2006-2007 marked a time of violence in Iraq. Following the American invasion of 2003, numerous terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda,were fighting a guerilla campaign against the American occupiers and their colleagues in the Iraqi Security Force. The American response was to implement a surge of troops, which was successful in reducing the organization and effectiveness of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. But, following the 2011 withdrawal of American troops, we have recently seen a resurgence by al-Qaeda in Iraq.
To understand what is happening today, we first have to be able to understand what led us to this point. Prior to the 2003 invasion, al-Qaeda had virtually no presence in Iraq. Therefore, we can conclude that the invasion of Iraq was not to combat terrorism in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center, President George W. Bush named three countries as part of an “axis of evil.” Iraq was one of the three, and the easiest target. The stated reason for going into Iraq was that Saddam Hussein was a danger with his stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. The world already knew he had used chemical weapons in his war with Iran during the 1980’s, he had used them against Kurds in Halabja, and had used them to quell an uprising following the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Although the official story is that we did not find anything more than many small caches of chemical weapons, there are still former officials from the Saddam regime as well members of Israeli intelligence who are claiming the weapons did exist and were transferred to Syria, as well as other places, prior to the invasion (communities.washingtontimes.com 2013). As we will see, if this is true it could have disastrous conse...
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...oin ISIL forces.
Iraqi Ambassador Lukman Faily said recently that “The administration has to have a better understanding of any adverse impact of any delay in provision of support to Iraq. It cannot afford a whole town or province of Iraq falling to al-Qaeda and becoming a safe haven. It’s against the U.S. strategic interest. It’s against the U.S. national security to do that” (washingtontimes.com 2014). With al-Qaeda having recently taken control of the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, it is imperative that the administration works with the Iraqi government to find a way to stem the momentum gained by al-Qaeda. With the rapidity of the American withdrawal from Iraq, it is now our government’s responsibility to ensure that the democratic government of Iraq has the arms, technology, and even training, necessary to mount an effective counterterrorism operation.
President Barack Obama delivered an address to the nation on the U.S. Counterterrorism strategy to combat ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) on September 10, 2014. The recent issue, which became the basis for this speech, has been President Obama’s response to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons against diverse civilians. He delivered this speech to prove to the nation that he has an elaborate strategy along with several tactics to destroy the terrorist group. Obama described the ISIL in his speech by stating, “in a region that has known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are unique in their brutality. They execute captured prisoners. They kill children. They enslave, rape, and force women into marriage. They threatened a religious minority with genocide. And in acts of barbarism, they
Veteran defense analyst and AEI resident fellow Thomas Donnelly wants to know the answers to the questions behind Operation: Iraqi Freedom. He states that “More than a year after President George W. Bush declared ‘mission accomplished’ in the invasion of Iraq, a fuller victory is yet to be won. This is in part, because a fuller understanding of the war itself remains elusive.” This elusiveness is the biggest mystery of the war and because of it four key observations have emerged. Also these observations emerge after an examination of the conventional invasion of Iraq, the resulting counterinsurgency campaign and their broader significance for the global war on terrorism.
AABs lethal attacks are indicative of a legitimate organization with a lineage of sophisticated jihadi leadership. The organization does not appear to seek the same high-casualty high-impact that became al Qaeda’s signature (Winter, 2011, p. 891). Simultaneously, the group seems unable to cultivate a sizable number of “resistance call units.” (Winter, 2011, p. 891) Notwithstanding, neither is necessary to have significant impact. The Middle East is in a transitional period; by inflaming sectarian tensions, and bolstering insecurity it only takes a small group to act as saboteurs (Winter, 2011, p. 891). Until attacks cease or cells are disrupted, AAB will be a relevant terrorist organization.
The Iraq war, also known as the second Gulf War, is a five-year, ongoing military campaign which started on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by U.S. troops. One of the most controversial events in the history of the western world, the war has caused an unimaginable number of deaths, and spending of ridiculous amounts of money. The reason for invasion war Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, which eventually was disproved by weapons inspectors. Many people question George W. Bush’s decision to engage a war in Iraq, but there might be greater reason why the decision was made. The ideas of George W. Bush might have been sculpted by one of the greatest works of all time, "The Prince."
September 11th, 2001, marked the beginning of a long war against terrorism. Nineteen militants from the group Al-Qaeda hijacked four planes to crash into three different locations: The World Trade Center in New York, The Pentagon in Washington, and it was believed that the fourth plane was headed toward the Capitol building or the White House in Washington D.C. On May 2nd, 2011, Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was assassinated, since then there haven’t been anymore attacks lead by Al-Qaeda. But there are still other groups of terrorists to worry about.
The war in Iraq is over now. Looking back on a huge controversy makes one side seem clearly more “correct” than the other. Yet in the beginning there were two sides to the controversy about the war in Iraq. There was the terror brought upon by the 9/11 attacks, people that the government wished to punish or kill like Saddam Hussain and Osama Bin Laden, and a country which was in “need” of US help both politically and financially. At the time of the Terrorist attacks, people were afraid of what else the terrorists were planning or could do and so George Bush sent troops in to look for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). In hindsight the war on Iraq was a bad idea. The situation was handled poorly, far too much money was spent, and there were far too many casualties to say that the war was a good idea to enter into. To continue war efforts and gain support, lies were spread about finding actual weapons. Later in the war it was revealed that there were never any WMDs. So beyond the decision that was seemingly wrong after a decade of fighting to enter a way with Iraq, the US government lied to prolong the war and continue to waste resources.
Iraq for the past several years has violated numerous U.N. resolutions that call for destruction of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and allowance of weapons inspectors to monitor the disposal of such weapons. Ever since the end of the Gulf War, Iraq has disregarded these policies by removing weapons inspectors, which in turn has allowed Iraq to further research weapons of mass destruction. In 1998 the U.S. launched Operation Desert Fox with the objective of allowing weapons inspectors back into the country. After the operation succeeded and inspectors were allowed back in, all seemed well and little attention was paid to Iraq. Since political powers did not deem it worthy to check on Iraq and put their main focus on Wall Street, Iraq renewed their weapons program and everyone just did not pay attention.
Iraq’s destabilization became prominent after American intervention removed Saddam Hussein from power. Since Hussein’s termination, the region of Iraq has been unable to piece together a government strong enough to maintain control over civilian behavior, social infrastructure, or the co-related increase in the influence of sectarian militias and terrorist groups in the region. Regardless of what was gained or lost by removing Hussein from power, the greater problems with the U.S.’s intervention arose from the proceedings of our continued occupation. Through removing many of the government functions that had existed under Hussein in a massive purge of individuals who had once associated themselves with Hussein’s Ba’athist party (a process
These actions created the upheaval needed to allow the group called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to rise, spread, and ultimately control significant areas of northern and central Iraq.”
...lecting convincing evidence that Syria has used Sarin gas in Ghouta, Syria. Currently, diplomacy has prevailed; the Security Council has shown rare unity on Syria by passing Resolution 2118 requiring Syria to destroy its current stockpile of chemical weapons and prohibits Syria from using, developing, stockpiling, or transferring any chemical weapons. Syria by not agreeing to these terms will face penalties under Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter. Syrian government has yet to defy the resolution and the OPCW has declared they have successfully destroyed the sites used for production of the chemical weapons it remains to be seen whether the 2014 deadline for destroying Syria’s current stockpile of ammunition will be met in light of the ongoing destabilizing conditions. Despite this amount of progress fighting between the regime and rebels has continued on.
In the previous years, terrorist attacks in Baghdad have been frequent. The attack that took over 200 lives was devastating attack to the people of that city; the people are currently in fear after this tragic event. This event was a very tragic event; this attack took place in the city capital on days before the end of Ramadan. ISIL, the state sponsored group responsible for the attack have safe havens located in Iraq, and Syria. This event outlines the tragedy that such state sponsored terrorism groups are able to perform; this event takes place just as the military operations calmed the streets of Fallujah. This form of state sponsored event that occurred in this magnitude, it proves the country needs a better countermeasure policy towards
...most distressed by outcome of a war, could exercise only inadequate control on the issue of armed action against Iraq. Most of the regional actors discarded the U.S. policy towards Iraq with varying intensity as they feared insecurity after Iraq’s disintegration (Reuters, 2003) whereas; Jordan decided not to endanger its rewarding ties with Washington. Another key actor at this level is the Baathi party in Iraq which was based on tribal division, domestic oppression and economic enticement. Under Baathi regime military, bureaucracy and security services was divided into several competing institutions which reinforced Hussein’s dictatorship in Iraq. In the post war Iraq, the USA in collaboration with the Iraq National Congress and the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution started to make Iraq a democracy that is similar to the American political culture and values.
...oops withdraw from Iraq at end of 2011.(Krik et al. 2014). Complaints came to the US that Maliki was become secretarial because he replaced Sunni commanders with Shia loyalists(Krik et al. 2014). This showed Maliki was not concern about having an effective military. Obama was forced to have a legal immunity, but he stilled claimed victory by inviting Maliki to US (Krik et al. 2014). Once US left Iraq, Maliki become a Shia dominated ruling authority. He killed his Sunni Vice President, Tarqi-al Hashimi, which showed that Maliki was using his power for his own interest. A Sunni group, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria joined by former Ba-athists and other Sunni insurgents captured Fallujah, Ramadi and Mosul, hence ISIS was moving in Iraq (Krik et al. 2014). Unfortunately, Maliki was no match for ISIS since Syrian War encouraged violence and ISIS has taken part of Iraq.
Al Qaeda, the organization that the United States is in a constant, never ending battle with, the organization that has made the most impact and changed the United States forever. Al Qaeda is always making headlines with their terrorist attacks, the most known attack September 11th, 2001. This essay is about the terrorist group Al Qaeda, its history and background, Osama bin Laden, their well-known leader, and the major attacks on America.
military withdrawal, a period that then again matched with the ascendance of ISIS: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's distrustfulness that Sunnis were out to decimate his questionable administration and his merciless endeavor to suppress their restriction to Shia control; the war-fatigued United States' negligence of how Syria's considerate war exhibited an overpowering open door for the fragmented and for the most part barren al Qaeda in Iraq to rise again on both sides of the Syrian outskirt; the Obama organization's hesitance to apply discretionary compel even as the Maliki government ridiculed U.S. wishes for a more comprehensive collusion in Iraq; and inaction and inactivity with respect to the United States and its associates as ISIS cleared over region fundamental to the national character of Iraq and