War and Conflict Journal

Syrian Uprising Timeline

(2011)

Syrian Flag

Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria

Syria has been a dictatorship run by the Assad family since 1970. In that year, Hafez al-Assad, the Defense Minister, launched a coup that put him in power. Upon the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his son, Bashar al-Assad, became President of Syria. Both Assads used terror and force to remain in power. The elder Assad suppressed a rebellion in 1982 in the city of Hama by unleashing the Syrian military on that city. At least 10,000 people, mostly innocent civilians, died in that uprising.In March, 2011, as part of the “Arab Spring” rebellions throughout the Middle East, protests began in Syria, and rose to the level of an anti-government uprising resulting in at least hundreds of deaths. for a timeline of the Syrian unrest and uprisings of 2011, go to http://www.historyguy.com/syrian_uprising_2011.htm

The Libyan War

 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

Political Unrest in Libya Timeline

(February, 2011)

Libyan Flag

  February 14–Three days after the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, calls go out on Facebook for peaceful demonstrations in Libya against long-time dictator, Muammar Gadhafi. Gadhaff has ruled over Libya for more than four decades, and had supported theMubarak during the Egyptian uprising.

February 16–Some 200 protestersin the coastal city of Benghazi showed support for human rights activist Fathi Terbil a dissident lawyer. Several protesters are arrested by the police.

February 17–Libya’s state-run media claimes that the government has released 110 political prisoners and that the possibility existed of major changes to the government. Calls are again posted on websites for a “Day of Rage” on the five-year anniversary of the shooting deaths of 14 protesters in 2006 in an Islamist rally in Benghazi. Seven people are killed in clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters.

February 18–Pro-government demonstrators take to the streets in the nation’s capital in support of Gadhafi. Images from state television, labeled as “live,” feature men chanting pro-Gadhafi slogans, waving flags and singing around the Libyan leader’s limousine as it creeps through the capital of Tripoli. In Benghazi, human rights groups and protesters are attacked by pro-government security forces. Of the tens of thousands of protesters who take to the streets, at least 20 are killed and 200 are wounded by security forces firing into the crowds.

February 19–Protests turn more violent. In Benghazi, bloody clashes erupt, with soldiers firing tear gas and bullets at the crowds of protesters. At least 30 people are killed, most of them from gunshot wounds to the head. Protests have erupt in cities across the country, including al-Baida, Ajdabiya and Misratah, where anti-government protesters leaving noon prayers at a local mosque were confronted by crowds supporting oLibyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Human Rights Watch reports that 84 people have been killed in Libyan demonstrations since Tuesday.

February 20–Violence surges in Libya’s second-largest city Benghazi where protesters take control of the city. Anti-government demonstrations also break out in Tripoli, the death toll from six days of unrest has killed at least 219 people nationwide.

February 21–Early on the morning of Monday, February 21, Gadhafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, appears on state television to warn demonstrators that if their protests do not subside, the country could fall into a civil war.

http://www.historyguy.com/libya_unrest_timeline_2011.htm