A list of American Atrocities Leaves ByzantineBasileus Speechless and Angry. Spangry, if you will.
Greetings, Badhistoriers! So I was browsing r/socialism for laughs and they had a link to the following:
https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md
It is a list of 'atrocities' committed by the US. Whilst I am certainly not taking the position that the US is a country without sin (it, like every other state, pursues a foreign policy that promotes it's interests first and foremost), some of these are absolutely ludicrous in terms of historical accuracy. One of these in particular really annoyed me:
The US intervened in the1950-53 Korean Civil War, on the side of the south Koreans, in a proxy war between the US and china for supremacy in East Asia. South Korea reported some 373,599 civilian and 137,899 military deaths, the US with 34,000 killed, and China with 114,000 killed. The Joint Chiefs of staff issued orders for the retaliatory bombing of the People's republic of China, should south Korea be attacked. Deadly clashes have continued up to the present day.
Now, I lived and worked in South Korea for 5 years, so I might be a biased in addressing this, but the person who wrote this has a BRAIN UNFETTERED BY RATIONALITY, INTELLIGENCE AND LOGIC.
First of all, it states that the US "intervened" on the side of the South Korea. This gives the impression that the US got involved in an external conflict for the lolz. To begin with, a UN Security Council resolution from the 25th of June:
http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/82(1950)
States that the Republic of South Korea was recognized as the lawful representative of the Korean people since the 21st of October, 1949, and that North Korea was the aggressor as their military actions were seen as a "Breach of the Peace". Additionally, it also called on North Korea to withdraw to the 38th Parallel, and that member nations should aid in the process. Furthermore, the UN Security Resolution of the 27th of June makes it clear this should involve military assistance. Another UN Security Council Resolution from the 7th of July:
http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/84(1950)
Explicitly authorizes the unified command to utilize the UN flag in military operations, and formally requests that the US oversee military operations.
So what does this mean?
Rather than an "atrocity", the US was acting within a UN mandate and alongside a host of other national forces in order to liberate a UN member nation. The US was thus acting in accordance with the will of an recognized international agency, and within the bounds of international law.
ここには何もないようです