{
  "id": "RL30184",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30184",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 105389,
      "date": "1999-05-20",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:45:17.810941",
      "title": "Military Interventions by U.S. Forces from Vietnam to Bosnia: Background, Outcomes, and \"Lessons Learned\" for Kosovo",
      "summary": "The congressional debate on Kosovo has raised interest in previous cases where the United\nStates\nmilitary has intervened in other countries. Of these, nine are cited as providing some type of lesson\nor precedent for future action. In eight of these, the U.S. military used force: Vietnam, Lebanon,\nGrenada, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia. In the ninth, Rwanda, the United States\nundertook a humanitarian mission. \n The numbers, purposes, circumstances and results of these interventions varied greatly. They\nhave involved numbers of U.S. military personnel ranging, at peak, from about two thousand\n(Lebanon in 1982-1984) to over 500,000 (against Iraq in 1991, Vietnam in 1961-1973), and lasted\nfrom a few months to over a decade. More than one reason was cited for most interventions; these\nreasons included the need to reverse aggression, the need to maintain regional stability, and the\nprotection of U.S. citizens, of economic interests and of human rights. The restoration of\nconstitutional order or the rule of law, and enforcing political or peace settlements, are among the\nother considerations. Rwanda was undertaken only to provide relief to millions of refugees in the\nmidst of a civil war. Congress has authorized only two of the deployments Iraq and Vietnam --\nand the latter authorization was subsequently disputed. (Congress authorized the last 18 months of\nthe 1982-1984 deployment to Lebanon.) Only Panama was a unilateral U.S. action, for the others\nthe United States sought allies. The U.N. Security Council authorized the four interventions\noccurring after 1990, but not those prior to that. Three are generally regarded as successes (Iraq,\nPanama, Grenada), three as failures (Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia), and three have had mixed\nresults subject to varying interpretations (Haiti, Rwanda, and Bosnia).The numbers of U.S. military\npersonnel killed as a result of hostilities ranged from none thus far in Bosnia, to 59,000 Vietnam.\n Among the \"lessons learned\" from these interventions relevant to the current situation in\nKosovo, those involving the effective use of force seem most pertinent at this time. Most  ex\npost\nfacto  assessments of individual interventions point to the use of overwhelming force as a\nmajor\nfactor in successful operations, and the lack of adequate force as a major factor contributing to mixed\nresults for failures. This conclusion leads some analysts to argue that the United States should avoid\noperations where limitations are put on the use of force, as in the current case of Kosovo. \nNevertheless, some analysts who compare interventions, suggest that there are ways to make the\nthreat and use of force more credible, and more effective, and thus enhance the possibilities of\nsuccess in \"limited force\" interventions.\n  Other CRS reports are:  Use of Force by the United States , CRS Report 92-757\n(available on\noptical disk);  U.S. Military Operations, 1965-1994 (Not Including Vietnam): Data on\nCasualties,\nDecorations, and Personnel Involved , CRS Report 94-529 F; and,  The War Powers\nResolution:\nTwenty-Two Years of Experience , CRS Report 96-476.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
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  "topics": [
    "Constitutional Questions",
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security"
  ]
}