1956 – Egypt: U.S. undermines Nasser during Suez Crisis. 1960 – Congo (DRC): CIA helps assassinate Lumumba. 1961 – Cuba: Bay of Pigs invasion. 1963 – Iraq: CIA supports Ba’athist coup. 1963 – South Vietnam: CIA backs coup against Diem (who they had installed earlier).
1967–70 – Yemen: U.S. supports royalists. 1964 – Brazil: U.S.-backed coup ousts Goulart. 1965 – Dominican Republic: U.S. invasion prevents return of elected Bosch. 1965 – Indonesia: U.S. supports Suharto coup, ~500,000 killed. 1967 – Greece: U.S. supports military junta.
1970 – Cambodia: U.S.-backed coup against Sihanouk → Khmer Rouge rise. 1973 – Chile: CIA coup ousts Allende, installs Pinochet. 1975 – East Timor: U.S. greenlights Indonesian invasion. 1976 – Argentina: U.S. backs military junta during “Dirty War.”
1970s–80s – Angola: U.S. arms anti-MPLA rebels in civil war. 1970s–80s – South Africa: U.S. covertly props up apartheid regime. 1980s – El Salvador: U.S. funds right-wing regime, death squads. 1980s – Honduras: U.S. turns into Contra base. 1980s – Nicaragua: U.S. arms Contras against Sandinistas
1980s – Afghanistan: U.S. arms Mujahideen, destabilizes region. 1980s – Pakistan: Supports Zia dictatorship. 1983 – Grenada: U.S. invasion ousts leftist gov’t. 1986 – Libya: U.S. bombs Tripoli & Benghazi. 1989–1990 – Panama: U.S. invasion ousts Noriega.
1991 – Iraq: Gulf War, leaves Saddam in power but wrecks country. 1993 – Somalia: U.S. intervention → “Black Hawk Down.” 1990s – Balkans: U.S./NATO interventions in Bosnia & Kosovo. 2001 – Afghanistan: Invasion, 20-year occupation. 2003 – Iraq: Invasion topples Saddam, leads to chaos.
2000s – Pakistan: Drone wars, destabilization. 2011 – Libya: U.S./NATO airstrikes topple Qaddafi → failed state. 2011–present – Syria: U.S. supports rebels, war prolonged. 2015–present – Yemen: U.S. supports Saudi-led war. 2009 – Honduras: U.S. backs coup against elected Zelaya.
2002 – Venezuela: U.S. tacit support of coup attempt against Chávez. The US has meddled (ruined in my opinion) over 50 countries by depriving them of their sovereignty and democratic freedoms.
How can we except the US to not eventually turn inward with those same destructive policies they have forced onto the world for almost 200 years? Trump is merely a symptom of a much larger, systemic disease. The US must stomp this out at its very core - what that looks like, I am not sure.