Iraq War Battles

Was the Iraq War worth it?  With nearly 5,000 American dead, hundreds of thousands (at least) Iraqi dead, a Shiite regime in power in Baghdad, increasing tensions between the Arab Iraqis and the Kurdish Iraqis, and a plethora of other issues, was the war worth it from the American Perspective?

For more resources  on the Iraq War, see http://www.historyguy.com/iraq_war_links.html
Iraq
War Combat Video

Feel free to add your comments below on the worth of the Iraq War.

Video of NATO Raid on Pakistan
U.S. Drone War in Pakistan (2004-Present)–The American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) uses unmanned Predator drone aircraft to cross the Pakistani border and launch missiles at suspected Taliban and al-Qaida forces and camps. Pakistan repeatedly denounces these attacks as a violation of their sovereignty. Various sources place the number of Pakistani/Taliban/al-Qaida casualties as a result of these attacks at between 1,700 and 2,600 as of November, 2011.

NATO Raid on Pakistan Military Outpost (Sept. 30, 2010)–NATO helicopters attack a border outpost, killing three Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan retaliates by closing the border to NATO supplies for two weeks.

U.S. Navy SEAL Raid on Abbottabad, Pakistan (May 1, 2011)–U.S. Special Forces raided a compound inside Pakistan, killing al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

NATO Raids on Pakistan Military Outposts (Nov. 25, 2011)–NATO aircraft attacked two Pakistani border posts, killing at least 24 Pakistani troops. NATO was attempting to target Taliban forces along the border, in Salala, a village in Pakistan’s Mohmand tirbal area near the border with Kunar Province in Afghanistan. (see Pakistan Border Region Map below).

Kenya and the Transitional Somali government are supported by the United States.  And, can it be a coincidence that this intevention by an American-allied African nation takes place only two days after President Obama announces the American intervention in the Lord’s Resistance Army Insurgency that has bedeviled Uganda, southern Sudan, Congo, and the Central African Republic?  Note that Uganda,  has thousands of troops in Somalia in support of the transitional government.

http://www.historyguy.com/somalia_conflict_shabab_war.htm

http://www.historyguy.com/lords_resistance_army_insurgency.htm

Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)

The insurgency of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) of Joseph Krony against the government of Uganda began in 1987 in the aftermath of the failed Holy Spirit Movement Rebellion of Alice Auma (also known as Alice Lakwena). After the Holy Spirit Movement lost a major battle against the Ugandan government at th ebattle of Jinja, Alice Auma fled to Kenya while Joseph Kony emerged as the leader of the remaining rebel forces. With Kony’s assumption of power came a shift in the rebels’ strategy and a new name: the Lord’s Resistance Army. Krony declared himself to be a prophet, emerging as a “Spirit Guide,” and inspired his rebel troops to fight the Ugandan government.

Krony’s beliefs (or tactics) emerged from a twisted understanding of Christian and local spiritualist pagan beliefs. His Lord’s Resistance Army is as much a cult as it is a military force. The LRA insurgency gained control of most of northern Uganda, with significan aid from the government of Sudan, which was in conflict with the Ugandan government.

In line with the cult-like beliefs of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Kony’s forces exhibited incredible brutality on the civilian populations they encountered. Women would be raped, children kidnapped and forced to join the LRA as “child soldiers,” anyone who broke the the arcane rules of the LRA would have their hands or other limbs cut off.

In 2005, Kony was indicted by the International Criminal Court for leading the LRA in a campaign of “murder, abduction, sexual enslavement, mutilation, as well as mass burnings of houses and looting of camp settlements”during his insurgency, and for personally ordering his troops to target and kill civilian populations.

Over the years, repeated Ugandan military offensives reclaimed most of the territory controlled by the Lord’s Resistance Army.

As his control over northern Uganda waned, Kony led his dwindling army through the borderlands of Uganda, southern Sudan, the Congo, and the Central African Repbublic. Everywhere he travelled, his men killed, raped, pillaged, and looted civilian populations. In October, 2011, American President Barack Obama announced that 100 “combat-ready” American Special Forces troops were joining with the Ugandan military to hunt down Kony and bring him to justice.

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http://www.historyguy.com/libyan_war_2011.htm

 http://www.historyguy.com/libyan_war_2011.htm

Libyan rebels hoisting the pre-Gadhafi Libyan flag

The Libyan War began as a protest movement against long-time Libyan leader Colonel Muamar Gadhafi and quickly escalated into a full-scale civil war. As the Libyan government forces increased their use of deadly force on the rebels, the United Nations imposed a “No-Fly Zone” over Libya in order to “protect Libyan civilians.” The Libyan No-Fly Zone’s enforcement was undertaken by a coalition of European nations and the United States. The Libyan No-Fly Zone was begun with airstrikes and ship-borne missile strikes at Libyan air-defence installations as well as Libyan ground forces.Names of the Conflict:

The Libyan War of 2011Libyan No-Fly Zone War

Libyan Uprising of 2011

Libyan Civil War

Operational Names of Nations Intervening in Libya:

Operation Odyssey Dawn (United States)Operation Ellamy (United Kingdom)

Opération Harmattan (France)

Operation Mobile (Canada)

DATES OF CONFLICT:

BEGAN: February 15, 2011–Protests against the Libyan government began

Foreign Intervention Began: March 19, 2011

ENDED: Ongoing

 Libyan War Sources and Links:

Libya Uprising 2011–Wikipedia article

The Libyan War of 2011-Stratfor

2011 military intervention in Libya–Wikipedia article

Is It a War? Libya Terminology Is Tangled–Wall Street Journal

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Sgt. Ken Kozakiewicz mourns his friend

Images and Pictures from the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq are at: http://www.historyguy.com/gulf_war_images_pictures.htm