Who was the last president who **didn't** get his war on?

[Stinky The Clown]

[cali]

1. I suppose that would be Clinton

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Bosnia, as I recall, was his.

[cali]

16. I really don't count Bosnia as a war

It was a NATO action and there were no U.S. losses.

[Stinky The Clown]

19. Was/Is Korea a war?

And casualties define a war?

[cali]

39. yes, to a large degree casualties do define a war.

Korea was a war. It is not one now.

[Stinky The Clown]

56. Technically, it was a UN "police" action

But you knew that, right? Even as you said Bosnia was not a war, based on that same measure.

[truedelphi]

32. Tell that to all the people in the region who are now

Dying or burying their children from our pernicious and illegal use of DU weaponry.(Depleted Uranium)

[pansypoo53219]

43. 3 dead

not many for kosovo tho.

[Hannah Bell]

29. congo too. & the continued bombing of iraq. haiti: 20K troops.

1995: Bosnia: "3515 sorties were flown against 338 individual targets. Aircraft involved in the campaign operated out of Italy and from the U.S. aircraft carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS America."

1998: more iraq bombing (outisde the regularly-scheduled "no-fly" bombings): The December 1998 bombing of Iraq (code-named OpThe December 1998 bombing of Iraq (code-named Operation Desert Fox) was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets from December 16–19, 1998 by the United States and United Kingdom.

& of course the bombing of sudan.

[Jackpine Radical]

Bosnia

[barbtries]

6. clinton had his war

in yugoslavia.

[wuushew]

11. I seem to recall an illegal air-war against Serbia

and other actions during his Presidency.

[Cali_Democrat]

23. LOL....not very much of a history buff, are you?

[cali]

40. actually, quite a bit of one , sweetie.

I don't consider the NATO intervention in Bosnia a U.S. war.

[arcadian]

46. ...

:rofl:

[Cirque du So-What]

27. Somalia

I realize he inherited it from Poopy Bush, but most of the casualties occurred on his watch.

[arcadian]

45. Bull shit.

Again you show your limited knowledge of history. Iraq is every bit Clinton's war as it is H.W. Bush and W. Bush's war. So very narrow view you got there, dearie.

[noamnety]

49. Clinton invaded Haiti

which was clearly a grave threat to the United States.

[blm]

63. True, since he wasn't president when he acted as Bush's top salesman for Iraq War.

.

[barbtries]

2. carter?

i'm guessing, check me if i'm wrong.

[Individualist]

5. That's my guess as well.

[Oregone]

13. Operation Cyclone initiated a cataclysmic proxy war

Perhaps it was the original domino leading straight to 9/11 and the Afghan conflict of today.

[barbtries]

20. thanks

i had to wiki it. and the wiki page is chaotically laid out. but here's the background given:

Carter's national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, has stated that the U.S. effort to aid the mujahideen was preceded by an effort to draw the Soviets into a costly and presumably distracting Vietnam War-like conflict. In a 1998 interview<4> with the French news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur, Brzezinski recalled: "We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would... That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Soviets into the Afghan trap... The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter, "We now have the opportunity of giving to the Soviet Union its Vietnam War."<5><6>

sigh. who gave US our 2nd, 3rd Vietnam in the form of ... Afghanistan!? seems we did this one all to ourselves?

no more WARS!!
:cry:

[The Straight Story]

4. Reagan?

:)

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Grenada

[The Straight Story]

12. Was that a war? Was sending folks into Iran by carter a war? (nt)

[barbtries]

nope

grenada

[eleny]

10. Grenada...

I know, I know. But still.

[Hannah Bell]

30. nicaragua, covert war, how soon they forget. besides these:

1980 – Iran. Operation Eagle Claw On April 26, 1980, President Carter reported the use of six US transport planes and eight helicopters in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue American hostages being held in Iran.

1981 – El Salvador. After a guerrilla offensive against the government of El Salvador, additional US military advisers were sent to El Salvador, bringing the total to approximately 55, to assist in training government forces in counterinsurgency.

1981 – Libya. First Gulf of Sidra Incident On August 19, 1981, US planes based on the carrier USS Nimitz shot down two Libyan jets over the Gulf of Sidra after one of the Libyan jets had fired a heat-seeking missile. The United States periodically held freedom of navigation exercises in the Gulf of Sidra, claimed by Libya as territorial waters but considered international waters by the United States.

1982 – Sinai. On March 19, 1982, President Reagan reported the deployment of military personnel and equipment to participate in the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai. Participation had been authorized by the Multinational Force and Observers Resolution, Public Law 97-132.

1982 – Lebanon. Multinational Force in Lebanon. On August 21, 1982, President Reagan reported the dispatch of 80 Marines to serve in the multinational force to assist in the withdrawal of members of the Palestine Liberation force from Beirut. The Marines left September 20, 1982.

1982-1983 – Lebanon. On September 29, 1982, President Reagan reported the deployment of 1200 marines to serve in a temporary multinational force to facilitate the restoration of Lebanese government sovereignty. On September 29, 1983, Congress passed the Multinational Force in Lebanon Resolution (P.L. 98-119) authorizing the continued participation for eighteen months.

1983 – Egypt. After a Libyan plane bombed a city in Sudan on March 18, 1983, and Sudan and Egypt appealed for assistance, the United States dispatched an AWACS electronic surveillance plane to Egypt.

1983 – Grenada. Citing the increased threat of Soviet and Cuban influence and noting the development of an international airport following a bloodless Grenada coup d'état and alignment with the Soviets and Cuba, the U.S. launches Operation Urgent Fury to invade the sovereign island nation of Grenada.

1983-89 – Honduras. In July 1983 the United States undertook a series of exercises in Honduras that some believed might lead to conflict with Nicaragua. On March 25, 1986, unarmed US military helicopters and crewmen ferried Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border to repel Nicaraguan troops.

1983 – Chad. On August 8, 1983, President Reagan reported the deployment of two AWACS electronic surveillance planes and eight F-15 fighter planes and ground logistical support forces to assist Chad against Libyan and rebel forces.

1984 – Persian Gulf. On June 5, 1984, Saudi Arabian jet fighter planes, aided by intelligence from a US AWACS electronic surveillance aircraft and fueled by a U.S. KC-10 tanker, shot down two Iranian fighter planes over an area of the Persian Gulf proclaimed as a protected zone for shipping.

1985 – Italy. On October 10, 1985, US Navy pilots intercepted an Egyptian airliner and forced it to land in Sicily. The airliner was carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro who had killed an American citizen during the hijacking.

1986 – Libya. Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986) On March 26, 1986, President Reagan reported on March 24 and 25, US forces, while engaged in freedom of navigation exercises around the Gulf of Sidra, had been attacked by Libyan missiles and the United States had responded with missiles.

1986 – Libya. Operation El Dorado Canyon On April 16, 1986, President Reagan reported that U.S. air and naval forces had conducted bombing strikes on terrorist facilities and military installations in the Libyan capitol of Tripoli, claiming that Libyan leader Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi was responsible for a bomb attack at a German disco that killed two U.S. soldiers.

1986 – Bolivia. U.S. Army personnel and aircraft assisted Bolivia in anti-drug operations.

1987 – Persian Gulf. USS Stark was struck on May 17 by two Exocet antiship missiles fired from an Iraqi F-1 Mirage during the Iran-Iraq War killing 37 US Navy sailors.

1987-88 – Persian Gulf. After the Iran-Iraq War resulted in several military incidents in the Persian Gulf, the United States increased US joint military forces operations in the Persian Gulf and adopted a policy of reflagging and escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf, called Operation Earnest Will. President Reagan reported that US ships had been fired upon or struck mines or taken other military action on September 21 (Iran Ajr), October 8, and October 19, 1987 and April 18 (Operation Praying Mantis), July 3, and July 14, 1988. The United States gradually reduced its forces after a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq on August 20, 1988. It was the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.<4>

1987-88 – Operation Earnest Will was the U.S. military protection of Kuwaiti oil tankers from Iraqi and Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988 during the Tanker War phase of the Iran-Iraq War. It was the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.

1987-88 – Operation Prime Chance was a United States Special Operations Command operation intended to protect U.S. -flagged oil tankers from Iranian attack during the Iran-Iraq War. The operation took place roughly at the same time as Operation Earnest Will.

1988 – Operation Praying Mantis was the April 18, 1988 action waged by U.S. naval forces in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf and the subsequent damage to an American warship.

1988 – Operation Golden Pheasant was an emergency deployment of U.S. troops to Honduras in 1988, as a result of threatening actions by the forces of the (then socialist) Nicaraguans.

1988 – USS Vincennes shoot down of Iran Air Flight 655

1988 – Panama. In mid-March and April 1988, during a period of instability in Panama and as the United States increased pressure on Panamanian head of state General Manuel Noriega to resign, the United States sent 1,000 troops to Panama, to "further safeguard the canal, US lives, property and interests in the area." The forces supplemented 10,000 US military personnel already in the Panama Canal Zone.

[baldguy]

60. You're kidding, right?

[Oregone]

7. Benjamin Harrison, unless you count the Mormon Incursion of 1891

[stevedeshazer]

9. Jimmy Carter.

Herbert Hoover.

[eleny]

14. Even Carter did it by proxy in Afghanistan

You ask a good question.

[The_Commonist]

15. Taft?

That's just a guess...

[The_Commonist]

18. Nope, I was wrong...

Taft invaded Nicaragua.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Taft

[The_Commonist]

21. Looks like it might have been Coolidge.

Or maybe Hoover?

[Contrary1]

17. I think it may have been Taft's presidency. n/t

[FarLeftFist]

22. Never.

America loves to blow shit up. Even the moon isn't safe.

[optimator]

24. "all presidents do it"

I hope that isn't an excuse.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

34. No, but it does point out how silly comments like "The war President" are. n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

36. You're new here, huh?

Excuses for this upcoming war? From *me*?

:rofl:

Tell that to my fan club.

[Stinky The Clown]

25. What about Ford?

I can't recall a war he started. He presided over our defeat in Viet Nam, but was, essentially, just a do-nothing witness.

[The_Commonist]

28. Does the Mayaguez Incident count?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayaguez_Incident

[Art_from_Ark]

38. Ford

I don't think you could really say that he "presided over our defeat in Viet Nam", since the last of the American troops came home in January 1973, while Nixon was in office. Ford *was* President when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese in April 1975, but by that time there was nothing that he could have done to stop it.

[Octafish]

62. East Timor

500,000 + dead. For Empire.

[PJPhreak]

26. Ford nt

[Octafish]

31. Kennedy

Frigging JCS wanted to nuke USSR, JFK said, "No."

Thank God.

[Thothmes]

35. No way. He bumped our presence in Vietnam

from around 900 advisors when he took office, to 16,000 at the time he was killed.

[Octafish]

54. True. They were ''advisors.'' JFK had refused to send combat troops.

President Kennedy said he would not send in draftees to fight someone else's civil war.

Tragic for the nation and world that Lyndon Johnson didn't have the same compunction.

JFK Would NEVER Have Fallen for Phony INTEL!

[Stinky The Clown]

37. Kennedy escalated Viet Nam

[Art_from_Ark]

41. Kennedy had signed papers to de-escalate Vietnam

in October 1963

[Octafish]

55. JFK wanted out of Vietnam. LBJ set a very different course.

Here's what Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, recently wrote on the subject:

Obama: Profile in Courage, or Cave-In?

by Ray McGovern
Published on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

EXCERPT...

Kennedy: Out of Vietnam

The Cuban crisis was not the only time JFK found himself at loggerheads with generals who thought they knew better and who verged on the insubordinate. Kennedy's sustained arm wrestling with his senior generals over whether to send more troops to Vietnam was just as tense, and much more sustained.

In the end, he concluded that they had it wrong and he decided against them. In short, he opted to behave like a president-a "decider" (pardon the odd word). His overruling of the U.S. military brass on Vietnam had huge implications, both short- and long-term. This "real history" is highly relevant today.

The 46th anniversary of John Kennedy's assassination passed by last Sunday virtually unnoticed. The unfortunate thing is this: his legacy on Vietnam is so widely misunderstood that it is easy to miss the relevance of his decision making in the early Sixties to the dilemma faced by President Barack Obama today as he decides whether to stand up to-or cave in to-the Pentagon's plans for escalating another misbegotten war in Afghanistan.

Faux history has it that President Lyndon Baines Johnson's infusion of hundreds of thousands, up to 536,000, combat troops into Vietnam was a straight-line continuation of a buildup started by his slain predecessor. Kennedy did raise the U.S. troop level there from about 1,000 to 16,500 "advisers" - a significant increase.

But as he studied the options, cost, and likely outcomes, Kennedy came to see U.S. intervention in Vietnam as a fool's errand. Few Americans are aware that, just before he was assassinated, Kennedy had decided to pull all troops out of Vietnam by 1965.

The Pentagon was hell bent on thwarting such plans, and Defense Secretary McNamara found it an uphill struggle to enforce the President's will on the top brass. Senior military officers were experts at "slowrolling" politicians who favored a course that the Pentagon didn't like. When in May 1962 Kennedy ordered up a contingency troop-withdrawal plan, it took more than a year for the military brass to draw one up.

As the President encountered continuing resistance, he paid increasing attention to more levelheaded military and civilian advisers as well as to his own intuition and instincts. Kennedy asked the Marine Commandant, Gen. David M. Shoup, "to look over the ground in Southeast Asia and counsel him." Shoup told the President:

"Unless we are prepared to use a million men in a major drive, we should pull out before the war expands beyond control."

Kennedy concluded that there was no responsible course other than to press ahead for a phased withdrawal regardless of the opposition from his senior national security advisers. He decided to pull 1,000 troops out of Vietnam by the end of 1963 and the rest by 1965.

How To Do It

My Irish grandmother called Kennedy "a clever lad" and she was right.

Realizing that he had to exercise the utmost care in navigating choppy military and political waters, Kennedy employed the artifice of sending Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and Gen. Maxwell Taylor on a "fact-finding" trip to Saigon. At the end of the trip they would "recommend" the course the President had already chosen.

Stopping in Hawaii en route back to Washington, McNamara and Taylor were given "their" report, which had been written by John and Robert Kennedy. It was instantly named the "McNamara-Taylor report" and the two travelers presented it to the President on the morning of Oct. 2, 1963. Wasting no time, the President convened a National Security Council meeting that evening to discuss the report.

The senior military saw through the subterfuge and strongly opposed the key recommendations of the report. In his memoir, In Retrospect (2), McNamara wrote that the NSC meeting saw "heated debate about our recommendation that the Defense Department announce plans to withdraw U.S. military forces by the end of 1965, starting with the withdrawal of 1,000 men by the end of the year." In McNamara's words, there was "a total lack of consensus."

However, there is only one "decider" on the National Security Council - the President. Kennedy stepped up to the plate and decided, bypassing the majority opposed.

Thirty-two years later in a Sept. 12, 1995 letter to the New York Times, McNamara took strong issue with a charge in an earlier op-ed that "the groundwork was being laid for our tragic escalation of the war" before President Kennedy was killed. McNamara described the President's reasoning in deciding to go ahead, despite the lack of consensus:

"...(T)he President nonetheless authorized the beginning of withdrawal, believing that either our training and logistical support led to the progress claimed or, if it had not, additional training would not change the situation and, in either case, we should plan to withdraw."

His decision made, Kennedy wasted no time in acting, well, like a President. He told McNamara to announce it immediately in order to "set it in concrete," according to McNamara. As the defense secretary was leaving the NSC meeting to tell White House reporters, the President called to him, "And tell them that means all of the helicopter pilots, too," according to Kenneth O'Donnell and David Powers in their book, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye (3).

CONTINUED...

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/24-11

Like Corporate McPravda, mainstream historians seem to have been MIA on this story.

[Uncle Joe]

33. I'm thinking Garfield. n/t

[Hannah Bell]

42. no one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Wars

[endless october]

44. Ford, i think.

at least he got that right.

[madinmaryland]

47. William Henry Harrison. How much war can you get on when you spend

your 30 days in office with pneumonia.

:shrug:

[ashling]

52. Old Tipicanoo got his warmongering jollies before running for office

by slaughtering Indians and burning their villages etc.

[AllentownJake]

48. Hoover?

[ashling]

50. John Quincy Adams

[The_Commonist]

51. This is a fascinating Wiki page...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations

[951-Riverside]

53. +1

[leftstreet]

57. +2

[Kitty Herder]

58. +3

[The_Commonist]

59. I think we might have a winner...

Herbert Hoover.

According to this Wiki page, the only thing that happened during his administration was:

"1932 – China. American forces were landed to protect American interests during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai."

Too bad about that other thing that happened on his watch.
Hoover was a good guy, and could have been a great president, if it hadn't been for... well... you know.

[baldguy]

61. Ever see "The Sand Pebbles"?

Steve McQueen killed a lot of Chinese.