History Of Hezbollah And How It Affects The Iraqi People And Their Government

During ISIS’s rise to power, there have been several key players, which have influenced the growth or decline of its movement. The center of Gravity (COG) for ISIS has been its ability to recruit volunteer foreign fighters from around to engage in its caliphate. In addition, local people from Iraqi, Syrian, and other Nations have been key players because of ISIS’s efforts promote fear and violence against their family or communities. Sunnis and Shia countries focused on regional power and security. Furthermore, the U.S. and its 70 Allies through Operation Inherent Resolve Campaign aim to defeat ISIS and promoting regional stability. The last key players are rival terrorist franchises or organizations like AQ, Taliban, Al Shabaab, and Hamas

In the post Osama bin Laden era al-Qaedist ideology is flourishing across the Arab world. A significant development has been the rise of al-Qaeda offshoots in the Middle East. The Abdallah Azzam Brigades franchise has increasingly become a noteworthy actor in terrorism. On May 8th, 2012 Thomas Nides, Deputy Secretary of State designated Abdallah Azzam Brigades as a foreign terrorist organization (Nides, T.R. , 2012). Abdullah Azzam Brigades may have only recently been added as a foreign terrorist group; nevertheless the organization has deep roots, lethal capacity, and is capable of contributing to supplementary instability in the Middle East.

In the early morning hours of the 19th of March 2003 the leviathan force better known as the United States military began an occupation to topple the brutal Saddam Hussein regime. The conflict later known as the Iraq War and dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States, brought together four separate nations to overturn Saddam Hussein and the Ba’athist government. The war introduced tactics and strategies of urban warfare, the likes of which have never used by the U.S. military before; and despite President George W. Bush declaration on the 1st of May 2003 abroad the USS Abraham Lincoln, the war was anything but “mission accomplished.” Operation Iraqi Freedom consisted of twenty-one major battles throughout its rough ten-year occupation. Operation Phantom Fury, or better known as the Second Battle of Fallujah, was one of those strategic key battles. Then Major General Richard F. Natonski led the 1st Marine Division through Operation Phantom Fury. I will introduce a brief history of LTG Natonski, the strategic location of the City of Fallujah, and an in-depth critical analysis of the mission command throughout the deadliest battle in the Iraq War.

Iran gave direct support to Hezbollah through the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Hezbollah opposed Lebanon because it was supported by Israel and the United States, and in 1985 it issued its political agenda through the “Open Letter to the Downtrodden in Lebanon and in the World.”# In 1989, the Taif Accord emerged and the Lebanese Civil War ended in 1990 when Syrian troops moved into parts of Lebanon that were not occupied by Israel. The Taif Accord balanced powers between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon, and overall tried to maneuver equality amongst both groups although Sunni elites were given the dominant role. After the Taif Accord, economic conditions continued to worsen and many began to underestimate the ability of Syria to control Lebanon. Syria then made the strategic move to promote Rafiq al-Hariri in 1992 to rescue Lebanon from its eventual demise. Hariri was able to boost the economy and revive morale in the Sunni communities. By the 1990s Hariri was capable of governing Lebanon independent of Syria. This began a decline of Syrian support for him, and a decline of Sunni dominance. After Hariri’s assassination in 2005, Syria was able to grasp control of Lebanon once more, and enabled Hezbollah to demonstrate a larger role. First existing as a revolutionary Islamist movement,

Following defeat in 1991, where US Air Land Battle doctrine and “second offset” technological advantage were demonstrated effectively, Hamdani recommended transforming Iraqi land forces from “heavy mechanised” to “light infantry” with focus on “guerrilla war” to counter US air power dominance. However, Saddam was in denial viewing the “Mother of All Battles” a victory; this was logical to him – he remained in power when his enemy was no longer POTUS and he still had a military with the world’s largest Arab army. He regarded internal (coup, Shia) and regional (Iran, Israel) threats ahead of external (US) threats with “the possibility of … American invasion … nonsense.” Having successfully quelled in March 1991what he perceived as the greatest danger to his regime, an internal uprising, he intended to maintain the military capability proven to ensure “the internal security of the Ba’ath dictatorship” ; viewing change unnecessary. But he was wrong: the US threat was credible and his military was not fit to counter it. Nonetheless there was no transformation. The regime complied with his will, coerced by fear. Saddam’s draconian leadership created a culture of deceit. Most feared for their lives and ‘toed the Ba’ath Party line’ with lying becoming commonplace across government and the military. “The resulting personal and organizational paranoia profoundly affected how Iraq addressed its strategic and military problems.” This negatively affected Iraqi military readiness and planning. To the contrary, Hamdani, viewed as a competent officer with ‘top cover’ from

Following the Algiers Accords, the first terrorism related U.S. sanctions were put in place against Iran following a series of Iran supported terrorist attacks by Hezbollah in 1983. Hezbollah or “Party of God” is an extremist political religious movement based in Lebanon. In the early 1980s, Iran helped create Hezbollah by providing funding, training, and the indoctrination of new members into what, until then, was a “fledgling movement.” Initially, Hezbollah was created and sponsored by Iran as a “form of resistance” to Israeli presence in southern Lebanon. However, Hezbollah’s dedication to the creation of an “Iran-style Islamic republic” in Lebanon has led Hezbollah to seek the removal of all non-Islamic influences

As of present, the state of Iraq is plagued with a myriad of problems, each of which must be taken into consideration when determining the best possible course of action for the United States. First, previous interventions, particularly those conducted by the United States, in Iraq must be considered in order to understand how a particular course of action in the current dilemma might play out. While the United States has played a role in Iraqi coups throughout the 20th century and assisting the Kurdish population in the north, the most decisive interventions began with the Persian Gulf War. The second is the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the third is the American-led intervention in Iraq against ISIS which is ongoing.

In a modern context the US must become involved in preventing the spread of dangerous weapons into the hands of groups which threaten the US and its allies’, for example, the Islamic State (IS). Looking at a map of IS controlled territories, it is clear that throughout Iraq IS controlled areas have increased since two thousand fourteen (Spread of ISIS, 1). Such advances of the militant group controlled boarders may pose a threat to US security. In fact David Kay, a leading weapons inspector during the gulf war stated that, “the country (Iraq) is likely still littered with chemical weapons dating from the Iran-Iraq war”(Crabtree, par. 2) With the expanding control of the IS and the imposing possibility of powerful weapons in control of this rogue state the US must become involved in order to protect its security and interests. US action is necessary in the prevention of proliferation and in fact the US is taking steps to prevent it. For example, President Obama recently had talks with Iran to push for limitations on its nuclear program (Good, par. 2). Similarly, in two thousand eleven the START treaty was signed greatly limiting the number of Russian and US weapons over seven years (Lee, par. 2). With agreements such as these the US pushes for the reduction of large weapons and seeks to defend its own interests. Through

Since the establishment of Hezbollah in 1982 as part of the Iranian government’s Revolutionary Guard, according to Spindlove et al (2010, pp. 249-252), the goal of this organization has since been the creation of an independent Islamic state exclusive of the nation of Lebanon. Moreover, according to a compilation of information by Berman (2015), it is widely believed that the Hezbollah ideology spawned during the Iranian Revolution. During this revolution, the rhetoric called upon Muslims to over through governments that oppressed them and their beliefs. Within Lebanon, according to perceptions of the Hezbollah leaders, the United States (U.S.) was ultimately to blame for the oppression of Lebanese Muslims and their beliefs while, simultaneously, viewing Israel as an extension of the U.S. and its policies within the region. Led by religious clerics, in addition to their desire for independence, the Hezbollah organization adopted an

Hezbollah was formed in 1982 by radical Lebanese Shiites who wanted to create an Islamic state in Lebanon and to free their land of Israeli domination (Byers, 2003). These extremists called their group Hezbollah, in English this translates to Party

Iraq’s Security Forces have been under scrutiny since ISIS began controlling Iraqi cities. The Iraqi Security Forces had 1,000,000 million personnel and had received $100 billion dollars in aid since 2006 (Al-Ali, 2014). However, ISIS is smaller in force and funds. ISIS has an estimated 20,000 troops and makes an estimated $1-4 million everyday (Gollom, 2014). The Iraqi Security Forces should have the ability and force to crush this terrorist cell, but astonishingly are being overrun by this terrorist cell. The Iraqi Security Forces face interior issues that cripple its ability to deal with military threats, and make the state vulnerable to internal and external attacks. Some of the most prominent issues affecting the power of Iraqi Security Forces is the early exiting of United States soldiers, Prime Minister Maliki’s policies, deep sectarian, and massive corruption throughout the military.

There are many terror organizations around the world that may want to do harm to the United States or our allies and interests to promote their ideology or to gain notoriety for the group. Some terror groups can be non-state sponsored and some can be state sponsored. Some are large organizations such as Al Qaeda and ISIS while some may be subordinate organizations to the larger organizations or function under their name across the globe. We must continue to evaluate and gather intelligence on all these organizations to reduce the possibility of an attack on our homeland or interests overseas. One such organization the United States needs to watch and continue to evaluate is Hezbollah. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage identified

In this group Iran has always been a major supplier of finances, training and equipment to all remembers of the resistance group. Every year they give up to two million dollars to the Hezbollah alone. In 2006, after the attack on Hezbollah,

CHAPTER THREE: PROGRESS TOWARDS INSURGENT ACTIVITY AS THE NEXT STAGE IN THE QUEST OF A CALIPHATE

Domestically, The organization has deepened its political presence through ‘nationalizing’ the cause, and strengthening social networks, and expand military and media power that is giving rise to national symbols, and increased the Lebanese the public trust, as it used the media to emphasize the Israeli aggression against civilians, especially women, and children; resulting to the increasing of the number of Lebanese and regional supporters of Hezbollah in the conflict. Through the smart conduct of the psychological war and portraying the conflict with Israel as a national effort. (Conway, 2009)