CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

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.

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........

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