓的大规模杀伤性武器。2011年12月14日，美国总统奥巴马在北卡罗来纳州布拉格堡军事基地发表讲话，宣布伊拉克战争正式结束。2011年12月18日，美军全部撤出伊拉克。

美国撤军之后，伊拉克叛乱激增。恐怖主义活动转为伊拉克叛乱组织反对中央政府以及伊拉克各派之间的冲突。美国撤军后的头两个月，伊拉克有一千多人遇难。2003年至2014年期间，共有4491名美国军人在伊拉克丧生[30]。

然而，直至伊战结束，指控伊拉克萨达姆政权的两大罪状—大规模杀伤性武器和串通恐怖分子均查无实据，战前情报的错误及其出兵理由使美国在国际上面临广泛的批评。根据2007年1月英国广播公司（BBC）全球服务节目调查报告显示，在25个国家超过2.6万人中，73％的人不赞成美国操纵的伊拉克战争[31]。2006年，英国和加拿大的多数人认为，伊拉克战争“无正当理由”，英国人批评其政府支持美国在伊拉克的政策[32]。英国广播公司（BBC）2007年9月调查发现，世界三分之二的人认为美国应从伊拉克撤军[33]。

十三、利比亚战争

（2011.3.19—10.31）

在政治上，卡扎菲支持巴勒斯坦事业。为此，1979年，美国将利比亚列为支持恐怖主义的国家之一。2011年2月15日开始，利比亚和平反政府示威遭到政府军的武力镇压后引发起义，进而爆发了激烈的军事冲突。交战双方为卡扎菲领导的政府军和由赫夫特领导的反政府势力。据美国詹姆斯敦基金会资料显示，在中央情报局的大力支持下，赫夫特于1988年建立了利比亚国民军[34]。2011年3月14日，赫夫特返回利比亚，负责发起推翻卡扎菲的运动。并非巧合的是，奥巴马总统也在这一时间签署“总统调查令”，授权中央情报局采取秘密行动，推翻卡扎菲政权[35]。

2011年3月17日，美国及北约自称为落实联合国安理会1973号决议，结成“广泛联盟”联合行动，执行武器禁运、设立禁飞区、保护平民等任务。3月19日起，美、法、英等国战机和舰艇打击利比亚当时卡扎菲政权的相关目标。3月31日，北约正式从美英法等国手中接管对利比亚军事行动指挥权。8月22日凌晨，反政府武装控制首都的黎波里，并于10月20日完全占领卡扎菲武装最后一个据点苏尔特，卡扎菲被抓，因伤重不治而身亡。10月31日子夜，北约结束对利比亚的军事行动[36]。

在这次行动中，美国在开始阶段动用战机空袭利比亚，随后由北约接手指挥权。美国之外的国家执行75%的空中任务，美军主要负责情报收集和空中加油等辅助任务。整个行动中美国一直没有派遣地面部队进入利比亚，只向反政府武装提供非武器援助并支持英国、法国和意大利向利比亚派遣军事人员[37]。

结语

可以说，二战后，没有任何一位美国总统可以称其为“和平时期的总统”。譬如，第33任总统杜鲁门任期期间，美国发动了朝鲜战争；第34任总统艾森豪威尔任期期间，美国武装入侵黎巴嫩、多米尼加共和国和刚果；第35任总统肯尼迪任期期间，美国武装入侵古巴猪湾、干涉越南；第36任总统约翰逊任期期间，美国武装介入越南战争、入侵多米尼加共和国；第37任总统尼克松任期期间，美国在进行越南战争的同时，武装入侵柬埔寨和也门共和国以及策动智利政变；第38任总统福特任期期间，美国继续越南战争；第39任总统卡特任期期间，美国介入尼加拉瓜内战；第40任总统里根任期期间，美国武装入侵黎巴嫩、格林纳达、玻利维亚、洪都拉斯，空袭利比亚，袭击伊朗；第41任总统老布什任期期间，美国武装入侵巴拿马，并发动海湾战争；第42任总统克林顿任期期间，美国突袭索马利亚、海地和南联盟；第43任总统小布什任期期间，美国入侵阿富汗和伊拉克；第44任总统奥巴马在刚刚获得诺贝尔和平奖后便下令空袭利比亚；第45任总统特朗普于2018年4月下令对叙利亚进行军事打击。

据中国国务院新闻办公室2013年4月21日发布的《2012年美国的人权纪录》统计，美国是冷战结束后世界上对外发动战争最频繁的国家。2001-2011年间，每年约有1.4万至11万名平民死于美国领导的“反恐战争”[38]。2017年3月9日国新办发布的《2016年美国的人权纪录》显示，2009年以来，美国无人机攻击仅在巴基斯坦、也门和索马里就造成超过800名平民伤亡[39]。2014年8月8日至2016年12月19日，美国空袭伊拉克7258次��空袭叙利亚5828次，造成733起平民死亡事件，共导致4568－6127名平民死亡[40]。人权纪录援引制止战争联盟网站2012年6月14日的文章说，以美国为首的军事行动制造了生态灾难，致使伊拉克战后儿童出生缺陷率“惊人增加”[41]。

关于美国为何频繁发动战争，美国《外交政策》杂志曾总结出五个最主要原因：一、美国具有强大的军事实力，特别是面对微弱的军事力量，很难抵制住诉诸武力的诱惑；二、美国是唯一的超级大国，在任何地方没有实力相当的竞争者；三、美国实行志愿兵制度，由自愿参与行动的人完成军事行动减少了公众反对战争的压力；四、美国外交政策制定者多奉行行动主义，往往赞同美国使用武力；五、美国的军事力量控制在总统和少数野心勃勃的顾问手中，篡夺了美国国会宣布战争的权力，致使“政府机关之间相互制衡”系统在实际中无法操作[42]。

然而，美国不断发动海外战争还有其深层动因。正如美国国际关系专家罗伯特·基欧汉所说：“强国总是寻求建立一种有利于其利益和意识形态的国际政治经济秩序。……具备足够的军事力量保护一种国际政治经济秩序，使其免遭敌对国家的破坏，是成功的霸主应有的前提条件。自二战以来，美国就保持足够的军事力量，对苏联推行‘遏制’战略，在其军事力量的后盾下，美国以多元化原则和制订体现美国利益的规则为基础，建立了自由资本主义世界的政治经济秩序。……美国的军事力量是为保护其控制的国际政治经济秩序而发挥作用的。”[43]可见，在军事安全上把控局势是美国在国际社会掌握政治、经济主导权过程中可资利用的王牌。从上述战争可以看出，美国主宰亚洲和中东的计划在二战结束时便已显现。亚洲人口多，消费力强，资源丰富；中东位处欧洲、亚洲和非洲的接合地带，地缘战略地位十分重要。对此，波兰裔美国地缘政治专家兹比格纽·布热津斯基在其著作《大棋局：美国的首要地位及其地缘战略》中便曾指出：“今天美国全球力量的范围和无所不在的状况是独一无二的。美国不仅控制着世界上所有的洋和海，而且还发展了可以海陆空协同作战控制海岸的十分自信的军事能力。这种能力使美国能够以在政治上有意义的方式把它的力量投送到内陆。美国的军事部队牢固地驻扎在欧亚大陆，还控制着波斯湾。”[44]所以，亚洲和中东自然成为美国频繁发动战争的主要战场，美国在亚洲、中东以及欧洲发动的战争是其二战后为实现全球战略目标而进行的实战演练。

可见，拥有政治、经济、军事、科技绝对优势的美国以“保护美国利益”为由进行各种军事干预，其目标随着时间和背景不同而有所不同，但其背后主要动机基本一致，即为了占据地缘优势、攫取资源、开拓市场，巩固和扩大美国在全球的霸权。

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asipiyayun · 3 years

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Report exposes US humanitarian-veiled war atrocities, as China takes proactive move to strip it of human rights high ground

An article published by the China Society for Human Rights Studies on Friday lashed out at the US for severe humanitarian disasters caused by its aggressive wars against foreign countries since the end of World War II, stripping Washington of the human rights highland as the Biden administration tries to wield weapons of "human rights violations" to crack down on China.

The report was deemed by observers as China's "proactive move" to put US human rights atrocities under the spotlight, after the latter has long used such an issue as an excuse to interfere in China's domestic affairs. Together with the tense meeting between China's senior diplomats and US senior officials in Alaska last month, where Chinese officials dressed down US officials over human rights topics, the report sends a strong signal to Washington that it is unqualified to lecture China about human rights.

The US has waged wars on foreign countries and regions such as North Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria under the banner of "humanitarian intervention," causing a massive loss of military lives, serious civilian casualties, as well as property damage, said the article titled "Severe Humanitarian Disasters Caused by US Aggressive Wars against Foreign Countries."

Since the end of WWII to 2001, roughly 248 military conflicts occurred in 153 regions around the world, of which the US waged 201, accounting for 80 percent of all wars worldwide, according to the article.

During the past 240-plus years after it declared independence on July 4, 1776, the United States has always been involved in wars except in less than 20 years.

The large number of wars has devastated numerous lives and families. For example, in Afghanistan alone, there were an estimated 11 million who have become refugees as a result of the US-initiated war.

The humanitarian crisis caused by military actions stems from the hegemonic mentality of the US, the article read, noting that it is ridiculous to expect a hegemonic country to defend human rights of other countries.

Human rights is the most often cited excuse by the US to wage foreign wars, yet the video of US Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at Oakland on Monday went viral on Chinese internet, in which she admitted that "for years there were wars fought over oil; in a short time, there will be wars fought over water."

To justify those wars, Washington even went further to fabricate lies.

In 2003, the US launched military strikes against Iraq on the grounds that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties and making more than 1 million homeless. Years later, the US admitted that the evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was nothing more than a small tube of white washing powder.

General Wesley Clark, a retired 4-star US Army general, told media in 2017 that he was told by one of the generals that the US was going to war with Iraq. Clark wondered if the decision was made because they found some information connecting Saddam to al-Qaeda, but he was told No.

"There's nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq," Clark said. "I guess it's like we don't know what to do about terrorists, but we've got a good military and we can take down governments." And he said, "I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail."

In 2018, the US, the UK, France and others launched air strikes on Syria, claiming that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. The air strikes led to hundreds of thousands of casualties and displacement of innocent civilians. But the evidence of the so-called use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government turned out to be nothing more than a staged video directed by the White Helmets, a group funded by US and UK intelligence agencies.

Shen Yi, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, told the Global Times that the report reminds people of some long-ignored facts that the "defenders of human rights" are the biggest executioners and makers of human rights problems, said Shen, adding that the approach the US takes to "defend humanity" is often at the root of large-scale humanitarian disasters.

Yet the US, with hands all covered in the blood of innocent lives, posing itself as a "human rights fighter," points the finger at other countries, especially China, for so-called human rights violations.

After Joe Biden took office as US president, the human rights weapon has been more frequently used to pull over allies and pressure China.

Xinjiang cotton has fallen into the recent muzzle of the US' barrel of attacking China. In January, the US began barring entry of all cotton products and tomatoes from China's Xinjiang region, citing the excuse of "forced labor," which China has repeatedly denied with solid evidence and statistics.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, pointed out that when the US is floundering in a human rights crisis itself, it is trying to hurl mud at China, trying to paint a rosy picture for Americans: see, we are having a good life.

Less than three months after taking office, Biden is facing several humanitarian emergencies, COVID-19 has claimed more than 560,000 lives in the country; anger from the "Black Lives Matter movement" has yet to subdue, Asian hate has further divided racial gaps; and the president is now facing border pressures as the US-Mexico border experiences yet another surge in undocumented entries.

Observers noted that those deep-rooted humanitarian problems that are haunting the US, along the detailed report issued by the Chinese research institution, has tripped Washington off its human rights high horse. The Biden administration aims to crack down on China by picking up its weapon of human rights, yet how persuasive and efficient can it be when itself has committed ugly and disastrous humanitarian crimes worldwide, they asked.

"The world needs human rights defenders, but the US is not qualified to act as such," said Shen, noting that the report shows that China cannot be always defensive, but also proactive. "And this is just the beginning."

Despite the ugly US human rights record, some countries still trod upon the heels of Washington to attack China for "human rights violations."

Last month, the EU imposed sanctions on China over so-called human rights abuses in Xinjiang, marking the bloc's first move on such in three decades. Yet the move was hit back by China with fiercer sanctions, and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned the EU to stop acting like a "teacher of human rights."

During two senior US officials' visit to Japan last month, the two countries also signed a joint statement, denouncing China's domestic affairs, including Xinjiang, Hong Kong and island of Taiwan. Then the spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry lashed out at Japan for being a US "strategic appendage."

Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that wielding the "human rights" stick often happens when US power is relatively weak. "The Biden administration hopes to use human rights and values as tools to glue allies together to confront China and heal rifts."

Observers warned countries who are or planning to join the US human rights club. As the notorious US humanitarian crisis has been laid out in front of the world, its followers will also be nailed to the pillar of shame.

The "moral responsibility" of the US is not enough to keep its allies on its side, and the best they can do is to play the role of cheerleader in the grand game of the China-US conflict, and those countries will also leave an ignominious mark in history, Shen said.

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Severe Humanitarian Disasters Caused by US Aggressive Wars against Foreign Countries

The United States has always praised itself as "a city upon a hill" that is an example to others in the way it supports "natural human rights" and fulfills "natural responsibilities", and it has repeatedly waged foreign wars under the banner of "humanitarian intervention". During the past 240-plus years after it declared independence on July 4th, 1776, the United States was not involved in any war for merely less than 20 years. According to incomplete statistics, from the end of World War II in 1945 to 2001, among the 248 armed conflicts that occurred in 153 regions of the world, 201 were initiated by the United States, accounting for 81 percent of the total number. Most of the wars of aggression waged by the United States have been unilateralist actions, and some of these wars were even opposed by its own allies. These wars not only cost the belligerent parties a large number of military lives but also caused extremely serious civilian casualties and property damage, leading to horrific humanitarian disasters. The selfishness and hypocrisy of the United States have also been fully exposed through these foreign wars.

1. Major Aggressive Wars Waged by the United States after World War II

(1) The Korean War. The Korean War, which took place in the early 1950s, did not persist for a long time but it was extremely bloody, leading to more than three million civilian deaths and creating more than three million refugees. According to statistics from the DPRK, the war destroyed about 8,700 factories, 5,000 schools, 1,000 hospitals, and 600,000 households, and more than two million children under the age of 18 were uprooted by the war. During this war, the ROK side lost 41.23 billion won, which was equivalent to 6.9 billion US dollars according to the official exchange rate at that time; and about 600,000 houses, 46.9 percent of railways, 1,656 highways, and 1,453 bridges in the ROK were destroyed. Worse still, the war led to the division of the DPRK and the ROK, causing a large number of family separations. Among the more than 130,000 Koreans registered in the Ministry of Unification in the ROK who have family members cut off by the war, 75,000 have passed away, forever losing the chance to meet their lost family members again. The website of the United States' The Diplomat magazine reported on June 25, 2020, that as of November 2019, the average age of these family separation victims in the ROK had reached 81, and 60 percent of the 133,370 victims registered since 1988 had passed away, and that most of the registered victims never succeeded in meeting their lost family members again.

(2) The Vietnam War. The Vietnam War which lasted from the 1950s to the 1970s is the longest and most brutal war since the end of World War II. The Vietnamese government estimated that the war killed approximately 1.1 million North Vietnamese soldiers and 300,000 South Vietnamese soldiers, and caused as many as two million civilian deaths. The government also pointed out that some of the deaths were caused by the US troops' planned massacres that were carried out in the name of "combating the Vietnamese Communist Party". During the war, the US forces dropped a large number of bombs in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, almost three times the total number of bombs dropped during World War II. It is estimated that as of today, there are at least 350,000 metric tons of unexploded mines and bombs left by the US military in Vietnam alone, and these mines and bombs are still explosive. At the current rate, it will take 300 years to clean out these explosives. The website of The Huffington Post reported on December 3, 2012, that statistics from the Vietnamese government showed that since the end of the war in 1975, the explosive remnants of the war had killed more than 42,000 people. Apart from the above-mentioned explosives, the US forces dropped 20 million gallons (about 75.71 million liters) of defoliants in Vietnam during the war, directly causing more than 400,000 Vietnamese deaths. Another approximately two million Vietnamese who came into contact with this chemical got cancer and other diseases. This war that lasted for more than 10 years also caused more than three million refugees to flee and die in large numbers on the way across the ocean. Among the refugees that were surveyed, 92 percent were troubled by fatigue, and others suffered unexplained pregnancy losses and birth defects. According to the United States' Vietnam War statistics, defoliants destroyed about 20 percent of the jungles and 20 to 36 percent of the mangrove forests in Vietnam.

(3) The Gulf War. In 1991, the US-led coalition forces attacked Iraq, directly leading to about 2,500 to 3,500 civilian deaths and destroying approximately 9,000 civilian houses. The war-inflicted famine and damage to the local infrastructure and medical facilities caused about 111,000 civilian deaths, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated that the war and the post-war sanctions on Iraq caused the death of about 500,000 of the country's children. The coalition forces targeted Iraq's infrastructure and wantonly destroyed most of its power stations (accounting for 92 percent of the country's total installed generating capacity), refineries (accounting for 80 percent of the country's production capacity), petrochemical complexes, telecommunication centers (including 135 telephone networks), bridges (numbering more than 100), highways, railways, radio and television stations, cement plants, and factories producing aluminum, textiles, wires, and medical supplies. This war led to serious environmental pollution: about 60 million barrels of petroleum were dumped into the desert, polluting about 40 million metric tons of soil; about 24 million barrels of petroleum spilled out of oil wells, forming 246 oil lakes; and the smoke and dust generated by purposely ignited oil wells polluted 953 square kilometers of land. In addition, the US troops' depleted uranium (DU) weapons, which contain highly toxic and radioactive material, were also first used on the battlefield during this Gulf War against Iraq.

(4) The Kosovo War. In March 1999, NATO troops led by the United States blatantly set the UN Security Council aside and carried out a 78-day continuous bombing of Yugoslavia under the banner of "preventing humanitarian disasters", killing 2,000-plus innocent civilians, injuring more than 6,000, and uprooting nearly one million. During the war, more than two million Yugoslavians lost their sources of income, and about 1.5 million children could not go to school. NATO troops deliberately targeted the infrastructure of Yugoslavia in order to weaken the country's determination to resist. Economists of Serbia estimated that the total economic loss caused by the bombing was as much as 29.6 billion US dollars. Lots of bridges, roads, railways, and other buildings were destroyed during the bombing, affecting 25,000 households, 176 cultural relics, 69 schools, 19 hospitals, and 20 health centers. Apart from that, during this war, NATO troops used at least 31,000 DU bombs and shells, leading to a surge in cancer and leukemia cases in Yugoslavia and inflicting a long-term disastrous impact on the ecological environment of Yugoslavia and Europe.

(5) The Afghanistan War. In October 2001, the United States sent troops to Afghanistan. While combating al-Qaeda and the Taliban, it also caused a large number of unnecessary civilian casualties. Due to the lack of authoritative statistical data, there is no established opinion about the number of civilian casualties during the Afghanistan War, but it is generally agreed that since entering Afghanistan, the US troops caused the deaths of more than 30,000 civilians, injured more than 60,000 civilians, and created about 11 million refugees. After the US military announced its withdrawal in 2014, Afghanistan continued to be in turmoil. The website of The New York Times reported on July 30, 2019, that in the first half of 2019, there were 363 confirmed deaths due to the US bombs in Afghanistan, including 89 children. Scholars at Kabul University estimated that since its beginning, the Afghanistan War has caused about 250 casualties and the loss of 60 million US dollars per day.

(6) The Iraq War. In 2003, despite the general opposition of the international community, US troops still invaded Iraq on unfounded charges. It is hard to find precise statistics about the civilian casualties inflicted by the war, but the number is estimated to be around 200,000 to 250,000, including 16,000 civilian deaths directly caused by US forces. Apart from that, the occupying US forces have seriously violated international humanitarian principles and created multiple "prisoner abuse cases". After the US military announced its withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, local warfare and attacks in the country have continued. The US-led coalition forces have used a large number of DU bombs and shells, cluster bombs, and white phosphorus bombs in Iraq, and have not taken any measures to minimize the damage these bombs have inflicted upon civilians. According to the estimate of the United Nations, today in Iraq, there are still 25 million mines and other explosive remnants that need to be removed. The United States has not yet withdrawn all its troops from Afghanistan or Iraq for now.

(7) The Syrian War. Since 2017, the United States has launched airstrikes on Syria under the pretext of "preventing the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government". From 2016 to 2019, the confirmed war-related civilian deaths amounted to 33,584 in Syria, and the number of Syrian civilians directly killed by the airstrikes reached 3,833, with half of them being women and children. The website of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) reported on November 9, 2018, that the so-called "most accurate air strike in history" launched by the United States on Raqqa killed 1,600 civilians. According to a survey conducted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in April 2020, about one-third of Syrians were faced with a food shortage crisis, and 87 percent of Syrians had no deposits in their accounts. Doctors of the World (Médecins du Monde/MdM) estimated that since the beginning of the Syrian War, about 15,000 Syrian doctors (about half of the country's total) had fled the country, 6.5 million Syrian people had run away from their homes, and about five million Syrian people had wandered homeless around the world.

Apart from being directly involved in wars, the United States has intervened directly or indirectly in other countries' affairs by supporting proxy wars, inciting anti-government insurgencies, carrying out assassinations, providing weapons and ammunition, and training anti-government armed forces, which have caused serious harm to the social stability and public security of the relevant countries. As such activities are great in number and most of them have not been made public, it is hard to collect specific data regarding them.

2. The Disastrous Consequences of Foreign Wars Launched by the United States

Since the end of World War II, almost every US president has waged or intervened in foreign wars during their terms of office. The pretexts they used include: stopping the spread of communism, maintaining justice, stopping aggression, humanitarian intervention, combating terrorism, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), protecting the safety of overseas US citizens, etc. Among all these foreign wars, only one was waged as a counterattack in response to a direct terrorist attack on the United States; the others were waged in a situation where the vital interests of the United States were not directly affected. Unfortunately, even this singular "justifiable counterattack" was obviously an excessive display of defense. Under the banner of eliminating the threat of al-Qaeda, the US military wantonly expanded the scope of the attack in the anti-terrorism war in accordance with the principle "better to kill by mistake than to miss out by accident", resulting in a large number of civilian causalities in the war-affected areas, and despite using the relatively accurate drone strikes, the US military still did not succeed in reducing and mitigating the causalities of the innocent local people.

As for the procedures followed by the United States to start aggressive wars against foreign countries, some were "legitimate procedures" that the United States managed to obtain by manipulating the UN into authorizing them through the Security Council; more often, the United States just set the Security Council aside and neglected the opposition of other countries, and even the opposition of its own allies, when willfully and arbitrarily launching an attack on an independent country. Some US foreign wars were initiated without the approval of the US Congress, which has the sole power to declare war for the country.

US foreign wars have triggered various regional and international crises.

First of all, these wars have directly led to humanitarian disasters in the war-affected countries, such as personnel casualties, damage to facilities, production stagnation, and especially unnecessary civilian casualties. In the war-affected areas, people died in their homes, markets, and streets, they were killed by bombs, bullets, improvised explosive devices, and drones, and they lost their lives during airstrikes launched by US forces, raids launched by their government forces, terrorist and extremist massacres, and domestic riots. In November 2018, Brown University released a research study that showed that the number of civilian deaths during the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen were 43,074; 23,924; 184,382 to 207,156; 49,591; and 12,000 respectively, the number of journalists and media personnel who died at their posts during these wars, were 67; 8; 277; 75; and 31 respectively, and the number of humanitarian relief workers who were killed at their posts during these wars were 424; 97; 63; 185; and 38 respectively. Such casualties are often understated by the US government. The Intercept website reported on November 19, 2018, that the actual civilian deaths in Iraq were far higher than the number officially released by the US military.

Second, US foreign wars brought about a series of complex social problems, such as refugee waves, social unrest, ecological crises, psychological traumas, etc. Statistics show that each of the several recent US foreign wars created a larger number of refugees, such as the 11 million Afghan refugees, the 380,000 Pakistani refugees, the 3.25 million Iraqi refugees, and the 12.59 million Syrian refugees; these refugees have been forced to flee from their homes, of which 1.3 million Afghan refugees have fled to Pakistan, 900,000 Afghan refugees arrived in Iran, 3.5 million Iraqi and Syrian refugees fled to Turkey, and one million Iraqi and Syrian refugees fled to Iran. In Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, the deaths and injuries caused by the lack of medical treatment, malnutrition, and environmental pollution have exceeded the casualties directly caused by the wars, with the former number being four times greater than the latter. The uranium content per kilogram of soil in Basra, Iraq, rose sharply from less than 70 becquerels before 1991 to 10,000 becquerels in 2009, and the number was as high as 36,205 becquerels in the areas polluted by war remnants. The website of the British newspaper The Guardian reported on August 22, 2016, that 30 percent of the babies born in Iraq in 2010 were born with some form of congenital anomaly, while this figure is around two to four percent under normal circumstances.

Third, US foreign wars have often produced spillover effects, causing harm to the countries that were not involved in the wars. For example, in the Vietnam War, the US military spread the fighting to neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Laos on the excuse of blocking the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" (a military supply route running from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia to South Vietnam), resulting in more than 500,000 unnecessary civilian casualties and leaving a large number of war remnants in those countries, which are still explosive. When attacking terrorists in the Afghanistan War, the US aircraft and drones often dropped bombs on neighboring Pakistani villages, and even on wedding cars and Pakistani border guard soldiers. In an airstrike on Yugoslavia, the US forces even targeted the Chinese embassy, leading to the deaths of three Chinese journalists and the injuries of a dozen embassy personnel.

Last but not least, even the United States itself has fallen victim to the foreign wars it has started. According to statistics from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, there were 103,284 US soldiers who suffered physical injuries during the Korean War, and the number reached 153,303 for the Vietnam War. Between 2001 and 2005, about one-third of the 103,788 veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were diagnosed with mental or psychological illness, and 56 percent of those diagnosed had more than one disease. A study by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which works exclusively for the United States Congress, pointed out that more than 6,000 veterans committed suicide every year from 2008 to 2016. The amount of economic compensation offered by the US military to the Korean War veterans reaches 2.8 billion US dollars per year, and the amount given to the Vietnam War veterans and their families is more than 22 billion US dollars per year. The cost of medical and disability care for the Afghanistan War veterans has exceeded 170 billion US dollars. Business Insider, a US business and technology news website, reported in December 2019 that the Afghanistan war has led to the deaths of more than 3,800 US contractors, and this number far exceeds the relevant statistical result released by the US government and even the US military deaths in Afghanistan.

3. The Major Cause of the Above-Mentioned Humanitarian Crises: The United States' Hegemonic Mentality

When reviewing the many aggressive wars launched by the United States, it can be seen that many of these military actions have led to humanitarian crises. In Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and other countries where wars are still ongoing, accidental bombings and injuries still frequently occur, and refugees have nowhere to stay. The infrastructure of these countries is crippled, and their national production is stagnant. The United States launched these foreign wars under the pretext of "humanitarian intervention" or "human rights overriding sovereignty", but why did these wars fought for humanitarian purposes turn into humanitarian disasters in the end?

In April 2011, the US-based magazine Foreign Policy summarized five reasons for the frequent foreign wars waged by the United States, such as the military advantages of the United States making it hard to resist the temptation to resort to force, and the checks and balances mechanism within the United States failing to play an effective role, while excluding any reason related to the values of the United States. "To safeguard human rights" was not a clear driving force for US foreign wars and that waging foreign wars was only a means to an end, although such an act did not exclude a sense of morality. The United States may feel an impulse to start a foreign war as long as it is considered necessary, believed to be in its own favor, and within its ability, while a sense of morality is not a sufficient or necessary condition to initiate such a war; and as for the terrible humanitarian disasters caused by these foreign wars, they will be borne by others instead of directly harming US citizens and preventing the United States from reaching its goals. Choosing to use force irrespective of the consequences reveals the hegemonic aspirations of the United States, which propel the United States to prioritize itself, demonstrate its "winner-take-all" mentality, and expose its unilateralist ideas of dominating the world and wantonly doing injustice to other countries.

US politicians claim that they respect "universal values", but do they agree that their own natural human rights are also natural for other people in the world?

The United States has formulated laws to ensure equality among all its ethnic groups within the country, but does it really believe that people of other countries should enjoy the same rights? Or, does it think that it can act wantonly in foreign countries just because the people there do not have a vote in US elections?

The United States believes that terrorist attacks targeting civilians within its territory are despicable and punishable, then what makes it accept that the incidents created by the US military in other countries, which have led to a large number of civilian deaths and injuries, are acceptable and even "necessary"?

When they adopt the principle "better to kill by mistake than to miss out by accident", when they arbitrarily use radioactive weapons and destroy all vegetation with toxic reagents, and when they open fire before clearly identifying the targets, do the US forces still respect the "natural" human rights treasured by the values of the United States?

The civilians who were unable to flee their war-affected areas and were treated as terrorists and shot at randomly did not have any human rights. The children who have been disabled at birth by the chemical weapons of the US forces and will suffer for the rest of their lives do not have any human rights. The refugees who have been forced to flee their homes and become homeless in other countries because of the US foreign wars do not have any human rights.

In the final analysis, the mindset of solving disputes by taking unilateral military actions is questionable. Given the inherent antagonism between humanitarianism and hegemony, it is ridiculous to expect a hegemonic country to defend the human rights of other countries. International disputes shall be settled through equal consultations within the framework of the United Nations. Coordinated efforts shall be actualized by regulating and improving international mechanisms and by establishing a community with a shared future for mankind. Only by discarding the hegemonic thinking, which is chiefly motivated by self-interest, can we prevent "humanitarian intervention" from becoming humanitarian disasters. Only in this way can we achieve mutual benefits and win-win results and can all the people across the globe truly enjoy natural human rights.

Appendix:

1. List of Civilian Casualties, Refugees, and Economic Losses Caused by Major Wars of Aggression Waged by the United States after the End of World War II

The Korean War: about 3 million civilian deaths and 3 million refugees;

The Vietnam War: about 2 million civilian deaths, 3 million refugees, and 3 million victims of defoliants;

The Airstrike on Libya: about 700 military and civilian deaths;

Invasion of Panama: about 302 civilian deaths and 3,000 civilian injuries;

The Armed Intervention in Somalia: about 200 civilian deaths and 300 civilian injuries;

The Gulf War: about 120,000 war-related civilian deaths and 2 million sanction-related civilian deaths, and economic losses amounting to 600 billion US dollars;

The Kosovo War: more than 2,000 deaths and 6,000 injuries, and economic losses amounting to 200 billion US dollars;

The Afghanistan War: more than 30,000 civilian deaths, 70,000 civilian injuries, and 11 million refugees;

The Iraq War: about 200,000–250,000 civilian deaths and 3.25 million refugees;

The Syrian War: more than 40,000 civilian deaths and 12.59 million refugees.

2. List of Wars of Aggression Waged by the United States and the US Interventions in Foreign Countries after the End of World War II

1947–1949: intervening in the Greek civil war

1947–1970: intervening in Italy's elections and supporting anti-communism activities

1948: supporting the anti-government forces in Costa Rica's civil war

1949–1953: supporting anti-communism activities in Albania

1949: intervening in the government change in Syria

1950–1953: waging the Korean War

1952: intervening in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952

1953: supporting a coup in Iran to overthrow the then Iranian government

1954: supporting the change of the then Guatemalan government

1956–1957: plotting a coup in Syria

1957–1959: supporting a coup in Indonesia

1958: creating a crisis in Lebanon

1960–1961: supporting a coup in the Congo

1960: stopping the government of Laos from starting a reform

1961: supporting the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba

1961–1975: supporting civil war and opium trade in Laos

1961–1964: supporting anti-government activities in Brazil

1963: supporting civil strife in Iraq

1963: supporting riots in Ecuador

1963–1975: fighting the Vietnam War

1964: intervening in the Simba rebellion in the Congo

1965–1966: intervening in Dominica's civil war

1965–1967: supporting the Indonesian military government’s massacre of communists

1966: supporting an insurgency in Ghana

1966–1969: creating conflicts in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which is a region on the Korean peninsula that demarcates North Korea from South Korea

1966–1967: supporting an insurgency in Bolivia

1967: intervening in the change of the Greek government

1967–1975: intervening in Cambodia's civil war

1970: intervening in Oman's domestic affairs

1970–1973: supporting a military coup in Chile

1970–1973: supporting a coup in Cambodia

1971: supporting a coup in Bolivia

1972–1975: offering assistance to anti-government forces in Iraq

1976: supporting a coup in Argentina

1976–1992: intervening in Angola's domestic affairs

1977–1988: supporting a coup in Pakistan

1979–1993: supporting anti-government forces in Cambodia

1979–1989: intervening in the war in Afghanistan

1980–1989: financing the anti-government Solidarity trade union in Poland

1980–1992: intervening in El Salvador's civil war

1981: confronting Libya in Gulf of Sidra

1981–1982: pushing the change of the then Chadian government

1982–1984: participating in a multilateral intervention in Lebanon

1982–1989: supporting anti-government forces in Nicaragua

1983: invading Grenada

1986: invading Gulf of Sidra, Libya

1986: bombing Libya

1988: shooting down an Iranian airliner

1988: sending troops to Honduras

1989: confronting Libya in Tobruk

1989: intervening in the Philippines' domestic affairs

1989–1990: invading Panama

1990–1991: waging the Gulf War

1991: intervening in Haiti's elections

1991–2003: leading the enforcement action to establish a no-fly zone in Iraq

1992–1995: intervening in Somalia's civil war for the first time

1992–1995: intervening in the Bosnian War

1994–1995: sending troops to Haiti

1996: supporting a coup in Iraq

1997: sending troops to Albania

1997: sending troops to Sierra Leone

1998–1999: waging the Kosovo War

1998: launching cruise missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan

1998–1999: sending troops to Kenya and Tanzania

2001–present: waging the Afghanistan War

2002: sending troops to Côte d'Ivoire

2003–2011: waging the Iraq War

2004–now: inciting wars between Pakistan and Afghanistan in their contiguous areas

2006–2007: supporting Fatah, a Palestinian political and military organization, in overthrowing the elected government of Hamas

2007–present: intervening in Somalia's civil war for the second time

2009: supporting a coup in Honduras

2011: supporting anti-government forces in Libya

2011–2017: carrying out military operations in Uganda

2014–present: leading the intervention actions in Iraq

2014–present: leading the intervention actions in Syria

2015–now: supporting Saudi Arabia's participation in Yemen's civil war

2019: supporting the change of the Venezuelan government

23 notes · View notes