OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM
Introduction
On March 20, 2003, the combined military forces of the United States and Britain crossed the southern border of Iraq and Kuwait with the intent of capitulating the government of Saddam Hussein. Over the course of 21 days, the joint task force moved quickly and decisively to seize major objective cities along the road to Baghdad using aviation, armor, artillery, and infantry. Following the overwhelming success of the primary combat operations of the invasion, stability and support systems proved insufficient as sectarian violence and other criminal activity among the local population of Iraq increased.
History
In ancient times, Iraq was known by the Greek term Mesopotamia, or the
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A period of civil unrest and revolt plagued the British mandate government in Iraq. Arab nationalist and other political activists led an uprising against the Regent monarch resulting in a coup d’etat in July 1958 by members of the newly formed Ba’ath Party. (4) A series of power struggles ended 10 years later placing Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr as President, with a young Saddam Hussein as his deputy.
After many years of operating as President Bakr’s chief of security and instituting measures of loyalty among various sectors of the Iraqi Ba’ath government, Saddam Hussein demanded the President’s resignation. On July 22, 1979, Hussein administered a series of “democratic executions,” killing or imprisoning 66
government officials that were identified as conspirators against the Ba’ath party. (5) His ruthless and brutal dictatorship would bring his country to war with neighboring Iran from 1980 to 1988. Initially a territorial dispute, Hussein would cite Iran’s Islamic fundamentalism as his motives for continued combat and Iraq’s use of chemical weapons. (6) The war resulted in more than 100,000 combat deaths and drove Iraq deep into debt. The military annex of Kuwait in 1991 was intended to absolve Iraq of this financial responsibility to it’s neighbor. (7) The United Nations Security Council, in particular the United States, responded with force to drive Saddam Hussein’s army
Men ages 13 to 70 were shot and buried in mass graves while women and children were relocated to camps with terrible living conditions. If any area made even a small attempt at resisting, everyone would be killed. Throughout the massacre, Saddam had his cousin, Ali Hassan , in control of the chemical bombings on approximately 40 Kurdish villages. Mustard gas and nerve agents blanketed the areas causing instantaneous effects of asphyxiation, convulsions, blindness, vomiting, and blisters. Long term effects would include cancers, birth defects, and permanent blindness. 5,000 civilians, including women and children, were dead within days of the attacks. It was clear that the Iraqi citizens were ecstatic to remove Hussein from power when in 2003 a huge mass of them toppled over the statue of him in the square, dragged the head around the city, and beat it with shoes, which is considered a severe indication of disrespect in the Arab culture. Robert Kagan and William Kristol, Co-founders of the Project for the New American Century, said, “The mass graves uncovered since the end of the war are alone sufficient justification for it." These brutalities, brought on by the “iron-fist” government, should not be excused or ignored. Ultimately, appeasement does not work, as shown by the events of WWII. Without the intervention of a higher authority, the viciousness and cruelty would have continued, uninhibited in Iraq for an unpredictable amount of time. Although the
The United States involvement in the Iran-Iraq War escalated conflict and destabilized the area by giving arms to both sides. The Iran-Iraq War was fought between 1980 and 1988. It began by Iraq invading Iran for oil and territory because they thought Iran would
The Persian Gulf War began with Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq moving his forces into the neighboring country Kuwait mid-1990. During this time Iraq had the fourth largest army in the world, after being supplied by the United Sates during their eight year war with Iran raised some concerns. (Operation Desert Storm) Also with the chance of Iraq controlling one-fifth of the world’s oil supply didn’t sit well with the United States, nor its Allied forces. (Operation Desert Storm) Early August 1990 the United Nations Security Council directed Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait by 15 January 1991. (Operation Desert Storm) Towards the end of 1990 United Sates began the defense of Saudi Arabia, which known as Operation Desert Shield. Along with multilateral support, the United States sent
What triggered the Iraq War that we are currently still having? During this time in history we were still in the cold war as well Cold War (1945–1991), a lot of events has happened during this time period. I am going to start with the Iran-Iraq war which started in 1980 and ended in 1988. The war began when Iraq invaded Iran, launching a simultaneous invasion by air and land into Iranian territory on 22 September 1980 following a long history of border disputes, and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by the Iranian Revolution. (Wikipedia, Iran–Iraq War, 2011). This war had at least a million and half casualties and it severely damaged both their economies, the Iran-Iraq war conflict is often
The Persian Gulf War all started because of one country’s greed for oil. Iraq accused Kuwait of pumping oil and not sharing the benfits, and Kuwait was pumping more oil than allowed under quotas set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, it decreased the price of oil, Iraq's main export. Iraq's complaints against Kuwait grew more and more harsh, but they were mostly about money. When Iraqi forces began to assemble near the Kuwaiti border in the summer of 1990, several Arab states tried to intervene the dispute. Kuwait didn’t want to look weak so they didn’t ask for any help from the United States or other non-Arab powers for support. Arab mediators convinced Iraq and Kuwait to negotiate their differences in Saudi Arabia, on
Since the war on Iraq began on March 20, 2003, at least 1,402 coalition troops have died and 9,326 U.S. troops have been wounded in action. This is no small number and the count grows daily. One would hope, then, that these men and women were sent to war with just cause and as a last resort. However, as the cloud of apprehension and rhetoric surrounding the war has begun to settle, it has become clear that the Bush administration relied on deeply flawed analyses to make its case for war to the United Nations and to the American people, rushing this country, and its soldiers, into war. This is not to say that this war was waged against a blameless regime or that our soldiers have died
On August 2nd, 1990 Iraqi military forces invaded and occupied the small Arab state of Kuwait. The order was given by Iraqi dictatorial president Saddam Hussein. His aim was apparently to take control Kuwait's oil reserves (despite its small size Kuwait is a huge oil producer; it has about 10 per cent of the world's oil reserves ). Iraq accused Kuwait, and also the United Arab Emirates, of breaking agreements that limit oil production in the Middle East. According to Saddam Hussein, this brought down world oil prices severely and caused financial loss of billions of dollars in Iraq's annual revenue.
The Gulf War in 1990 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 both had a profound impact not just on the countries directly involved - primarily Iraq and the United States (US) - but also on the geo-politics of the world. Arguably, the War ended in a stalemate because the Iraqi regime that had started the War by invading Kuwait remained in power. Perhaps inevitably then, in March 2003 the US and its allies invaded Iraq with the stated aim of overthrowing the regime of Saddam Hussein and destroying that regime's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Some similarities between both Wars are immediately obvious: for example, the same country, the
America is under attack, not necessarily from an enemy in a faraway land, but by our own government. In the current year 2010, almost 7 years after shock and awe mission that officially started the war in Iraq, the U.S. government fails to acknowledge that our efforts in the Middle East have plagued, and that it is time to bring our troops home. The surge campaigns in recent years are felt by many to be an unofficial recognition that the war isn’t going well, and many top generals have had high hopes for this military strategy, but overwhelming evidence concludes this was a short-lived success. No one can deny the financial toll the Iraq war is having on America, our country is in the middle of the worst economic crisis in recent history,
In 2003, President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell launched an invasion of the nation of Iraq. United States Secretary of State Colin Powell outlined the reasons Iraq posed a threat to international security in a speech he gave at the United Nations. Iraq’s nuclear weapons program concerned the Bush administration. Fearing Iraq might use this program to act aggressively in the region, and wanting to secure oil supplies and a friendly regime, the administration pursued a plan of action to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power (FLS 2016, 43). A constant secure supply of oil stood as a cornerstone of the military-industrial complex thriving in the United States and a friendly regime in such an oil rich country remained an important objective of President Bush. This directly conflicted with the desire of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq to remain in power.
The war against Iraq began on March 20, 2002, when the U.S lunched “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. This was after President Bush called Iraq part of an “axis of evil”, also calling the country dangerous which is threatening U.S with the world’s most destructive weapons. The major phase of the war began when U.S troops marched within 50 miles of Baghdad with heavy aerial attacks on Baghdad and other cities. After the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon which was believed to be the work of Al Qaeda, U.S was concerned about the security of the Untied States which lead to the war in Iraq. Even though U.S officials felt the war in Iraq is the main priority, but many people in U.S opposes the war which brings up a lot of controversial issues.
After the gulf wars, a ceasefire was negotiated between the United Nations coalition and Iraq. During the ceasefire, the United Nations became aware that Iraq had started a biological warfare program in the 1980s, as well as a chemical warfare program. Upon further investigation, they found that these programs had not continued after the war. As a result, the United States main focus moving forward was the removal of the Saddam regime, their official foreign policy for years to come focused on this goal. With the suspicions that Saddam Hussein had the abilities to acquire weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration going as far as to claim he already had them, the United States and other countries began devising a plan of action. These countries strongly believed that Iraq was a treat to its neighbors and the rest of the world, and that the only solution was to invade Iraq. The United States invading Iraq in 2003 was a turning point in the reason why relationship between Iraq and the United States is the way it is today.
Although the era of Saddam was stained with corruption and ethnic cleansing, the stable period proved to be the height of modern Iraq’s existence.
While the Iran-Iraq War during the 1980's may have permanently altered the course of progress in Iran and Iraq, the war also altered the resulting permanent involvement of the rest of the world in the middle-east. The rich and complicated history in Iraq has established numerous cultural and ethnic traditions that all play a part in where the country is today. The Iran-Iraq War brought into focus some of those traditions and how they conflicted, while also bringing Iraq and its economic situation into the spotlight. Being on top of some of the most mineral rich soil in the world makes Iraq a major contributor to the world's economy through petroleum and crude oil exports. This, among other reasons, ties nations
Before entering the war against Iraq in 1990, for multinational forces was necessary to explain the causes of the war to the international community. Multinational forces had to clarify to the world all reasons like: the restoration of Kuwait's lost independence (in August 1990, Iraqi troops occupied Kuwait); Protection of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman against possible aggression by Iraq; Protection of the freedom of global navigation in the Persian Gulf; Protection of the trampled rights of Kurds and Shiites in Iraq. With using global information network, it became possible to show the aggressiveness of Iraq and set up world public opinion against Iraq. At the same time attempts by Iraq to find the support of other countries have