What is the longest war that the US has been in?

Shiningstar7

Editor's Notebook: Afghan War Now Country's Longest By THOMAS NAGORSKI, ABC News Managing Editor, International June 7, 2010 The Afghan war was enormously popular when it began on a fall Sunday eight and a half years ago. Less than a month had passed since the September 11 attacks, and President Bush could draw on deep wells of support when he ordered air strikes against Kabul, Jalalabad and the Taliban stronghold at Kandahar. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/afghan-war-now-longest-war-us-history/story?id=10849303 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%93present) May 29 11, 5:40 PM

queproblema

I must protest! This is a cheap political ploy by Diane Sawyer. She is saying the Vietnam War began with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 and ended with the Paris Peace Accords in 1973. http://theweek.com/article/index/203842/is-the-afghan-war-really-the-longest-in-us-history Some historians date the war from 1957-1975. http://libcom.org/history/1957-1975-the-vietnam-war Wikipedia dates US involvement from 1955: "The role of the United States in the Vietnam War began soon after the Second World War and escalated into full commitment during what is termed the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975." "November 1, 1955 â€" President Eisenhower deploys the Military Assistance Advisory Group to train the ARVN (South Vietnamese Army). This marks the official beginning of American involvement in the war as recognized by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_the_United_States_in_the_Vietnam_War The History Place cites American involvement from 1961 to 1975. That makes 168 months. http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/ May 29 11, 6:55 PM

Shiningstar7

I considered the Vietnam war until I read it was initially against France and that the US didn't get involved until the '60s. The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and part of their wider strategy of containment. The North Vietnamese government viewed the war as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state. U.S. military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962. U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned borders, with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this, U.S. ground forces were withdrawn as part of a policy called Vietnamization. Despite the Paris Peace Accords, signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War May 29 11, 7:52 PM

WeirdAlLover

All wrong! The Korean War, which started on June 25th, 1950, and still hasn't ended to this day. An armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, but an armistice dictates a temporary ceasefire, not the end of a war. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice May 29 11, 8:59 PM

srini701

Interesting. Google for "Longest war of the US" and the second link points to the same question asked on this site 10 years ago :-) http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question11151.html What was the longest war in United States history? Question #11151. Asked by Maggie (Mar 24 01 3:03 PM) May 30 11, 1:11 AM