War and Conflict Journal

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.

Pakistan is once again coming under fire, literally, for serving as a safe haven for Afghan Taliban forces using the ill-defined border region as a base from which they launch attacks on NATO/ISAF/Afghan forces inside Afghanistan.  Below are incidents and conflicts involving the NATO/ISAF mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  See also http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_pakistan.htm

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).

New York Times Article on the escalating drone war against al-Qaida and Shahab in Somalia at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/world/africa/02somalia.html

Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qa’ida Terrorist Organization

 Osama bin Laden (March 10, 1957-May 1, 2011) was the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, is reported to have been killed by U.S. forces in Islamabad, Pakistan on May 1, 2011. The evening of May 1, 2011, President Obama announced that bin Laden was killed by an American team in a compound deep inside Pakistan. After a firefight in which bin Laden was killed, the American forces took custody of bin Laden’s body.

Osama bin Laden came from a wealthy Saudi Arabian family of Yemeni origin. Bin Laden’s father gained his wealth as the owner of one the major construction firms in Saudi Arabia, and Osama bin Laden himself was trained in construction engineering. Osama bin Laden became radicalized largely through two significant events in recent history. The first was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a muslim country. Osama bin Laden moved to Afghanistan, as did many other young Arab men, to help the Afghans battle the atheistic Communist Soviets. The other radicalizing moment was the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia during and after the Gulf War of 1991.

In bin Laden’s particular world view, the Americans were latter-day Crusaders occupying the birthplace of Islam (Saudi Arabia), for the benefit of Christianity and the Zionists (Jews) occupying Palestine and Jerusalem. Jerusalem is holy city to Muslims, as well as to Christians and Jews. Taking the skills and networking contacts he gained in the Afghan War, bin Laden formed an organization he called al-Qaida. In Arabic, al-Qaida means “The Base”, or “Foundation.” Osama bin Laden intended al-Qaida to be the base or foundation upon which other Islamist individuals and groups could stand upon to wage war against Islam’s enemies (Christians, Jews, the West in general, and Shiite Muslims).

The first major attack by al-Qaida that actually brought the group and bin Laden into the American public’s view were terrorist bombings in Africa in 1998 that resulted in hundreds of deaths. The targets in those bombings were American Embassies.

Then, in 2000, al-Qaida attacked an American naval ship, the USS Cole, in Aden harbor. His next big attack took place on September 11, 2001, when his operatives hijacked four commercial airliners and launched them into buildings in New York and the Pentagon. In retaliation, the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan, where bin Laden enjoyed protected status as an ally of the Taliban government there.

Ever since the 2001 Invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. has hunted for Osama bin Laden. On May 1, 2001, U.S. Navy Seals helicoptered into Pakistan, assaulted the compound where bin Laden was located, killed him in a firefight, and then” took his body into custody”, to use the words of President Obama, who gave a nationally televised speeche announcing the death of bin Laden.  See also: http://www.historyguy.com/bin_laden.html

Throughout April, 2011, NATO airstrikes continued to pound Libyan military positions and units, while the ground war between Gadhafi’s forces and the rebels took on a see-saw effect, as several towns and positions changed hands between them. Many outside analysts saw the war grinding into a stalemate, with Gadhafi’s forces controlling most of western Libya, while the rebels held most of eastern Libya.
In the last week of April, the United States announced the introduction of its unmanned Predator drones to the war.
On April 30, 2011, the Libyan government announced that a NATO airstrike killed Gadhafi’s youngest son, Saif al Arab Gadhafi, aged 29, and three of Gadhafi’s grandchildren. In the rebel capital of Benghazi,  celebratory gunfire erupted upon word that the younger Gadhafi’s death. The Libyan spokesman who announced Said Gadhafi’s death also claimed that the NATO strike was a failed attempt to kill the Libyan leader himself, implying that Muamar Gadhafi himself was in the house at the time of the attack.

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

The escalating crisis in Korea is summarized at http://www.historyguy.com/korean_crisis_2010.htm

While the the fighting of Korean War of 1950-1953 ended with an armistice nearly 60 years ago, North and South Korea are still technically at war. Their ongoing hostilities have resulted in many incidents of violence over the years, with two particular incidents in 2010 pushing the two Koreas (and their allies), close to the brink of war. Those incidents of violence between North and South Korea in 2010, were the recent attacks on a South Korean warship and the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.  The  details on these two incidents, as well as the events of 2009 that led up to the current crisis and the Yeonpyeong Island naval battle of 2002 are at http://www.historyguy.com/korean_crisis_2010.htm

Honoring our Heroes on Veteran's Day

Veteran’s Day is a time to reflect upon the sacrifices, bravery, and patriotism of millions of service members whose call to duty guarantees the freedoms and way of life enjoyed by all Americans.  To my brother, cousins, father, aunt and grandfathers who served, most especially, THANK YOU!

Interesting article on Time.com regarding American naval assets in the Pacific targeting China and Beijing’s growing military presence in the Pacific.  And, considering several incidents between American and Chinese naval vessels in 2009, the Tomahawk and Special Forces-carrying Ohio-class submarines appearing in the Pacific and Indian Oceans on July 4 (Good touch there, Pentagon planners!) this quiet, yet visible show of American naval power is a good reminder to the Beijing regime not to take America lightly.  It is also a good message to American friends in the Pacific and East Asia that U.S. naval power is in the neighborhood.

Worth reading at

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2002378,00.html?xid=rss-fullnation-yahoo#ixzz0tCs7qvvG

Yemen has long been connected to the family of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist organization. The bin Laden family originated in Yemen prior to settling in Saudi Arabia and becoming wealthy in the construction business. Like Afghanistan and Somalia, other favorite bases for al-Qaida, Yemen status as a nation with a fairly weak central government and the frequent conflicts inside Yemen’s borders makes the poor Arabian nation a good location for al-Qaida to hide, recruit, and plan further attacks on the West and on others. In October of 2000, al-Qaida operatives rammed a small boat into the side of an American warship, the USS Cole, blasting a hole in the side of the ship and killing 17 American sailors. A year later, in October, 2002, al-Qaida attacked a French oil tanker, killing one, and causing the spillage of 100,000 gallons of oil. In September, 2008, al-Qaida attacked the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a in a car bomb attack followed by a gun battle with Embassy guards. The Yemeni government has worked with the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. in combating the al-Qaida presence in Yemen. In 2002, an American Predator drone controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed a vehicle in Yemen containing several al-Qaida operatives. Airstrikes against al-Qaida targets in Yemen in 2009, prior to the Christmas Day airliner attack, are believed to have been conducted with significant American aid, though officially the attacks were conducted by the Yemeni government.

In early January, 2010, General David Petraeus,..READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AT: http://www.historyguy.com/yemen_history_wars_politics.htm

December 7, 2009, marks the 68^th anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. military bases in and around Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  This attack launched America into World War Two and literally changed the course of history.  Without being attacked first, it is highly unlikely that the U.S. would have entered World War Two.  By attacking the United States, Japan thought it would cripple or destroy the U.S. Pacific fleet, thereby preventing American forces from stopping Japan’s Asian blitzkrieg.  In the days and weeks following the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese forces attacked American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, and Dutch forces as Japan seized the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), and New Guinea.  American islands at Wake and Guam were also attacked and occupied. 

Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941

Believing that America had suffered a crippling blow, Hitler and Mussolini also declared war on the United States, thereby bringing American power into the war against the Nazis and the Fascists.  As history now shows, America’s entry into World War Two ensured Allied victory, as the Nazis and Fascists were destroyed in Europe, and Japan fell under the power of two atomic bombs some four years after their ill-fated and ill-advised assault on Pearl Harbor.

For more information, go to: http://www.historyguy.com/battle_of_pearl_harbor.html