Why America went to war and who really benefited – Part II

Why America went to war in the 21st century had nothing to do with freedom. It used fear, drones, and lies to feed empire, control, and profit.

In case you missed Part I, which covered the 20th century, you can catch it here. If you’re caught up, check out Part II below, and see how American foreign policy helped shape my shared universe, the Renegades Epic.

To kick off Part II, the Cold War ended, and the Soviet Union collapsed. And still, the war machine didn’t de-escalate.

America no longer fights wars to win. Those days ended somewhere in Vietnam. These days, it fights to occupy, destabilize, and expand influence. The 21st century brought a new form of empire—one without borders but with endless bombs, covert operations, and surveillance.

It speaks the language of democracy and freedom while crushing both at home and abroad. The legacy media calls these “mistakes” or “miscalculations.” They’re not. They’re design features, and the media knows it. The goal isn’t peace and never has been. It’s control and control only.

Afghanistan (2001–2021): The endless war

For two decades, the U.S. propped up a corrupt government, funneled billions (I’m being generous here) to defense contractors, and turned the country into a graveyard for soldiers and credibility. The Taliban, who were “defeated” in the early years, reclaimed power days after the American withdrawal.

The Mises Institute calls interventionism an “epic failure,” and Afghanistan is a prime example. Antiwar.com said that “policymakers who spent the last two decades making America less safe demonstrated that they do best when they fail.” Reason Magazine documented the staggering waste of resources. Occupation, not nation-building, was the goal.

Iraq (2003–11, 2014-18): A war of choice

The Bush administration invaded Iraq on the lie that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. They knew it wasn’t true, but they needed a reason. They wanted to reshape the Middle East, and Iraq was the launchpad.

The invasion dismantled Iraq’s infrastructure, unleashed sectarian chaos, and created the conditions for ISIS. Meanwhile, politically connected firms like Halliburton made a killing.

The Mises Institute highlighted the list of failures. It also exposed the neoconservative lust for power masked as liberation. The real motive wasn’t safety, humanitarianism, or any other positive buzzword. It was supremacy.

Libya (2011): Humanitarian bombs and chaos

In 2011, NATO forces, led by the U.S., helped overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. The justification? Prevent a massacre. The result? A failed state with open-air slave markets.

There was no plan after Gaddafi. Just chaos, if you remember it right. Militias took over, extremist groups filled the vacuum, migrants fled in droves, and Washington moved on.

The Mises Institute broke it down plainly: Libya proves how “humanitarian” intervention is a smokescreen. Antiwar.com called it what it was—regime change dressed up in feel-good language.

Syria: Proxy war, mission creep, and lies

America’s role in Syria shifted from arming rebels to bombing ISIS to occupying oil fields. Congress never authorized it. The Constitution be damned, as just about any modern member of the executive branch claims.

Many of the so-called “moderate rebels” had links to al-Qaeda affiliates. Washington knew this and sent weapons anyway. As the war dragged on, it became a proxy fight between the U.S., Russia, Iran, Turkey, and others.

Reason Magazine discussed every shift and betrayal. Vox highlighted how U.S. actions violated domestic and international law. Syria became a playground for yet another regime change. The people caught in the middle didn’t matter.

Yemen: The war they don’t want you to see

Since 2015, the U.S. backed Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen. Bombs made in America hit schools, hospitals, and markets. A U.N. report called it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Washington provided targeting intel, mid-air refueling, and arms deals worth billions. All while pretending it wasn’t involved.

The Ron Paul Institute hammered away at the silence. Antiwar.com touched on the Saudi blockade that starved millions. Yemen never attacked the U.S., but that didn’t stop the bombs.

Drone Warfare: Remote-control empire

Under Obama, the drone war exploded. He authorized more strikes than Bush, and Trump took the program and further escalated it. Civilians died, weddings, funerals, and rescue missions were all fair game.

There were no trials, and no declarations of war. Just a joystick and a death list.

Reason Magazine gave a dystopian take on the increased use of drones, and Antiwar.com noted the sharp escalation of drone warfare, but Washington never blinked.

Surveillance state and domestic blowback

Beyond justifying regime-change wars, 9/11 built the surveillance state at home. The Patriot Act turned privacy into a threat, and agencies like the NSA tracked everything—emails, texts, phone calls—without warrants.

Ed Snowden proved it, and the government labeled him a traitor for telling the truth. The public yawned.

The Mises Institute spoke about the “cobra effect,” and how it’s likened to surveillance. The War on Terror turned inward, and America became the empire and prison at the same time.

Whistleblowers and suppression

When brave men and women tried to tell the truth, the state crushed them. Chelsea Manning exposed war crimes, and the government threw her in a cage. Edward Snowden exposed illegal mass surveillance, and the government forced him into exile.

Julian Assange published documents exposing U.S. war crimes. And for that, he spent over five years in a maximum-security prison.

Antiwar.com called out the hypocrisy, and the message was clear: Speak out, and the machine will grind you down.

The machine won’t stop until we stop it

In fiction, we can imagine rebellion. In Wind Wielder and the shared Renegades Epic, the empires face a challenge against the whistleblowers, and one they can’t win easily.

In real life, the empire fights harder. It adapts, surveils, and kills. But the lies don’t hold forever. The more people speak, the more cracks appear, and suddenly, the empire starts to crack.

This is the second chapter in that rebellion. The story of the 21st-century war machine. One built on lies, run by cowards, and paid for in blood. And like all empires, it can fall.

Want to read Book I of a cool dystopian military fantasy I concocted where our heroes stick it to the empire? Check out a series starter in a sister series, The Rebellion Awakens