March 17, 2003. Copyright, 2003, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Timeline of U.S. military intervention
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, March 17, Graphic News:  1898: Bombing of U.S. battleship in Havana leads U.S. to declare war on Spain, resulting in takeover of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.

1899-1901, Philippines: U.S. troops quash independence movement, killing hundreds

1903, Panama: American warships support revolt for Panama to secede from Colombia. Washington lands treaty to build strategic Panama canal linking Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

1914, Haiti: U.S. invades following revolts sparked by racial tension, starting 20-year occupation. 

1918, Russia: U.S. sends troops to put down spread of the workersÕ revolution

1950-53, Korea: U.S. leads Òpolice actionÓ between its ally South Korea and the Soviet-backed North. Up to 2 million people die, including 54,246 American personnel.

1953, Iran: CIA-led coup overthrows President Mohammed Mossadegh, leading to brutal dictatorship of Shah until his overthrow in Iranian Revolution in 1979.

1954, Guatemala: CIA masterminds coup to overthrow leftwing President Jacobo Arbenz.

1954-75, Vietnam: U.S. intervention leads to costly war, claiming more than four million deaths in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, including 59,000 American service personnel.

1959, Cuba: Overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista by rebels led by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro prompts U.S. retribution, missile crisis and economic embargo that continues to this day.

1960-64, Democratic Republic of Congo: After independence, the U.S. helps to   engineer assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, replacing him with Joseph Mobutu Sese Seko, whose military dictatorship is characterised by chronic corruption.

1963, Iraq: CIA sponsors coup that topples Abdul Karim Kassim, leading to the rise to power of the Socialist BaÕath Party, led eventually by Saddam Hussein.

1965-98, Indonesia: U.S. supports overthrow of President Sukarno in a bloody coup led by General Suharto. Around one million Indonesians die during coup and aftermath.

1973, Chile: CIA helps to oust socialist Presdent Salvador Allende. New leader General Augusto Pinochet heads one of the regionÕs most brutal governments until 1990.

1979-90, Nicaragua: U.S. backs Contra rebels to fight communist Sandinista government.

1983, Grenada: U.S. troops topple new Marxist military government following army coup.

1989, Panama: Thousands of people die in mayhem as 26,000 troops invade Panama to seize onetime ally General Manuel Noriega, who is then held on drugs charges.

1991, Iraq: After Saddam invades Kuwait, U.S.-led coalition ousts Iraqi troops in Gulf war. 

1992-95, Somalia: U.S.-led peacekeeping force arrives to restore order and secure humanitarian aid. But Somalia degenerates into lawlessness and more than 350,000 lives are lost in unrest. 

1993-96, Iraq: CIA campaign to prompt Iraqis to revolt against Saddam fails.

1994, Haiti: President Clinton sends in troops to oust 1991 coup leader General Raoul Cedras and restore democracy. 

1999, Former Yugoslavia: U.S.-led Nato war ends Òethnic cleansingÓ of Albanians in Kosovo. 

2001, Afghanistan: September 11 atrocities prompt U.S.-led coalition to start war in Afghanistan to drive Taliban out of power. Taliban now regrouping amid social and economic crisis.
/ENDS