We came, we saw, we destroyed, we forgot

The Anti-Empire Report 

By William Blum

Foreign Policy Journal

July 29, 2011 

 
An updated summary of the charming record of US foreign policy. Since the end of the Second World War, the United States of America has …

Attempted to overthrow more than 50 governments, most of which were democratically-elected.[1]

1. Attempted to suppress a populist or nationalist movement in 20 countries.[2]
2. Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries.[3]
3. Dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 countries.[4]
4. Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders.[5]

In total: Since 1945, the United States has carried out one or more of the above actions, on one or more occasions, in the following 69 countries (more than one-third of the countries of the world):

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Australia Bolivia Bosnia Brazil British Guiana (now Guyana) Bulgaria Cambodia Chad Chile China Colombia Congo (also as Zaire) Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Fiji France Germany (plus East Germany) Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Honduras India Indonesia Iran

Iraq Italy Jamaica Japan Kuwait Laos Lebanon Libya Mongolia Morocco Nepal Nicaragua North Korea Pakistan Palestine Panama Peru Philippines Portugal Russia Seychelles Slovakia Somalia South Africa Soviet Union Sudan Suriname Syria Thailand Uruguay Venezuela Vietnam (plus North Vietnam) Yemen (plus South Yemen) Yugoslavia

Notes
1. http://killinghope.org/essays6/othrow.htm
2. http://killinghope.org/bblum6/suppress.html
3. See chapter 18 of Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower – add Palestine, 2006 to the list
4. http://killinghope.org/superogue/bomb.htm
5. http://killinghope.org/bblum6/assass.htm

William Blum left the State Department in 1967, abandoning his aspiration of becoming a Foreign Service Officer, because of his opposition to what the United States was doing in Vietnam. He then became one of the founders and editors of the Washington Free Press. Mr. Blum has been a freelance journalist in the United States, Europe, and South America and was one of the recipients of Project Censored’s awards for “exemplary journalism” in 1999. He is the author of numerous books, including: Freeing the World to Death: essays on the American Empire, Killing Hope: U.S. Military and C.I.A. Interventions Since World War II, and Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower. Mr. Blum writes a free monthly newsletter, the Anti-Empire Report, which you may subscribe to by contacting him at bblum6@aol.com. Read more articles by William Blum.
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