ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
Name of the Organization: President, National Security Council (NSC), and
Department of Defense (DoD) Components involved in the USS Mayaguez Incident, 12
Their Mission: President Ford outlined three objectives for the rescue of the USS
1) Basic recovery of the vessel and crew
2) Avoidance of hostage negotiations
3) Reinforce the United States
through a display of force
According to John Guilmartin in his book A Very Short War: The Mayaguez and the
Battle of Koh Tang, priority was given to the first objective, which dictated the obligation
of forces to the rescue attempt (1995).
Size of the Organization: Directly, there were roughly 1000 personnel involved in the
incident. Indirectly, the numbers could extend to include Cambodia and Vietnam, but we
examine only the directly involved parties, most notably, the participating Department of
Defense units and the Merchant Marines.
Date of Incident: 12
Incident Summary: The Mayaguez Incident was a Presidential mission to recapture the
U.S. Merchant Ship S.S. Mayaguez in international waters. The ship and its 39
crew were seized on May 12, 1975, off the coast of Cambodia by Khmer Rouge forces
who approached the ship in gunboats. The Mayaguez crewmembers and ship were
eventually repatriated, and the operation was hailed as a victory for the administration of
President Gerald Ford as well as the Khmer Rouge. However, by the military directly
involved in the action, it
NO: George L. Cowgill, from "Teotihuacan, Internal Militaristic Competition, and the Fall of the Classic Maya," in Norman Hammond and Gordon R. Willey, eds., Maya Archaeology and Ethnohistory
The collapse of the Mayan Empire is one of history’s greatest mysteries. It was one of the most advanced and developed civilizations of its time period, reining during the Pre-Classic period and into the Classic and Post-Classic Periods (2000 B.C. – 900 A.D.). The territory stretched from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, down to modern day El Salvador in Central America. Its achievements were monumental for the era, being the first empire communicating with the use of a written language having over 800 symbols and producing the first 365 day calendar. They maintained an in-depth understanding of astrological cycles that would assist in planning harvesting cycles and predicting solar eclipses. The Mayan’s
What happened to the Mayan civilization before it mysteriously collapsed is still a mystery, but heart-stopping achievements were made. Throughout 3000 years the Native tribe of the Maya inhabited México, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras until the Spanish arrived. They were so secluded from anyone else, that they could not learn information from other tribes and they came up with all ideas themselves.(BGE) Trade routes, the creation of beautiful cities, establishing the number system and developing three calendars we all breathtaking achievements accomplished by the Mayan culture. Using scale, effort, genius, and significance four achievements will be argued about which was the most remarkable. Obviously the development
The Mayans were hardworking people who lived in Mesoamerica. A thousand years ago before the spanish arrived, the maya built a great civilization. What many seem to question is what was so remarkable about what this group did.The four criterias scale, genius, physical effort and significance will be examined to see which was actually remarkable. People today argue over which Mayan achievement was the greatest - the trade network, numbers, calendars, and city-buildings , however true to say is that the building cities was the achievement that set the group off to great contributions.
The early Mayan civilization had lowly beginnings. They rose to remarkable heights in a seemingly inhospitable land. As Maya scholar Arthur Demarest said “Such a civilization, had no business there.” The Mayans had to battle with torrential rain in the rainy season, and when the weather turned hot, it scorched the land and their water supplies would plummet. They were always faced with floods or drought. They were probably forced here due to overcrowding from other tribes. But nonetheless they began to conquer these threats as they learned advanced farming techniques to make the shallow earth fertile. They burned and cleared jungle to make room for their agriculture, particularly maize. They then began the process of crop rotation, long before anyone else. As the Mayan civilization began its steady uprising they began to redouble their efforts, they started composting, cultivating, they built irrigation systems and began to terrace the landscape to make farming more efficient and prevent erosion. They dammed rivers and flooded swamplands and marshes to create rich farmland. They instituted transport systems to move fertile silt and mud from lowlands to higher enclosed gardens and farms and created man made lakes and ponds that they used to fish and systems of corrals held wild game. They maximized their talents and squeezed out enough nourishment to support their population which had risen to several million people.
“For evidence that the notion of Europeans introducing ‘civilization’ to the Americas is a lie, one need only look at the Aztec and Mayan peoples.” The Mayan civilization began prospering at around 900 BC - AD 300. The Mayas were extremely inventive with a interesting and vivacious culture. They erected are religious enters and communities and created advanced watering systems for irrigation and water storage. By 300 AD the Mayan city of Tikal had at least 20,000 people, including farmers and laborers used to create large temples for religious devotion decorated by skilled artisans. The ruling class was an elite group who claimed to be descendants from gods, not to completely unlike the monarchy or bourgeoisie in Europe. One of the most well know inventions of the Mayans was the calendar which they used to record noteworthy accounts such as historical events and predictions of solar and lunar eclipses, done so with remarkable accuracy. The Mayans were so advanced that they developed their own form of written language called hieroglyphics allowed the further progression and movement of ideas, creating a complex society.
The DHS continues to evolve in order to meet present and future challenges. The organization defines its current mission and goals while using current intelligence to forecast future threats. The DHS has identified areas in need of improvement in order to prepare for future threats. Citizens criticize policies in national security as infringing on civil liberties, and an ongoing debate ensues over the sacrifice of civil liberties in the name of national security. The DHS continues to evolve in analyzing future threats and identifying means for the organization to meet them.
The Department of Homeland Security do have grants available for its programs, however there is a need to know where the grants need to be channel to, for better productivity. As recommendation, there is a need to continue encouraging forums where intergovernmental agencies and the citizens can frequently have an open discussion such as media chats and possible quarterly live Television programs, there should be a day or a week in the year dedicated to Human Trafficking. Also a monthly magazine would be a good idea to collaborate into the awareness effort.
The Classical Maya was lost to the archaeological records until the last 200 years due to it’s abandonment. When the Mayans left there great cities, thick vines and jungles overtook the great monuments they once built. But in the last 200 years, in depth research has lead to breakthroughs into what the Classic Maya was like. The earliest Mayans were agriculturalist, growing crops such as corn (maize), beans, squash and cassava. The Mayans also invented a very accurate calendar, a math code using 0’s, constructed buildings still intact today, and a writing system that took decades to decode. The Mayans were situated in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), modern-day Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador. Due to their location on the
The purpose of this essay is to answer the question “To what extent, if any, did ancient Maya civilization contribute to society in colonial America?”.
The National Resources Defense Council, is a international environment advocacy group founded in 1970. The organization is based in New York City, New York, and currently has approximately three hundred and fifty employees. Aside from these workers, the NRDC has over a million members, with many of them being online contributors to the site. These members consist of a wide-array of professionals and experts such as lawyers, scientists, and other policy experts. The organization also has a diversified group of international online members. Because some of the content’s main advocacy, it can be perceived that there are motives other than just providing information.
Massive temples hidden in the jungles of the Yucatan, mysterious stone stelas, and cryptic calendars eluding to advanced knowledge of the stars and mathematics are just some of the artifacts originating from the “Classic Maya” period (200 CE-900 CE). However, these popular items should not be the only defining characteristics of a society that dominated the Mesoamerican region for nearly a millennia. Dynastic lines, similar to those found in European houses, were important elements during this period in places like Palenque, Tikal, and Calakmul. Additionally, the Maya experienced violent and consistent warfare between localized powers and the backbone of their society, agriculture, suffered through several multi-year droughts. These factors
“For many years, archeologists thought the Mayans a peaceful people, capable of war, but rarely indulging in it.” future discoveries showed that this theory was not correct. In the early years mayans would fight wars for captives for human sacrifice. After a couple hundred years the wars mostly occurred between
The breathtaking splendor of ornate cites, the beautifully constructed grand temples, and the ingeniously developed and advanced caledretics, mathematics, and astronomy easily mark one of the most interesting and prosperous periods in Latin American history. Over period spanning approximately six centuries, the Maya of Central America reached artistic and intellectual heights that no other group in the New World had seen
Mayan culture existed a thousand years ago, in what is now part of Central America. Its ruins were almost entirely abandoned by 600 A.D, and were not rediscovered until the early 1500’s, by Spanish settlers. Mayan architecture astounded the early conquistadors, and continues to be of great interest to modern archeologists as well. These scientists have labeled a certain period of Mayan architectural history as the “Classic” period.