War, what is it good for

A new friend of mine who has just moved here from another country asked me today how often it is that the US goes to war. "I dunno" was my response, quickly followed with, "Umm, probably a lot?". He didn't know either - but we both thought it probably was a considerable amount of the US history. So tonight I went about the task of listing all of the wars and military conflicts that we as a nation have engaged in since 1776. At the bottom you will find a total number of combined years we have had military conflicts, a percentage of our life as a country that we have been at war and one percentage with the years of the Cold War removed for those of you who will argue that since no shots were fired it was not a war. Also, I rounded everything to the nearest year. Some are slightly more and some are slightly less then a whole year. But in the end, both sides balance each other out.

Years Consumed	War Waged
7	American Revolution (1775-1783) - Also involved France, Spain and the Netherlands against Britain. The first Anglo-American War. (Yeas of 1775 not included in count)
1	Shay's Rebellion (1786-1787)
1	The Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
2	Quasi-War with France (1798-1800)
1	Fries's Rebelion "The Hot Water War" (1799)
5	Tripolitanian War (1800-1805)
1	Algerine War (1815)
2	War of 1812 (1812-1814)-The second Anglo-American War.
1	Invasion of Spanish Florida (1819)-Andrew Jackson seized Florida from Spain.
1	U.S.-Mexican War (1846-1847)-The United States invaded Mexico and forced the Mexicans to cede the northern half of the country and also to give up any claim to Texas.
5	Kansas Civil War "Bleeding Kansas" (1855-1860)-Guerilla warfare between pro and anti slavery forces.
1	Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)-Anti-slavery militant John Brown's attempt to jump start a slave rebellion.
4	Civil War (1861-1865)
1	U.S. Intervention in Hawaiian Revolution (1893)
1	Spanish-American War (1898)
2	U.S. Intervention in Samoan Civil War (1898-1899) with U.S. and British Naval Bombardment of Samoa --A resumption of past civil wars in which Samoan chief Mataafa seized power following the death of his rival, King Malietoa Laupepa, who had defeated him in the last Samoan Civil War (1893-1894). Fighting ensued, which was complicated by the long-standing rivalry between the U.S., Britain and Germany for de facto control over the Samoan Islands. On March 15, 1899, warships of the American and British Navies bombarded the Samoan city of Apia to intimidate the reigning Samoan king, who was allied with the Germans. An Anglo-American landing force took control of Apia, but were not able to pacify the interior. All sides agreed to cease fighting on May 13, 1899. Later that year, the three Western nations signed a treaty dividing Samoa between them. This whole conflict was part of a wider Samoan civil war.
3	Philippine-American War (1899-1902)
1	Boxer Rebellion (1900)-Also involved Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, Italy, Austria-Hungary against "Boxer" rebels in China as well as the Chinese government.
12	The Moro Wars (1901-1913)-Guerilla warfare against U.S. forces by the Moro Muslims of the southern Philippines. Can be seen as a continuation of the Philippine-American War.
1	U.S. Intervention in Panamanian Revolution (1903)-The U.S. landed troops in Panama to prevent Columbia from crushing the separatist Panamanian government.
24	The Banana Wars (1909-1933)-A series of U.S. interventions in various Central American and Caribbean countries.
1	U.S. Occupation of Vera Cruz (1914)-The U.S. landed troops in Vera Cruz, Mexico.
12	Pershing's Raid into Mexico (1916-1917)-After Mexican rebel Pancho Villa attacked a U.S. town, General Pershing pursued him across the border.
12	World War I (1917-1918)
3	Allied Intervention in Russian Civil War (1919-1921)-Also involved Britain, France, Japan, Italy, Poland and the Czech Legion against the new Bolshevik (Soviet Communist) government in Russia.
4	World War II (1941-1945)
46	The Cold War (1945-1991)
3	Korean War (1950-1953)-Also involved Britain, France, Turkey, and others against North Korea and China.
1	Intervention in Lebanon (1958)
9	Vietnam War (1964-1973)--The "advisory" phase of U.S. involvement goes from 1956 to 1964, and then resumes from 1973 to 1975. The years 1964 to 1973 refer to the period of "official" combat deployment of U.S. forces in the war.
5	Cambodian Civil War (1970-1975)
2	Dominican Intervention (1965-1966?)
2	Iranian Hostage Crisis (1979-1980)
2	Lebanese Intervention (1982-1984)
1	Grenada Invasion (1983)
8	First Persian Gulf War (1980-1988)-The U.S. gave logistical and intelligence information to Iraq in its war against Iran.
2	Tanker War (1987-1988)-The U.S. provided naval protection for Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. This led to multiple clashes with the Iranian military.
1	Panama Invasion (1989)
1	Second Persian Gulf War (1991)
2	Somalia Intervention (1992-1993)
1	Bosnian War (1995)-The U.S. and NATO engaged in air strikes to force the Bosnian Serb forces to negotiate a peace agreement. Also known as Operation Deliberate Force. U.S. airpower contributed 65.9% of the NATO air sorties.
8	bin Laden's War (1998-Present) -Terrorist conflict between the United States and irregular forces led by Osama bin Laden. The violence has also involved Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan and Afghanistan.
1	Kosovo War (1999)
5	The War in Afghanistan (2001-Present)
3	The Third Persian Gulf War : "Operation Iraqi Freedom" (2003)--The second major war between the United States-led coalition and the Middle Eastern nation of Iraq. Military members of the coalition also include the United Kingdom and Australia.
1	Intervention in Haiti (2004)--Intervention to prevent civil war/anarchy in Haiti following the Gonsalves Rebellion against the Haitian government
230	Total number of combined years as a we stated as a country in 1776
213	Total number of combined years since 1776 we've been at a state of war
92.6%	Percentage of combined years of war since 1776
72.6%	Percentage of combined years of war since 1776 minus the Cold War.

So, at the very least, we have been at a
state of war with someone for 72% of our complete time as a country.

References:

1. Kohn, George C. Dictionary of Wars. New York: Facts On File Publications,
1986.

2. Marley, David F. Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the
New World, 1492 to the Present. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 1998.

3. Langer, William L., ed. An Encyclopedia of World History. 5th ed. Boston,
Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin, 1972.

4. Banks, Arthur S., ed. Political Handbook of the World: 1994-1995. 5th ed.
Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications, 1995.

5. Internal Wars and Failures of Governance, 1954-1996--By the State Failure
Project.