Erased Crimes: How the U.S., U.K., and Colonial Powers Escaped Accountability for Atrocities That Would Damn Any Other Nation

Iraq War: U.S. soldiers U.S. soldiers in Sāmarrāʾ, Iraq.

History is written by the victors — but more dangerously, it is often cleaned by them. For centuries, Western powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and their allies have committed acts that would be universally condemned if carried out by less powerful nations. They have invaded sovereign countries under false pretenses, slaughtered civilians, overthrown governments, and imposed foreign ideologies on cultures they barely understood. Yet, these same nations now parade themselves as champions of freedom, peace, and democracy, while the blood they spilled is hidden beneath polished museums, rewritten textbooks, and self-congratulatory documentaries (Chomsky, 1999; Ferguson, 2004).

The British Empire, once the largest empire in history, built its wealth and power through the mass exploitation of human lives and natural resources. In India, colonial policies contributed to famines such as the Bengal Famine of 1770, which is estimated to have caused over 10 million deaths (Davis, 2001). During the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya in the 1950s, British forces operated detention camps where detainees suffered torture, castration, and extrajudicial executions (Elkins, 2005). In Australia, Aboriginal communities were systematically displaced, killed, or culturally erased through government-sanctioned policies often referred to as the “Stolen Generations” (Reynolds, 2001). Despite this history, British colonialism is often romanticized as a “civilizing mission,” with little acknowledgment of the systemic violence and oppression it entailed (Dirks, 2006).

The United States follows a similar trajectory, although its violence is often couched in modern language such as "humanitarian intervention," "regime change," and "nation-building." During the Vietnam War, U.S. military operations led to millions of civilian deaths and long-term environmental damage through the use of napalm and Agent Orange (Hersh, 1970; Stellman et al., 2003). The 2003 invasion of Iraq, based on false claims that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and destabilized the region, contributing to the rise of ISIS (Iraq Body Count, 2023; Cockburn, 2015). In Afghanistan, the U.S. waged a twenty-year war that ended with the Taliban quickly regaining power following American withdrawal, leaving many Afghan women’s rights overturned and soldiers grappling with the purpose of their mission (Gopal, 2021).

ISIS fighters appear in a video online on Feb. 4, 2015. Balkis Press/Abaca/Sipa USA

While smaller nations face strict enforcement of international law, the powerful manipulate global institutions to shield themselves from accountability. The United Nations Security Council, dominated by the U.S., U.K., Russia, China, and France, grants veto power that often protects these states from sanctions or intervention (Weiss, 2013). The International Criminal Court has prosecuted African leaders for war crimes but has never brought charges against U.S. or British officials, in part because these countries refuse to fully cooperate with its jurisdiction (Schabas, 2011). Western media frequently downplays civilian casualties caused by NATO or allied forces while emphasizing every misstep of adversarial states like Iran, North Korea, or Russia (Herman & Chomsky, 1988).

Imagine if a country such as Venezuela invaded another nation on false pretenses, bombed cities, installed a puppet regime, and exploited natural resources — it would be universally condemned as imperialist terrorism. If Iran launched drone strikes on European cities that killed whole families, it would be declared barbaric. Yet when the U.S. and its allies undertake similar actions, they are lauded for “defending freedom” (Klein, 2007). This double standard is not justice; it is global hypocrisy.

Perhaps the most tragic aspect is how successfully these powers have erased or sanitized their crimes. Schoolchildren in London and Washington rarely learn about genocides or atrocities committed by their governments. These crimes are reduced to euphemisms such as “conflict,” “intervention,” or “civilizing efforts” (Trouillot, 1995). Museums proudly display artifacts obtained through conquest and plunder without acknowledging the violence that secured them (Said, 1993). The world remembers the crimes of others vividly, but when it comes to Western violence, history is blurred, softened, or outright forgotten.

From a psychological perspective, this unchecked power and impunity mirror the behavior observed in bullies who face no consequences. Research in social psychology consistently shows that individuals or groups allowed to exert dominance without accountability tend to escalate aggressive behavior rather than desist (Olweus, 1993; Bandura, 1973). The United States, currently the world’s leading power, continues to assert itself as the “leader of the free world,” while its history of aggression and imperialism remains largely unpunished or acknowledged. The failure to hold such a dominant power accountable only encourages the perpetuation of hegemonic bullying on a global scale, reinforcing cycles of violence and mistrust (Lindsay & Krysik, 2017).

Barack Obama speaking during a visit to US soldiers at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan

This is not a call for vengeance, but a demand for honesty. If international law and human rights are to have meaning, we must confront the reality that the so-called guardians of peace have often been sources of immense destruction. Accountability should not depend on a country’s military or economic power, nor should history be written only by those with the loudest voices and cleanest uniforms.

Until we recognize that the crimes of empires continue to shape poverty, extremism, and displacement worldwide, we cannot claim to stand for truth or justice. If any other nation committed the atrocities carried out by the U.S., U.K., and other colonial powers, they would be labeled terrorists, sanctioned, and possibly destroyed. But when the powerful spill blood, the world often looks away — or worse, calls it peace.

References

• Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis. Prentice-Hall.
• Chomsky, N. (1999). Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order. Seven Stories Press.
• Cockburn, P. (2015). The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution. Verso Books.
• Davis, M. (2001). Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World. Verso.
• Dirks, N. B. (2006). The Scandal of Empire: India and the Creation of Imperial Britain. Harvard University Press.
• Elkins, C. (2005). Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya. Henry Holt.
• Ferguson, N. (2004). Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World. Penguin.
• Gopal, A. (2021). No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes. Metropolitan Books.
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• Iraq Body Count. (2023). Civilian deaths in Iraq. iraqbodycount.org
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• Stellman, J. M., Stellman, S. D., Christian, R., Weber, T., & Tomasallo, C. (2003). The extent and patterns of usage of Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam. Nature.
• Trouillot, M.-R. (1995). Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Beacon Press.
• Weiss, T. G. (2013). International Organization and Global Governance. Routledge.