In 1775 The United States fought a war against Great Britain. Ostensibly the purpose of the was was to free the colonists from the tyrannical rule of the British. However, current evidence points to a different reason. Months before the revolutionary war the high court of Great Britain issued a ruling declaring slavery illegal.

"the common law of England was incompatible with slavery, and neither recognized nor permitted its existence." Goodell, supra, pp 18 and 49-51.

Quite simply, the revolutionary war was not a war fought for independence. The revolutionary war was a war fought to continue the oppression and slavery of an entire race of people.
Between 1783 and 1861 (the beginning of the civil war) The United States engaged in 15 major military conflicts. Notable encounters include

• The Quasi-War
• Tripolitan War
• "Little Belt" Affair
• War of 1812
• First Seminole War
• Black Hawk War
• Assault on Sumatra
• Texas Revolution
• Second Seminole War
• Aroostook War
• Mexican War
• Cayuse War
• Third Seminole War
• Bleeding Kansas
• Mormon Expedition

A large portion of these conflicts were massacres of Indians as Americans moved westward and invaded Indian land.

Between 1871 and the start of World War I in 1917 the United States engaged in 15 more conflicts.

• War with Korea

In 1871 after the death of merchants in Korea the United States invaded and killed 250 Koreans.

• Apache Wars

Apache leaders Geronimo and Victorio raid white settlers and soldiers; Geronimo surrenders in 1886.

• Modoc War

U.S. cavalry fight to return the Modoc people and their leader, Kintpuash (known to whites as Captain Jack), to an Oregon reservation; Kintpuash is hanged and the Modoc are exiled to Oklahoma.

• Black Hills War

Gold in South Dakota brings in whites to Sioux land. Colonel George A. Custer and 264 soldiers are killed at Little Bighorn; subsequently, the U.S. Army destroys Indian resistance.

• Nez Perce War

The U.S. moves against the previously peaceful Nez Perce people in the Northwest; Chief Joseph leads a skillful retreat towards Canada, but is caught.

• Bannock War

Native Americans of the Bannock tribe attack white settlers in Idaho before they suffer heavy losses and are forced back to Fort Hall Reservation.

• Messiah War

The U.S. apprehends Sioux leader Sitting Bull, who is killed when followers try to free him. The Sioux surrender but are massacred at Wounded Knee in this final fight between Native Americans and the U.S. Army.

• Coup in Hawaii

In 1893 the United States preformed a coup in Hawaii.

On January 16, 1893, four boatloads of United States Marines armed with Gatling guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition came ashore in Honolulu, capital of the independent Kingdom of Hawaii. As the Royal Hawaiian band played a concert at the Hawaiian Hotel, 162 troops marched through the streets of Honolulu, heading for the palace. The Queen of Hawaii, Lili'uokalani, looked down from her balcony as the troops took up their positions.
The following day, she surrendered at gunpoint, yielding her throne to the government of the United States. A provisional government led by wealthy white sugar growers assumed control of Hawaii and petitioned the US for annexation.

• Spanish-American War

U.S. victories against Spain lead to the Treaty of Paris, which establishes the independence of Cuba, and cedes Puerto Rico and Guam to the U.S.. The U.S. also purchases the Philippines for $20 million.

• Occupation of Nicaragua

Marines arrive in Nicaragua to bolster the government of Adolfo Diaz; the last marines depart in 1934.

• Tampico Affair

After U.S. Marines are arrested at Tampico, U.S. forces bombard Veracruz and occupy the city.

• Invasion of Haiti

U.S. Marines occupy Haiti after a civil war; a treaty between the U.S. and the Haitian Senate makes the island nation a virtual U.S. protectorate. Troops withdraw in 1934.

• Expedition Against Villa

The U.S. military invades Mexico to capture Mexican Pancho Villa, who had raided New Mexico, killing 18; U.S. forces numbering 11,000 withdraw, unable to capture Villa.

In 1917 the United States ended three years of neutrality when it entered World War I.

At the end of World War I the United States and other allied powers imposed strict terms of settlement against Germany that required Germany to repay the Allied costs of war.

These costs would eventually bankrupt the German economy and allowed the rise of the Nazi Party and led directly to World War II.

The short interval between World War I and World War II was punctuated by only two conflicts. In 1918 The U.S. and other Allied troops invade Russia to protect war supplies during the Russian Revolution. In 1927 One hundred Marines land in Shanghai to defend U.S. property during a civil war there.

In 1941 the United States entered World War II after Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Germany and Japan surrender to Allied Forces in 1945.

After World War II with the development of agencies like the CIA the US developed an interventionist policy.

• Korean War

The U.S. battles North Korean soldiers and then Chinese soldiers before an armistice is signed in 1953.

• Defense of Chinese Nationalists

The U.S. 7th Fleet helps Nationalist Chinese evacuate 25,000 troops and 17,000 civilians from China to Taiwan to escape Communist forces.

• Bay of Pigs

This much-publicized invasion of Cuba in 1961 is the definition of US policy.

• Anti-Communist Intervention

President John F. Kennedy orders 5,000 troops to Thailand to support the right-wing Laotian government.

• Vietnam War

In 1955, U.S. advisers are sent to Vietnam; in 1964 Congress authorizes President Lyndon B. Johnson to "repel any armed attack" in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. A cease-fire is declared in 1973.

• Dominican Crisis

Marines invade the Dominican Republic at the start of a civil war; troops withdraw in 1966.

• Mayaguez Incident

A U.S. merchant ship is rescued from Cambodians by U.S. Navy and Marines.

• Operation Eagle Claw

A military mission to free American hostages in Iran fails.

• Operation Urgent Fury

U.S. Marines and Rangers remove U.S. medical students from Grenada.

• Operation El Dorado Canyon

U.S. war planes strike Libya in retaliation for the Libyan bombing of a West Berlin disco.

• Persian Gulf War

The U.S. leads a multi-nation coalition against Iraq after that country invades Kuwait; Iraq surrenders.

• Somalia

U.S. troops go to Somalia to help restore order and deliver food during a period of unrest and famine.

• Hati

The U.S. Army sends troops to Haiti in September 1994 to help restore a democratic government.

• Balkan War

The United States bombs Bosnia to prevent "ethnic cleansing" by Serbs in that region and then sends troops to Bosnia to join a NATO peacekeeping force there, as well as in other Balkan areas including Macedonia and Kosovo.

The New York times has a special webpage setup that doccuments the CIA's involvement in Iran. This seven part series doccuments in intricate detail the CIA's role in overthrowing the goverment in Iran and installing a dictitorial regime.

cryptome: an archive of covert and clandestine operations across the world. They also have a special page dedicated to the Iran-CIA connection.

On September 11, 1973 the CIA helped General Augusto Pinochet orchestrate Salvador Allende Gossens, the first democratically-elected socialist leader of Chile.

For the next 17 years Pinochet ruled Chile with an iron fist and committed documented war crimes.

The CIA has only recently (2000) acknowledged it's role [cache] in the Coup D'etat [cache].[NOTE: when I published this on 2004-11-27, the gwu.edu webserver was down. I have included links to the google cache ]

The United States has constantly since it's inception embroiled itself in a interventionist forigen policy that ultimately be it's demise.