A look at major U.S. military strikes as ordered by the last five U.S. presidents and the degree of international support behind the actions.
RONALD REAGAN
—Beirut (1982-83): U.S. troops deployed to Lebanon as part of a three-nation peacekeeping force. Reagan ordered limited airstrikes, with France…
—Grenada (1983): Invasion by an estimated 7,000 U.S. troops and 300 OAS troops…
—Libya (1986): Airstrikes to punish leader Moammar Gadhafi’s regime for a Berlin disco explosion…
GEORGE H.W. BUSH
—Panama (1989): Invasion by more than 26,000 troops…
—Iraq (1991): Invasion of Iraq with troops from 33 other countries…
—Somalia (1992): Deployed troops for peacekeeping and humanitarian aid…
BILL CLINTON
—Iraq (1993): Launched cruise missiles into Baghdad…
—Somalia (1993): Increased troop deployment…
—Haiti (1994) Deployed troops for peacekeeping and nation-building…
—Bosnia (1994-96): Launched airstrikes with NATO allies over 18 months…
—Iraq (1996): Launched cruise missiles at targets in southern Iraq…
—Sudan, Afghanistan (1998): Launched cruise missiles at terrorist training camps in Sudan and Afghanistan…
—Iraq (1998): Launched cruise missiles and airstrikes on a number of Baghdad targets…
—Kosovo: (1999): Launched airstrikes and cruise missiles over more than three months…
GEORGE W. BUSH
—Afghanistan (2001): Invaded as part of NATO mission…
—Iraq (2003): Invaded with ‘‘coalition of the willing’’…
BARACK OBAMA
—Libya (2011): Launched cruise missiles and commanded initial international military operation…
—Osama bin Laden (2011): While not an attack on a foreign nation, the raid that killed the al-Qaida leader is considered one of the Obama administration’s top military and intelligence successes…
ALSO NOTED:
—Hundreds of deadly drone strikes have been carried out on al-Qaida targets during the Obama and the George W. Bush presidencies. The vast majority of them have been in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen…
Imagine how many people we might kill if we weren’t a peace-loving nation, eh?
