r/theworldneedshelp•1 yr. ago

American govermant sucks

Libya
- 2011: U.S.-led NATO intervention under UN Resolution 1973 helped topple the regime; the country collapsed into prolonged civil war. Sources: UN S/RES/1973 (2011); RAND.
  - https://undocs.org/S/RES/1973(2011)
  - https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR577.html

Other foreign actions (coups, covert ops, invasions)

Iran (1953): CIA-backed coup against PM Mohammad Mossadegh. Source: National Security Archive.
- https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB435/
Guatemala (1954): CIA-backed overthrow of Jacobo Árbenz. Source: National Security Archive.
- https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB4/
Chile (1970–73): Covert efforts against Allende and support for forces that led to Pinochet’s coup. Source: National Security Archive.
- https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/
Congo (1960–65): Interference to remove PM Patrice Lumumba; declassified docs show CIA plotting amid his eventual murder. Source: National Security Archive.
- https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/
Indonesia (1965–66): U.S. support amid mass anti‑communist killings. Source: National Security Archive.
- https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/indonesia/2017-10-17/us-embassy-washington-knew-1965-1966-mass-killings-indonesia
Operation Condor: U.S. knowledge of/transnational repression network across South America’s dictatorships. Source: National Security Archive.
- https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/southern-cone/2019-05-08/operation-condor
Nicaragua (1980s): Support for the Contras; ICJ ruled U.S. violated international law. Source: ICJ.
- https://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/70
Cambodia/Laos (1960s–70s): Secret bombing campaigns with lasting UXO contamination. Source: Legacies of War.
- https://legaciesofwar.org/about-laos/
Panama (1989): Invasion causing civilian casualties and rights abuses. Source: Human Rights Watch.
- https://www.hrw.org/reports/1991/panama/
Grenada (1983): Invasion condemned by UN General Assembly. Source: UN GA Res. 38/7.
- https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/38/7

War conduct, torture, detention, weapons

CIA “black sites,” torture, and renditions after 9/11 (waterboarding, etc.). Source: U.S. Senate Torture Report (2014).
- https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CRPT-113srpt288.pdf
Guantánamo: Indefinite detention and due-process violations. Source: Human Rights Watch.
- https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/10/guantanamo-20-years
Drone wars (Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia): Hundreds of documented civilian deaths; secrecy and weak accountability. Source: TBIJ.
- https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/projects/drone-war
Cluster munitions and heavy explosive use in cities (e.g., Iraq 2003), causing civilian harm. Source: HRW.
- https://www.hrw.org/report/2003/12/18/off-target/conduct-war-and-civilian-casualties-iraq
Only country to use nuclear weapons in war (Hiroshima/Nagasaki), killing tens of thousands instantly and many more from radiation. Source: National WWII Museum.
- https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/atomic-bombing-hiroshima-nagasaki

Sanctions with major civilian impacts

Iraq (1990s): Broad UN/U.S.-backed sanctions coincided with sharp rises in child mortality and health crises. Source: UNICEF (1999).
- https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/iraq-survey-shows-double-infant-and-child-mortality-south-central-iraq
Iran: U.S. “maximum pressure” sanctions have impeded access to some medicines for civilians. Source: HRW (2019).
- https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/10/29/maximum-pressure/us-sanctions-harmed-iranians-right-health
Cuba: Decades-long embargo repeatedly condemned by the UN General Assembly for humanitarian impact. Source: UN (2023).
- https://press.un.org/en/2023/ga12555.doc.htm

Inside the United States (government or institutions)

Slavery, followed by a century of Jim Crow segregation and racial terror (lynchings). Source: Equal Justice Initiative.
- https://eji.org/issues/racial-injustice/
Dispossession and abuse of Native Americans (Indian Removal, massacres), and federal boarding schools that aimed to “assimilate” Native children. Source: U.S. Interior Dept. (2022).
- https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/assets/asia/opa/pdf/BIA_FIBS_Interim_Report_05-09-2022_508.pdf
WWII internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans. Source: U.S. National Archives.
- https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation
FBI COINTELPRO: Illegal surveillance and disruption of civil rights, anti-war, and other groups (including Dr. King, Black Panthers). Source: FBI Vault.
- https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro
Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932–72): Black men were denied treatment to study disease progression. Source: CDC.
- https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm
Guatemala STD experiments (1946–48): U.S.-led researchers infected people without consent; U.S. later apologized. Source: Presidential Bioethics Commission.
- https://bioethicsarchive.georgetown.edu/pcsbi/sites/default/files/Ethically%20Impossible%20-%20STD%20Research%20in%20Guatemala%201946%20to%201948.pdf
CIA MKUltra: Non-consensual mind‑control/drug experiments. Source: U.S. Senate hearing record.
- https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/hearings/project-mkultra
World‑leading incarceration rate with stark racial disparities, driven in part by the “War on Drugs.” Source: World Prison Brief.
- https://www.prisonstudies.org/country/united-states-america
Redlining and discriminatory housing policy that blocked wealth‑building for Black families. Source: Mapping Inequality project (HOLC maps).
- https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/
2018 border “family separations” under zero‑tolerance; government couldn’t track many children/parents. Source: DHS Inspector General.
- https://www.oig.dhs.gov/reports/2019/management-alert-dhs-lacked-technology-track-separated-migrant-families-oig-19-06
Flint water crisis: Government failures that exposed a majority‑Black city to lead‑tainted water. Source: Michigan Civil Rights Commission (2017).
- https://www.michigan.gov/mdcr/news/releases/2017/03/23/mcrc-releases-report-on-the-flint-water-crisis
Yemen
- Drone strikes and support for the Saudi‑led air war; well-documented civilian deaths (e.g., 2018 school bus strike with a U.S.-made bomb). Sources: TBIJ; CNN.
  - https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/projects/drone-war/yemen
  - https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/17/middleeast/yemen-bus-strike-intl/index.html
Syria
- Coalition bombardment (including U.S.) in Raqqa caused large civilian casualties and destruction. Sources: Amnesty; NYT.
  - https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/syria-war-of-annihilation-devastating-civilian-toll-raqqa/
  - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/18/us/civilian-casualties-iraq-syria-airstrikes.html
Iraq
- 2003 invasion without UN authorization, based on false WMD claims; huge civilian toll; detention abuse at Abu Ghraib. Sources: Chilcot Inquiry; Brown Costs of War; Taguba Report.
Palestine
- Decades of U.S. military aid and diplomatic protection for Israel (repeated UNSC vetoes), amid severe humanitarian crises in Gaza and ongoing occupation. Sources: CRS; UN; OCHA.
Vietnam
- Massive bombing, Agent Orange (long-term health and environmental damage), and atrocities like the Mỹ Lai massacre. Sources: U.S. VA; U.S. National Archives.
  - https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/
  - https://www.archives.gov/research/vietnam-war/my-lai
Afghanistan
- Two-decade war with significant civilian harm; e.g., 2015 U.S. airstrike on MSF hospital in Kunduz; 2021 Kabul drone strike killing 10 civilians. Sources: MSF; BBC; Brown Costs of War.

Posted Aug 14, 2025, 12:32 AM UTC