Operation Khanjar (also known by the English name, Operation Strike of the Sword ) is an American-led military offensive against the Taliban in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. Approximately 4,000 Marines from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade along with 650 Afghan Army soldiers are taking part in the offensive. The operation began when the U.S.and Afghan forces entered the Helmand river valley in the early morning of July 2, 2009. Continued at http://www.historyguy.com/afghan_battle_helmand_2009.htm
North Korea Launches Four More Missiles
On July 2, 2009, North Korea launched four more short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan. Fears abound that the North Koreans may launch a ballistic missile toward Hawaii over the July 4th weekend.
Honduras Coup First Since 1972
On June 28, 2009, the Honduran military stormed the Presidential residence in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, and arrested President Manuel Zelaya. The deposed President was then taken to an air base, put on a plane, and flown into exile in Costa Rica. Upon landing in Costa Rica, President Zelaya claimed that he remained the legal president of Honduras. Meanwhile, after his departure from Honduras…Read the rest of the article at http://www.historyguy.com/honduras_coup_2009.htm
American Drone Attack on Pakistan Kills 80 but Misses Mehsud
An American drone attack apparently killed 80 people in Pakistan’s turbulent and rebellious border country, but the chief target, Jihadist leader Baitullah Mehsud, escaped.
The drone attack struck a funeral held for a Taliban leader killed in an earlier drone strike that same day. The drone strikes today were the 19th and 20th drone attacks since Barack Obama took office in January. There were only 24 known American drone attacks in Pakistan during the Bush Administration, spanning the years 2004 through January 1, 2009.
Recent drone attacks seem to be targeting Baitullah Mehsud’s organization, which is central to the Taliban rebellion against the Pakistani government.
Strike Reportedly Missed Chief of Pakistani Taliban by Hours—NYTimes, June 24, 2009
Drone attacks on Pakistan by the United States—Wikipedia Article
China and India: Enemies Again?
China and India: Enemies Again?
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal points out an uncomfortable truth: Namely that the world’s two most populous nations, China and India, still really do not like nor trust each other very much. And, to add some spice to this long-standing rivalry, one needs to only remember that these two Asian giants share a very long border, but that they are both nuclear powers.
As stated in the WSJ:
On June 8, New Delhi announced it would deploy two additional army divisions and two air force squadrons near its border with China. Beijing responded furiously to the Indian announcement, hardening its claim to some 90,000 square kilometers of Indian territory that China disputes.
China and India fought a nasty border war back in 1962, over disputed land along the border, and they never really settled the issue satisfactorily. The WSJ points out that in recent years, China has worked hard to put in many roads and other infrastructure that could facilitate troop and weapon movement in the event of a new conflict. India has not done similar work on its side of the border.
In recent years however China has been raising the temperature at the border. Chinese claims to Arunachal Pradesh and frequent Chinese “incursions” into the nearby Indian state of Sikkim have begun to multiply in line with Beijing’s rising economic and political influence. Moreover, unlike India, China has methodically developed its infrastructure along the disputed border, littering the barren terrain with highways and railways capable of moving large numbers of goods and troops.
For its part, New Delhi has become both increasingly aware of its disadvantage and exceedingly suspicious of China’s intentions. India’s June 8 announcement that it will deploy two additional army mountain divisions to the northeastern state of Assam will bring India’s troop levels in the region to more than 100,000. The Indian Air Force, meanwhile, announced it will station two squadrons of advanced Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft in Tezpur, also in Assam. They will be complemented by three Airborne Warning and Control Systems and the addition or upgrade of airstrips and advanced landing stations.
The article also points out that China has invested in projects in nations throughout South Asia, including in nations with ongoing or recent issues with India, such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
China has been spending a lot of financial and political capital to extend its influence around Asia, and also into Africa and Latin America. China’s military is quickly improving and modernizing by leaps and bounds. India is bordered by nations who do not like India, and China is making friends with India’s other enemies. India had best watch out, and the American government needs to work hard to keep China from flexing its muscles at the expense of democratic India.
See also:
http://www.historyguy.com/india-bangladesh_2001.htm
http://www.historyguy.com/kargil_war.html
http://www.historyguy.com/indo_pakistani-wars.html
http://www.historyguy.com/kashmir_links.html
Iran Election Protests and Violence June 2009
New page on the recent political violence in Iran and in Tehran at http://www.historyguy.com/iran_unrest_2009.htm
Yemeni Rebels Kill Baptist Hospital Workers
Nine foreign hostages were found dead in Yemen, near the Sa’dah region of northwestern Yemen. The obvious suspects are the al-Houthi Shiite rebels who live and fight in that region, but they deny any involvement in the deaths a British engineer, his South Korean wife, a German doctor, his wife and their three children, and two other German women, believed to be nurses. The dead foreigners all worked in a hospital in Sa’dah, and worked for a Baptist Mission. If that denial is true, then another suspect group, one which the Yemen government may prefer to blame, is al-Qaida’s local wing, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The long-running fear among Western governments and analysts is that al-Qaida may be setting up shop in chaotic Yemen.
Kidnapping is a common occurrence in Yemen, especially of foreigners, who may be worth some ransom money. Killing those hostages is not common, due to the aforementioned financial value inherent in healthy, breathing captives. This tends to make the possibility of the murderers being regular Yemeni rebels or entrepreneurs more remote.
The Yemeni government, embattled in the north by the al-Houthis, and facing a possible new front in the south around the port city of Aden with a new effort by southerners to secede, may welcome the chance to gain more Western aid if a threat by al-Qaida is seen. The bodies were found in the el-Nashour area, which is slightly to the east of the Sa’dah areas where the al-Houthis are fighting. Al-Qaida is known to have a base in the el-Nashour area.
Sources and Information:
3 foreign hostages found dead in Yemen, LA Times, June 15, 2009
British engineer among nine foreigners feared murdered in Yemen—Telegraph.co.uk, June 15, 2009
Hostages in Yemen Found Dead??!! Update: Six Alive??!!—-Armies of Liberation, June 15, 2009
Sa’dah al-Houthi Rebellion in Yemen (2004-Present)–www.historyguy.com
U.S.-China Naval Incidents-Updated June 12, 2009
In March of 2009, several incidents took place between
the military forces of the United States and the military
forces of the People’s Republic of China at sea. Below is a
listing of these naval and air incidents.
In June, 2009, an Chinese submarine collided with a sonar
array towed by a U.S. destroyer near the Philippines
June 12, 2009–A Chinese submarine hit an
underwater sonar array being towed by the destroyer USS
John McCain on June 11, 2009. The sonar array received
damage, but the Chinese submarine and the American
destroyer did not collide. This incident occurred near
Subic Bay, Philippines.
March 8, 2009–Five Chinese vessels harassed
and obstructed the USNS Impeccable in the South China
Sea, 70 mile from the coast of the Chineses island of
Hainan. The Chinese ships surrounded the Impeccable and
two of the ships closed to within 50 feet of the American
ship. The Chinese ships included a Chinese navy
intelligence collection ship, a Bureau of Maritime
Fisheries patrol vessel, a State Oceanographic
Administration patrol vessel and two small
Chinese-flagged trawlers.
Crewmen aboard the Impeccable used fire hoses to spray
one of the harassiing Chinese ships as a protective
measure. The Chinese crewmembers stripped to their
underwear and continued manning their posts, closing to
within 25 feet of the Americans.
The Chinese also dropped pieces of wood into the water
directly in the Impeccable’s path, and two of the
ships halted directly in the U.S. vessel’s path,
forcing it to stop.
Chinese sailors used poles, attempting to snag the
Impeccable’s towed acoustic array sonars. Impeccable
used bridge-to-bridge radio contact to inform the Chinese
ships that it was leaving the area and requested a safe
path to navigate.
China accused the U.S. Navy of conducting illegal
surveying off southern Hainan island.
March 7, 2009–A Chinese naval vessel
challenged the USNS Impeccable via bridge-to-bridge
radio, accusing the Impeccable of conducting illegal
operations and told the American ship to leave the area
or “suffer the consequences.”
March 5, 2009–Chinese maritime aircraft
“buzzed” the USNS Impeccable 12 times. This
came after an incident earlier in the day.
March 5, 2009 –A Chinese frigate crossed the
bow of the USNS Impeccable at a range of about 100
yards
March 4, 2009–A Chinese patrol vessel shined a
high-intensity spotlight on the USNS Victorious, while it
was operating in the Yellow Sea some 125 miles from the
Chinese coast.
.
Links:
Sources and
Iran Wars Update
Iran Wars page updated due to the rising tensions surrounding the disputed Iranian Presidential election and the possible scenarios involving an Israeli attack on Iran in the near future.
Go to: http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_iran.htm
for more information on the military history of Persia and Iran, and the military history of this ancient nation.
The Threat to Yemen: al-Qaida and the Perils of More War in Yemen
The Threat to Yemen: al-Qaida and the Perils of More War in Yemen
Yemen, that oddly-shaped nation on the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the world’s poorest nations with a very uneducated, illiterate population. It is also a hotbed of violence, tribalism, insurgencies and protests against the weak central government, along with a history of civil war and conflicts among Yemen’s very different regions. Most men in the rural mountains and deserts own guns, know how to use them, consider kidnapping foreigners a fun and profitable way to pass the time, and they don’t like their alleged central government telling them what to do.
Oh, and to top off the list of unfortunate things about Yemen, it is the traditional homeland of the bin Laden family, (yes, THAT bin Laden family!), and, according to U.S. military and intelligence sources, it is turning into a possible new safe haven for al-Qaida fighters and leaders as they look for a more out-fo-the-way place to lead their Jihad from. Yemen gained notice in the U.S. in 2000 with the al-Qaida attack on the American warship, the USS Cole. The U.S. did not publicly respond to that attack, but after the al-Qaida attacks of September 11, 2001, Yemen sided with the United States, and began dealing with its own militant problem with American aid. The U.S. also conducted Predator drone strikes against Jihadist/al-Qaida targets in Yemen, most likely with the knowledge of the Yemeni government.
In 2004, the Sa’dah Insurgency began in the northwestern tip of Yemen, with the Islamic cleric Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the leader of the Shiite Zaidiyyah sect, launched an uprising against the Yemeni government. The Yemeni government also has problems in the south of the country, (which used to be the independent and avowedly Marxist/Socialist People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen). Southern Yemen is making noises about seceding from the northern-dominated government, and some analysts and commentators (http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35108&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=cf625c5341) claim that al-Qaida is getting involved in the southern protests and violence against the government.
So, why should the U.S. or any other Western nation care? Look at the map of where Yemen lies.
Map of Yemen and Surrounding Region
Yemen is next to Saudi Arabia, and across the Bab al Mandeb (narrow straits separating Arabia from Africa) lies Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Most of the Somali pirate action is in the Gulf of Aden, which lies between southern Yemen and Somalia. A LOT of the world’s oil supply travels through those waters, and a seriously unstable Yemen on the scale of pre-2001 Afghanistan or the present-day Somalia is bad news for Saudi Arabia and Western interests.
The potential for a new Yemeni North/South War (past North/South conflicts erupted in 1972, 1979, and 1994) is serious and could spell trouble for the whole region. This bears watching…
Some websites and blogs of interest regarding Yemen: