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Support our Military, Not Our War

March 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Support our Military, Not Our War

Here is some food for thought: People often believe that in order to support our troops, you have to be completely in support of the war. But who is really completely in support of the war, anyway? Do we need to be at war? Here is something to consider instead: You can be completely in support of the United States military, all branches and all soldiers, without actually believing in whatever the war is about, or without actually supporting the war effort at all.

How you feel about the war is ultimately up to you to decide, but this is the food for thought: Do your feelings about the war have to impact how you feel about the troops? Can you be completely, 100 percent in support of the soldiers that are over there fighting for us without being completely 100 percent in support of the war? Of course you can. So tuck away your feelings about the fighting, and focus all of your attention on those who are fighting. Our sons and daughters, our sisters and brothers, our mothers and fathers are all overseas and they are being heroes because that’s who they are and that’s what they do. Let’s focus on what really, truly matters: The heroes of our country, that will do anything to defend us, because they are all that really matters, they are all that really should matter. Keep this in mind and it may completely change how you feel about the war in general.

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Looking Back Part 3, The Invasion

December 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment
BAKWA, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 26: U.S. Marine Sg...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The invasion of Iraq really began in 2002 when an invasion team of CIA agents infiltrated the country to prepare for traditional troops. The purpose of these operatives was to persuade various military groups within Iraq to surrender and not resist the American troops. One important skirmish was against Ansar al-Islam, which led to finding chemical weapons in Sargat.

The real invasion began on March 20, 2003. Other countries besides the U.S. helped with the invasion and included 248,000 soldiers from the U.S., 45,000 soldiers from Britain, 2,000 soldiers from Australia, and 194 special forces soldiers from Poland, as well as about 70,000 soldiers from Iraqi Kurdish militia troops.

The objectives of the war were as follows:

• End Hussein’s regime
• Destroy an weapons of mass destruction found
• Eliminate Islamist militants
• Gather intelligence about any militant networks
• Distribute aid
• Secure the infrastructure for Iraq’s petroleum
• Create a democratic government that uses representatives

One of the first early successes of the war was on April 9 when the city of Baghdad (Iraq’s capital) fell and a statue of Hussein was torn down. Finally, after 24 years of ruling, Hussein’s empire was ended. Many citizens were grateful the end of this tyranny, but without a firm leader to take over and lead the country, there were riots and looting and increased crime.

After this initial victory, President Bush declared in a speech in San Diego that the war was essentially won. Hussein was still at large and there were pockets of resistance, but overall, he believed the war to be won.

Then religious radicals and other Iraqi citizens joined in the resistance. They were angered because of the invasion and having U.S. troops on their land. Most of the resistance came in the form of guerrilla tactics — suicide bombings, snipers, IEDs, car bombs, missiles, RPGs, and more.

During this time, a post-invasion Iraq coalition was formed in an effort to establish a new form of government that used democratic ideals. The United Nations helped in establishing this government as well.

More to come . . .

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Filed Under: Educational Reference, Media Workers, News, War Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Raid by Iraqi and U.S. Forces Leave Seven Dead

December 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Iraqi police officers undergoing firearms trai...
Image via Wikipedia

On Wednesday, September 16, U.S. forces led a task force of Iraqis into Falluja at around 1 a.m. to issue an arrest warrant for an insurgent leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, which are thought to be responsible for attacks on Anbar Province in western Iraq. As they arrived at the location, the troops were fired upon and so they shot back. Four were killed who were suspected insurgents and three were wounded. Two residents of the village also were killed when they came out of their homes with weapons.

It is uncertain if the mission was successful because the spokesman for the military, a Major Rob Phillips, did not have this information. It is believed that the Al Qaeda leader may have been captured or killed. One of the other dead was a colonel in the Iraqi Army under Saddam Hussein and it’s believed he might have been the original target all along, though this is uncertain. It was discovered later that the four killed on location were brothers between the ages of 10 and 18.

According to witnesses of the raid, it was not just the Iraqi police officers who used their weapons; in fact, it was mostly the American soldiers who fought. About 4,500 Special Operations troops were left in Iraq to help with counter-terrorism operations such as these. Iraqi police officers on the scene claimed they were not included in the raid and only arrived after it had begun.

All of this makes you wonder whether the combat in Iraq is really over. The spokesman for the U.S. troops claim they were only in an advisory role, but this does not seem to be the case. If we are to train the native forces in Iraq to take over so they no longer need our help and our troops can be pulled out completely, then we need to let the Iraq police force do their jobs and really only participate to advise as we claim to be doing.

We’ll have to see if our claim to no more combat is reality or just a fantasy.

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Filed Under: Educational Reference, Media Workers, News, War Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Looking Back Part 7, Transitioning

October 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment
BABIL PROVINCE, IRAQ - JANUARY 25: An Iraqi el...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

In March 2008, Pentagon reported that violence in Iraq had been reduced by as much as 80 percent, but assessments by independent sources felt that number was inaccurate. Supposedly, there had only been 265 deaths since the “Surge” plan began 28 days previously, and yet the New York Times estimated that at least 450 civilians in Iraq had been killed in that same time period (and their estimates were typically lower that the actual number by as much as 50 percent).

Violence continued to die down throughout 2008, but it was found that this was not so much due to U.S. troops. In the years of 2006 and 2007, there were mini-battles going on in Baghdad for control of the city between the Shia and Sunni. The Shia basically kicked the Sunni out of the city and if any of them tried to come back to reclaim their homes, they were assassinated. Once that pretty much ended and the Shia were in control of the city, violence died down, with no involvement from the U.S. military.

On February 21, 2008, troops from Turkey entered Iraq soil, in the Quandeel Mountains region, to fight the PKK, a group that is fighting Turkey to become free and sovereign from Turkey and create their own country called Kurdistan. The Iraqi cabinet, as well as the Kurdistan regional government, called for the troops to withdraw immediately from the area. The Turkish troops withdrew only eight days after they entered the area.

The year of 2008 saw much of the control held by the U.S. being transferred to Iraq’s police and military. In the spring, the Iraqi military launched an offense against Shia militias that needed to be shut down. First began an operation against the Mehdi Army in Basra during the month of March. By October, that area was said to be secure. In May, the Iraqi army, which was supported by the coalition (that included soldiers from all nations involved to help), launched a fight in Mosul — the last major location of al-Qaeda within Iraq.

More to come as we look back.

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