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A list of some of the major invasions the United States has been involved with.
From Tripoli to Iraq.
BARBARY STATES OF NORTH AFRICA (1801)
In 1801-1805, the United States fought its first foreign war against North African pirates.
The conflict peaked when eight U.S. Marines led a force of mercenaries across 500 miles of desert to capture Derna, Tripoli.
The victory was the first time of the raising of the American flag on foreign soil, immortalized in the Marine Corps Hymn’s line “to the shores of Tripoli.”
MEXICO (1846)
The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) ended with Mexico ceding half its territory, including California and Texas, to the United States.
Among the war’s notable events, Irish-American soldiers called the Saint Patrick’s Battalion deserted the U.S. Army to fight for Mexico, facing execution by hanging after their capture.
CUBA (1898)
During the 1898 Spanish-American War, US forces invaded Cuba, where Roosevelt’s Rough Riders led the charge up San Juan Hill.
Lt. Hobson attempted to block Santiago harbor by sinking his own vessel—a failed gambit that nonetheless made him a hero, even after Spanish forces captured him.
PHILIPPINES (1898)
Commodore George Dewey crushed the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, destroying every enemy ship while his forces suffered only nine wounded.
The Americans then blocked their Filipino allies from entering Manila, breeding resentment that erupted into the Philippine-American War.
NICARAGUA (1912)
US forces occupied Nicaragua from 1912-1933 to protect American business interests and block rival canal projects.
Eight Marines and 350 sailors seized León, Nicaragua’s second-largest city, crushing local resistance to US-backed rule.
HAITI (1915)
In 1914, US forces seized $500,000 in Haitian gold reserves, transferring them to New York and gaining control over Haiti’s finances.
The US then launched a full military invasion in 1915, using civil unrest as pretext while primarily protecting American commercial interests.
The occupation lasted until 1934.
CUBA (1961)
In April 1961, a CIA-led force of 1,400 Cuban exiles attempted to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.
The invasion failed within three days against Cuban military forces.
The CIA disguised American B-26 bombers as Cuban aircraft to create the false impression of an internal Cuban uprising rather than a US-backed invasion.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (1965)
From 1916 to 1924, the US military occupied the Dominican Republic, citing debt collection but ultimately seeking regional control.
Within two months of arrival, US forces transformed the country by building an inter-city road network and replacing local customs—notably swapping cockfighting with baseball while implementing racial segregation laws.
GRENADA (1983)
In 1983, the US military invaded Grenada with 7,000 troops, relying on tourist maps marked with hand-drawn military grids.
The operation, launched over concerns about American medical students and Communist influence, resulted in 18 civilian deaths when forces mistakenly bombed a mental hospita
PANAMA (1989)
In 1989, the US deployed 27,000 troops to Panama, ousting former CIA collaborator Manuel Noriega.
When he sought sanctuary in the Vatican embassy, American forces blasted rock music outside—a weird psychological tactic to force his surrender.
AFGHANISTAN (2001)
The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after 9/11, launching what became a $2 trillion, two-decade war.
The CIA distributed millions in cash to Afghan warlords, soldiers navigated with modified tourist maps, and the Taliban funded their operations largely through opium sales.
IRAQ (2003)
The 2003 US invasion of Iraq, premised on false WMD intelligence, unleashed an eight-year war costing $2 trillion.
While US forces secured Baghdad’s oil infrastructure, looters ransacked museums, destroying irreplaceable artifacts of human civilization.
