Worst Attacks on America

The United States of America has been attacked by foreign powers a number of times.  Here, in decreasing order of severity, are the worst 8, in my opinion.

Fort Sumter 12-13 Apr 1861.   South Carolina militias, unhappy with the results of the 1860 election and determined to preserve their right to enslave human beings, secede from the Union and fire artillery upon the Union Fort in Charleston harbor, starting the Civil War.

Pearl Harbor 7 Dec 1941.   A Japanese surprise attack on the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, kills about 2400 US soldiers and civilians, sinks 4 battleships and damages more than a dozen other ships, and provokes US entry into WWII

Donald Trump 8 Nov 2016.  Forces loyal to Russia corrupt the US election and elect a conman who is their puppet president.  He and his allies proceed to undermine US media, foreign relations, judiciary and democratic processes, plainly intending to undermine American credibility and our place in the world.  It remains unclear how this will turn out.

1812 The British, annoyed by the loss of their prime colonies on the American continent, tried to prevent further losses farther inland and into Canada, and blockaded US ports, impressing American soldiers onto British warships during their long war against France, by this point led by Napoleon.  War was declared in June 1812 and in August 1814, the British sacked and burned the White House and Capitol.  Peace was finally signed in Dec 1814.  This is the only time a foreign power ever tried direct military action against the US mainland.

Submarine attacks during WWI.  During World War I, America had initially tried to remain neutral, but the commercial connection to the British and French were strong and shipping and travel continued across the Atlantic, albeit under attack by German U-boats.  Their leaders constantly pleaded with the Americans to come in to the war on their side.  The first crack in isolation came in May of 1915 when the ocean liner Lusitania was torpedoed by a German Sub, killing 128 Americans. The level of attacks increased in 1917.

Sept 11 2001.  19 mostly Saudi terrorists hijacked 4 airliners and crashed 3 of them into US buildings: two into the World Trade Center towers in New York, 1 into the Pentagon in Arlington Virginia, and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania after passengers attempt to overpower the hijackers.  Roughly 3000 are killed in the attacks.  The CIA lead attacks into Afghanistan, where the hijackers had trained in the failed state there, but then president Bush redirected the military to attack Iraq, which had nothing to do with the hijackings and succeeding in turning it into a failed state too, killing at least 5000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of locals.

The Maine.  1898 The US Battleship Maine mysteriously exploded while at anchor in Havana Harbor, Cuba, which was a Spanish Colony at the time. The US went to war against Spain, eventually capturing Cuba, Puerto Rico, The Philippines, and more, despite no evidence whatsoever that anyone loyal to Spain was involved in causing the explosion.

Goldwater and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident Aug 1964.  Two months before the 1964 presidential election, two US ships on patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin near VietNam, where US "Advisors" were at work "fighting communism", reacted to something they thought they'd seen and began firing into the night.  In fact, there was nothing there but nerves, but the presidential challenger incorporated it into his campaign and the Viet Nam war began, killing 50,000 americans and at least a million south east asians, leaving Viet Nam just as communist but a lot more miserable than it would have been had we walked away in 1964.

The first 4 were real, serious acts of war by a foreign power meaning harm to America.  For three of those, America responded with all its strength, but the one I rank the third most serious in our history, we have done very little about.  American entry into WWI shortened the war, so it probably was the right thing to do, but that was only a good thing because the existing combatants had made it so horrible.  We responded as badly as we could have to Sept 11, making the situation that caused it immeasurably worse.  What we should have done is sent teachers to Afghanistan, and only enough troop to keep the teachers safe.  The Spanish and Mexican American wars, and the "Banana Wars", were pure colonial landgrabs, as were Vietnam, Korea and Iraq, although their goals were murkier and conflated with the nonsensical "anticommunist" and "antiterrorist" policies.

About the third attack:  We need to protect our elections.  We need to to protect our media.  We need to protect our judicial system.  We need to protect the international institutions that keep us safe.  The president and his toadies are attacking all of these.