The U.S. Killing Machine
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
When the U.S. goes to war, it goes to win – and to win, it kills and kills.
The U.S-Israel war against Iran began on February 28, 2026. On March 2nd, Sec. of “War” Pete Hegseth declared: “If you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on Earth, we will hunt you down without apology and without hesitation and we will kill you.”
As of March 16th, The Guardian reports 12 U.S. military personnel have died in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran – 6 killed from a drone attack and 6 died from a airplane refueling crash; some 200 others have been wounded.
The BBC reports: “On 14 March, the US-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) reported 3,040 people had been killed in Iran – including 1,122 military personnel and 1,319 civilians, of which at least 206 were children. Another 599 fatalities were ‘unclassified’ (civilian/military).”
As the U.S.-Israel war continues on and on and on, the irrational ratio of U.S. military deaths to that of the Iranians will no doubt continue to escalate – to be made that much worse if Pres. Donald Trump decides to deploy U.S. military personnel in a ground campaign.
While “War” Sec Hegseth rants on with his killing rhetoric, his efforts pale in comparison to the horrendous slaughters orchestrated by Air Force General Curtis LeMay during WW-II. His Air Force fire bombed Dresden, Germany, in February 1945 killing 25,000 people and followed, between March and July, dropped tons of incendiary bombs on Japan killing 233,000 and injuring 473,000; in August, U.S. bombers dropped atomic bombings of Hiroshima leading to approximately 140,000 deaths and Nagasaki with between 70,000 to 74,000 deaths.
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The current war in Iran raises a deeper question: How many people – both military and civilian – has the U.S. killed in wars during the “modern” era?
One can date the “modern” era with World War II that took place in Asia and Europe during the period of 1939-1945.
World War II saw a total of 60 million death – 15 million were military and 45 million civilians; of these, 6 million Jews were murdered by the German Nazis. Japan saw 2.1 million military death and 0.5 to 1 million civilian deaths; the Soviet Union saw 24 million deaths, of these 8.8 to 10.7 million were military. The U.S. military saw 416,000 deaths.
Korean War–lasted from 1950 to ’53 and the death toll among South Koreans military and civil is estimated at 595,000 – U.S. military deaths are estimate at 54,000.
Vietnam War – lasted from 1965 to ’73 and the death toll of South Vietnam military and civilians is estimated at 890,000 – U.S. military deaths are estimated at 56,000.
Latin American Follies – Fidel Castro marched into Havana on January 7, 1959, a week after U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista fled to the Dominican Republic. In April ’61, the CIA orchestrated an invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs; 1,000 CIA foot soldiers, Cuban exiles, were taken prisoner. The U.S. officially broke diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961. A half-century later, relations were partially reestablished under Pres. Barack Obama but returned to cold war status under Trump who has blocked oil from the country and threated a “friendly takeover” of the island nation.
Since the 1950s, the U.S. has initiated numerous military — and/or CIA-backed — campaigns in Latin American, often with dire consequence for the targeted country:
• The CIA overthrew of Guatemala’s elected government (1954) — the CIA claims at least four dozen people were killed.
• The U.S.-backed dictatorships of Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier in Haiti (1957-1986) – it killed an estimated 60,000 people.
• The U.S. orchestrated military coup in Brazil (1964) – led to an estimated 500 people being killed or “disappeared.”
• The U.S. military occupation of Dominican Republic (1965-1966) – led to at least 1,000 people killed.
• U.S. orchestrated military coup of socialist government of Salvador Allende in Chile (1973) – more than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared.
• In Nicaragua, the U.S.-backed the government of Anastasio Somoza is defeated by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (“Sandinistas”/FSLN) (1974-1979) — an estimated 10,000 to 50,000 people killed, including 7,000 civilians.
• In Nicaragua, from 1980 to June 1987, 43,176 Nicaraguans on both sides of the war between Soviet Union/Cuba-backed FSLN and the U.S.-backed Contras were killed, wounded or kidnapped. Among these casualties were 22,495 dead, 12,065 wounded, and 8,616 kidnapped or captured.
• In the El Salvador civil war, U.S.-backed military, including death squads (1979–1992) – an estimated 75,000 civilians were killed or “forcibly disappeared.”
• U.S. military invasion of Grenada (1983), dubbed “Operation Urgent Fury” – “Eighteen US troops were killed in combat, one died of wounds, 115 were wounded and 28 suffered nonhostile injuries. The Cubans lost 24 killed, 59 wounded and 605 captured who were later returned to Cuba. The Grenadian People’s Revolutionary Army (PRA) suffered 21 killed and 58 captured. There were 24 Grenadian civilians killed during the operation.”
• U.S. occupation of Panama (1989-1990), dubbed “Operation Just Cause” – at least 300 Panamanian civilians died; and 23 U.S. service personnel were killed 325 wounded.
Operational Stalemates – these include a host of military campaigns across the globe.
• Operation Desert Storm – launched by Pres. George H. W. Bush from August 2, 1990 to January 17, 1991. It saw 294–382 total US deaths (147–154 in combat) and 467 wounded. According to one source, “The majority of U.S. deaths were non-battle related (65–235), including accidents and friendly fire. Iraqi casualties were significantly higher, with estimates ranging from 10,000 to over 100,000 killed.”
• Operation Enduring Freedom – the first phase of U.S. war in Afghanistan was announced on October 7, 2001, by Pres. George W. Bush in the wake of the September 11thattacks. It became part of the “war on terrorism.” It dragged on until December 28, 2014. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda had over 51,000 casualties.
“Coalition forces” – i.e., U.S., Britain and other allies — suffered 3,486 deaths; of these, over 2,300 were members of the U.S. armed forces.
• Operation Iraqi Freedom — launched by Pres. Bush on March 19, 2003, and ended December 15, 2011. (This includes Operation New Dawn, the U.S. Air Force’s involvement in Iraq after August 2010.). It began when Bush claimed that to Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed, produced and was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Iraqi deaths attributable to the war through mid-2011 to be about 405,000. U.S. casualties were 4,488 military deaths and over 32,000 wounded.
• Operation Inherent Resolve — launched by Pres. Barack Obama, it was coalition of 80 national and organization groups against ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq) in Iraq and Syria and ran from 2014 to 2020 and finally concluded in 2025. According to the Combined Joint Task Force, “The Coalition conducted at least 35,045 strikes between August 2014 and December 2021. CJTF-OIR assesses that, since the beginning of Operation Inherent Resolve in August 2014, at least 1,437 civilians have been unintentionally killed by Coalition actions during combat operations against ISIS.” Wikipedia notes, “Tens of thousands more were killed by partner forces on the ground (the SDF alone claimed to have killed 25,336 IS fighters by the end of 2017). According to Airwars, between 8,220 and 13,299 civilians were killed in the airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, with an additional 1,437 civilians killed in other operations. The U.S. military suffered 213 U.S. fatalities.
• Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS) — launched by Pres. Obama on January 1, 2015, following the conclusion of Operation Enduring Freedom. The U.S.-led mission focused on counterterrorism and training Afghan forces, officially ending around August 30, 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. U.S. military deaths totaled of 108 and 620 wounded. No estimates of Taliban deaths and/or wounded could be found.
“Humanitarian” Operations – are military campaigns to contain local crises. Among such actions were:
• Operation Allied Force – was a U.S.-backed, NATO air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The campaign lasted from 24 March 24, 1999, to June 10, 1999. Human Rights Watch estimatedthat no fewer than 1,200 civilians and up to 2,500 civilians were killed and 5,700 wounded as a result of NATO airstrike
• Operation Deliberate Force – was a U.S.-backed, NATO air campaign involving 15 nations against Bosnia Serbs that occurred between 1994-1995. Human Right Watch notes, “cluster bomb use by the United States and Britain can be confirmed in seven incidents throughout Yugoslavia (another five are possible but unconfirmed); some ninety to 150 civilians died from the use of these weapons.”
• Libyan Intervention — in March 2011, Pres. Obama authorized US military intervention in Libya as part of a NATO-led coalition. This military action resulted in“a total of 21,490 persons were killed, 19,700 injured and 435,000 displaced.”
Finally, TomDispatch documented that as of September 2013, the U.S.’s Africa Command recognized 54 countries in Africa and “U.S. military involvement with no fewer than 49 countries.”
Now, as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran drags on, Trump & company are asking Congress to pony up $200 billion to fight on and on. “War” Sec Hegseth put the request in the starkest terms: “As far as the $200 billion, I think that number could move, obviously,” Hegseth told reporters. “It takes money to kill bad guys. So we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s being done.”
The U.S. killing machine marches on.
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