What is the Iraq War?

In early March of 2003, then American President George W. Bush armed with the alliance of Great Britain and a handful of smaller countries declared war against the nation of Iraq and its then leader, Saddam Hussein. Claiming that the country was preparing and hiding weapons of mass destruction, Iraq’s enemies set in motion a chain of events that would continue to affect millions of lives in the future.

Ultimate reasoning behind the invasion included Iraqi defiance of United Nation’s terms for creation of nuclear weapons, Iraq’s disregard of human rights, and terrorism. The idea of attacking the nation of Iraq was not one that the United Nations and most civilians endorsed. Creating a firestorm of debate and contention, the lack of evidence pointing towards mass destruction weapons left the alliance with little to preserve its decision to invade. Many believe that the true cause for American and British action was due in large part to Iraqi oil control.

With the use of Bush’s “Shock and Awe” campaign, American and allied forces brought the nation of Iraq to halt on most fronts. Only some surviving militant groups remained and continued to fight against the invasion. Their leader, Saddam Hussein in hiding and the people of the country advancing towards a freer nation, Bush declared the mission a success on May 1^st of 2003 and declared that major military operations would no longer be needed. In November of the same year, Hussein was captured hiding in a hole by American forces and surrendered with little protest.

While the Iraq war was proclaimed as a necessary evil by its contributors, people around the world have various opinions about the issue. Death tolls and massive expenditures are mostly to blame for unrest centered on the war. Today, the war is finished yet over 100,000 American soldiers remain in the country for stabilization of its new government, safety of the Iraqi people, and continued efforts to take down terrorist extremists.

Death Toll of Iraq War

As statistics vary dependent on the source, these are not guaranteed completely accurate. They are, however; in close proximity to the actual figures. The following information was obtained through the American Department of Defense (DoD) and CBC News.

American Soldiers: Upwards of 4,000 hostile and non-hostile deaths since during the period of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom until present day.

Alliance Soldiers: Estimated at over 300 deaths due to the war, over half of which came from Great Britain.

Iraqi Soldiers: Over 60,000 Iraqi police, military member, and insurgents are estimated to have been killed during the ongoing battle.

Iraqi Civilians: Unofficial numbers indicate the figure at 50,000 to over 100,000 Iraqi non military residents who have died since the initiation of the Iraq war in 2003.

Financial Cost of the Iraq War

Although the cost of human lives during the Iraq war is staggering enough, here are a few statistics showing the enormous amount of money required to fund the initiative. These numbers were borrowed from the Washington Post as well as MSNBC.

American Taxpayer Costs: Estimated to exceed over 3 trillion dollars, the most recent price tag placed on the Iraq war was over 600 billion American dollars.

Alliance Funds: Great Britain alone has declared that their expenditures have surpassed 9 billion in American money. Australia is said to have spent in excess of 3 billion dollars to help support the cause.

Regardless of personal convictions concerning the war in Iraq, one thing is most certainly evident; the cost for the action is high in both lives and money. Increased freedoms obviously do not come without the sacrifice of both as is manifested in all wars throughout the history of the world.

While most citizens around the world are well acquainted with the war in Iraq, many are beginning to question the recent surge of troops locating to the nation of Afghanistan. In this article we will discuss some of the reasoning behind the military movement, what the costs are for this action, and what popular opinion is around the globe concerning the issue at hand.

What is the war in Afghanistan?

Based on terrorist attacks on American soil in 2001, a joint coalition of Great Britain and American military launched a defensive and preemptive strike in the nation of Afghanistan. In hopes of reducing and eventually eliminating suspected terrorists groups like Al-Qaeda; the ones responsible for the 9-11 bombings in the U.S., forces moved in under Afghan support to begin the process.

Under the code name of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) military action quickly decreased Al-Qaeda supporters in the Taliban regime and began its search for Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin-Laden and his affiliates in order to try and punish them for their murderous actions.

By 2003, the United Nations assumed the position of control for the multi-national assault against terrorist action and brought with it over 40 countries in support of the cause. Today, the war is estimated to employ over 60,000 troops from around the world and current American president Barack Obama is requesting an additional deployment of thousands of U.S. soldiers.

What is the Cost of War in Afghanistan?

As with all wars, money and lives are two sacrifices always made. It is estimated that the expense of the war in Afghanistan is already over 200 billion dollars and rising daily. Casualties for the war have cost over 1,000 American troops and innumerable Afghani civilian lives.

What is Current Opinion over the War in Afghanistan?

Current military action in Afghanistan carries mixed reviews among populations around the globe. While many feel the war is a ridiculous notion bent on the elimination of an idea and not a tangible target, there are some who feel that military response was the only resolution to terrorism problems facing many nations.

American Government Opinion: Chief military General Stanley McChrystal requests additional troops for success while American president Obama declares that the war is relevant and “one that we must win”.

American Citizen Opinion: According to a recent poll done by the Washington Post and ABC News, only 25% of American’s feel the war is a worthwhile cause.

Afghani Government Opinion: Afghani leaders support the United Nations in their mission and continue to seek peace initiatives with high ranking Taliban insurgent leaders.

Afghani Citizen Opinion: While most Afghani residents welcome removal of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban regime, many are opposed to the means. Thousands of civilians have died due to military action, insurgent response, and sickness due to starvation and disease.

As many consider the war in Afghanistan an abominable massacre without a resolute ending, opposition to the action has increased dramatically over the past 9 years. Although most agree that some form of engagement must be made to deter and prevent terroristic threat, they do not feel the war in Afghanistan is the proper platform or method of achieving the goal.

Some historians dub the “Arab Revolt” as the start of Western interference in the Middle East Conflict. This had its beginnings in 1936 when the Arabs living in the Palestine Region at that time, revolted against British rule, (specifically against the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine).

Since the Middle East Conflict broke over 60 years ago, it is now mainly known as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But which conflict is it? – What we knew as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, looks more today like the Arab-Israel, Palestinian – Israeli, Muslim versus the West, Arab people versus the Jews of Palestine and Israel-Conflict. Does this sound confusing to you? It is confusing- so is the history, and so is the current crises. How do we understand the changing nature of Middle East Conflict in a reasonable way that lends itself to comprehension?

First, a brief overview could go along way towards that end. Judea, ancient home of the Jews, was conquered by the Romans and renamed Palestine around A.D.135. But long before the region became known as Palestine (Palestrina originally), the area had been inhabited continually for tens of thousand of years. Later the Romans were conquered by the Arab people, who then inhabited the region for a thousand years.

The Jews claim that God gave to them the “Land of Canaan” as their inheritance. But Amorites, Canaanites, and Semitic peoples had been there since around 2000 B.C. They would, of course dispute the claims of the Jews. What about after the Romans were conquered? Does a thousand years of Arab occupancy cause a land to belong to that people? I wonder how certain Americans would respond to that question if they consider whose land the United States truly is after less than 300 years of our having occupied it?

Many accounts of history are written with the intention of convincing rather than informing (I wonder where “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” fits into this picture). It has been History’s legacy to create divisive issues between Palestinians and Israelis. These issues have evolved to include a diverse list of participants such as Iran, Iraq, UAE, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia- among others. It’s no wonder that the Middle East Conflict continues to frustrate world leaders all across the globe.

It is possible that the crux of the matter in the Middle East Conflict is history, and the different perceptions of history? Interpreting historical accounts in different ways is only natural, perhaps, but the concern here is where these different accounts of history are used to justify. “Justify” can be a cruel word if it means that someone has to win and someone has to loose. In this case, someone means many millions of Jews and Palestinians. They both live in the land and have divergent national directives. Who is to have sovereignty when both peoples need and deserve self-determination? And the Middle East Conflict goes on.

It may be an act of providence that some world leaders (including our own) are talking about a two-state resolution to the Middle East Conflict. It stands to reason that two people- Palestinians and Jews- living side-by- in peace is the only direction that leads away from the current cycle of violence and hatred which stems not only from 1948, but goes back much, much further. Perhaps time will tell-and History will be written for the good of all people.

Israeli History – Then and Now

Israeli History is only 3,000 years young. Let’s consider it from the vantage of “ancient” and “modern”. Let’s consider “ancient” as the era beginning from Israel’s’ origins through to the Jewish encounter with the Romans c. A.D. 135. In some respects, it was at this time, that the chain of events in Israeli History began to run in the direction of the current day crises in the Mideast.

Abraham is credited as the man who became the founding father of the Jewish people and began the Israeli History. As the first Jew, he arrived in the land of Canaan around 1738 BC. The Jews have maintained a continuous presence in the land of Israel for the past 3,300 years. Abrahams’ descendants however, didn’t begin to form into a nation until after their exodus from Egypt, around 1300 B.C. After forty years of desert dwelling, Moses led them into the land of Canaan. Some 378 years after that King David conquered Jerusalem. Following the death of David’s son, Solomon, the kingdom was divided into the North and South- Israel and Judea respectively, which was around the year 922 B.C. This is how the nation of Israel began. A tumultuous situation between the peoples of that land continued for 865 years when Roman troops invaded Judea around 61 B.C. The region eventually came under total Roman rule and was renamed Palestine. Before that interim however, the region remained populated by the Amorites, Canaanites, and Semitic peoples. Eventually the Roman rule gave way to the Byzantine Empire in the fourth century A.D. Through it all, the Jews maintained a presence there, mostly in the northern reaches of Palestine.

Modern history for the Israeli Nation begins to take form at this point. It was not until the seventh century, around A.D. 600, that the Arabian conquers gained control of the region and the Muslim/Arab influence was established. By 638 A.D. Jerusalem had been conquered and the violent struggle between Christians and Islamists was well underway. During that time Arab peoples from the area of Egypt and Jewish peoples from Spain and other Mediterranean lands, began to populate the area of Palestine. By 1587 A.D. the Ottoman Empire had gained dominance in the land. In the nineteenth century a virulent anti-Jewish sentiment began in Europe which prompted the emigration of Jews to Palestine. In 1897 Christian Zionism was established in Europe. During World War One an Ottoman military government ruled in Palestine until the war’s end when British rule took prominence. There were almost 700,000 people living in Palestine by 1914. There were about 615,000 Arabs compared to about 100,000 Jews.

This is where the current situation in Israeli History began to gain momentum. After the war Britain and France wanted to divide the area of Palestine between their own interests. Revolts against the Ottoman Empire led to Arab independence in the Middle East at the time. By the time we get through the Second World War, governments from all parts of the globe become involved. After that war the U.S. favored Jewish immigration into Palestine. The United Nations recommended that Palestine be divided into an Arab state and a Jewish state. There were roughly about 600,000 Jews in Palestine and 1.2 million Arabs. Later the United States took a pro-Arab stance. The Arabs felt cheated out of Syria by the British. They also insisted that Palestine was included in their post-war holdings but the British denied this. The British created a mandate for Palestine in 1922 feeding the fires of the Arab revolts, spurring Jewish immigrations. These events led to more violence on a scale that eventually led to the involvement of all Arab countries.

Today’s events seem to be the offspring of this vicious cycle which is the struggle for dominance between the two peoples- the Jews and the Arabs- that have inhabited the same land for many centuries. Although all nations on this planet share a responsibility to each other, it is worth wondering if the Western involvement in Israeli History has hindered more than helped. Certainly both peoples of ancient Judea deserve independence and autonomy.

The agendas seemed to be as varied as the players. The problem is that the game is being played “for keeps” and the price is paid in human lives. For the people who have inhabited the land for over three millennia, it is not a game. These thoughts on Israeli History from the pen of Charles Krauthammer say it well- “It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago.” -Quote from Charles Krauthammer – The Weekly Standard, May 11, 1998.

The Land and People of Free Palestine

Many of the Palestinians of the Middle East consider the region of Palestine to be “occupied” and renamed as Israel. To them it is the land of Free Palestine. They are the indigenous people of this ancient land. Human remains have been found there dating back to 600,000 B.C.! In Jericho, the earliest communities date back many thousands of years in the place once known as the land of Canaan. Free Palestine lies on the western side of Asia. The country is bordered by Lebanon and Syria. On the west side of Palestine lays the Mediterranean Sea. Jordan lies to the East and the Gulf of Aqaba and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula to the south. It is populated by a people who are mostly Muslims, yet are religiously diverse to include Christian, Jewish, and Druze neighbors. Most Palestinians are multi-lingual. They speak English, Hebrew and French. Arabic is the official language.

Today the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is what defines the situation for the people of Free Palestine. This issue is volatile. No other single issue has ever generated more United Nations resolutions than this one. Indeed, this struggle between the Israelis and the Palestinians is one of the most explosive and long lasting conflicts in all of history. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire following World War One, Palestine came under western occupation as a result of a “Mandate” of British design. This mandate imposed political and geographical controls over a region that had not seen such things for more than 2.000 years. The resulting political upheaval gave rise to the Palestine Liberation Organization or the PLO. The PLO has been internationally recognized by most governments since 1974. Israel, the United States and some of its allies do not recognize the PLO as a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. These discrepancies are the source of much political unrest in the region of Free Palestine.

“Hopeful” could be the word to describe the future of Free Palestine. Since the Gulf War ended in 1991, the United States, the worlds remaining super power, has become more determined to manage a comprehensive peace process in the region. The effort was spear-headed by then Secretary of State James Baker and culminated in the 1991 Madrid peace conference. These and other events such as the Oslo Accords (September, 13, 1993) give hope to Free Palestine and help to solidify relationships among Israelis, the surrounding Arab states and the representatives of the Palestinians living on the West Bank. The exact point in time when Palestine first became home for the architects of civilization is not known. The possibility of seeing the evolution of that civilization create peace in the very place of its origins, generates allot of hope in the hearts and minds of all the peoples of the earth. Are the obstacles that the Palestinian people face in their struggle for freedom, within humanity’s ability to solve? I hope so. Wouldn’t it be a boon to our children and their children if we saw this happen in our life times!

Hezbollah is an Islamic political and paramilitary organization based in Lebanon. The exact point of time when Hezbollah History started is a matter of debate among historians. It is commonly believed that Hezbollah was founded in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Although the movement started with only a small militia, it has gained significantly in strength since the turn of the century. Today it is an organization able to mobilize demonstrations of hundreds of thousands. Much of its membership is derived originally from the 1980’s coalition of Islamic Jihad. Today it has ties to Iran, Syria and other Arab nations as well. The United States and other countries define it as a terrorist organization. It is fiercely opposed in Israel.

In 1985, Hezbollah published a manifesto listing three main goals: “putting and end to any colonialist entity” in Lebanon; bringing the Phalangists to justice for “the crimes they [had] perpetrated,” and the establishment of an Islamic regime in Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s two centralized figures are Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the spiritual leader and Hassan Nasrallah, the senior political leader (Secretary-General).

The group is structured into three sub-organizations: Bayt al-Mal, Jihad al Binna and the IRSO (Islamic Resistance Support Organization). Financial support is gained from Iran, Syria and the donations of Lebanese Shi’a groups.

Hezbollah History is fraught with intense controversy. According to the United States Council on Foreign Relations, Hezbollah is responsible for five major terrorist attacks against the U.S. and Israel, including the 1983 suicide truck bombing of the U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. Hezbollah is credited as one of the first Islamic resistant groups to use suicide bombing, assassination, and capturing as tactics against foreign solders in the Middle East. Yet during the Lebanon Civil War (1975-1990) it is said that Hezbollah never engaged in sectarian bloodletting or fought a major battle with the army during that fifteen year period.

The more recent Hezbollah History shows it evolving from a movement to an organization in which Hezbollah transformed from a revolutionary group into a political one. In 2005 Hezbollah won fourteen seats in Lebanon’s 128-member Parliament. In 2008, following the May takeover of West Beirut after a government-ordered shutdown of the group’s communication network, they were granted veto power in Lebanon’s parliament, then controlling eleven of the thirty seats in the cabinet. Some experts say however, the use of force by Hezbollah against Lebanese civilians during that conflict eroded some of the group’s credibility.

Hezbollah History is relatively recent but the jurors are still out on the verdict of “legitimacy”. Some governments consider the group’s violent acts as terrorism. Some regard them as resistance engaged in national defense. The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Israel have officially listed Hezbollah, in at least some part, as a terrorist organization. Other countries disagree. Throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hezbollah is referred to as a resistance movement. Although Hezbollah History is comparatively recent in the scheme of all things in the Middle East, it is also indicative of the issues that divide that entire region. Perhaps only time will give us a verdict.