Middle East
Iraq War and 2003 invasion of Iraq
Countries in which Islamist terrorist attacks have occurred on or after September 11, 2001.
British soldiers in Iraq.
Iraq had been listed as a state sponsor of international terrorism by the United States since it fell out of US favour in 1990. The regime of Saddam Hussein proved a continuing problem for the UN and Iraq’s neighbors in its use of chemical weapons against Iranians and Kurds.
After the Gulf War, the US, French and British militaries instituted and began patrolling Iraqi no-fly zones, ostensibly to protect Iraq’s Kurdish minority and Shi’a Arab population—both of which suffered attacks from the Hussein regime before and after the Gulf War—in Iraq’s northern and southern regions, respectively. U.S. forces continued in combat zone deployments through November 1995 and launched launched Operation Desert Fox against Iraq in 1998 after it failed to meet US demands of "unconditional cooperation" in weapons inspections.
Prior to Operation Desert Fox President Bill Clinton said "And mark my words, he will develop weapons of mass destruction. He will deploy them, and he will use them." President Clinton also stood to remove Saddam Hussein and in the same speech said, "The hard fact is that so long as Saddam remains in power, he threatens the well-being of his people, the peace of his region, the security of the world." In the aftermath of Operation Desert Fox, during December 1998, Iraq announced that it would no longer respect the no-fly zones and resumed its efforts in shooting down Coalition aircraft.
Air strikes by the British and US against Iraqi anti-aircraft and military targets continued over the next few years. Also in 1998, President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act which called for regime change in Iraq on the basis of its supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction, oppression of Iraqi citizens and attacks on other Middle Eastern countries.
After the 2001 US attacks, the US government claimed that Iraq was an actual threat to the United States because Iraq could use its previously known chemical weapons to aid terrorist groups.
The George W. Bush administration called for the United Nations Security Council to send weapons inspectors to Iraq (previous inspectors had been caught spying for the US) to find and destroy the alleged weapons of mass destruction and for a UNSC resolution. UNSC Resolution 1441 was passed unanimously, which offered Iraq "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" or face "serious consequences."
Resolution 1441 did not authorize the use of force by member states. The Iraqi government subsequently allowed UN inspectors to access Iraqi sites, while the US government continued to assert that Iraq was being obstructionist.
In October 2002, a large bipartisan majority in the United States Congress authorized the president to use force if necessary to disarm Iraq in order to "prosecute the war on terrorism." After failing to overcome opposition from France, Russia, and China against a UNSC resolution that would sanction the use of force against Iraq, and before the UN weapons inspectors had completed their inspections which were claimed to be fruitless by the US because of Iraq's alleged deception, the United States assembled a "Coalition of the Willing" composed of nations who pledged support for its policy of regime change in Iraq.
On March 20, 2003, the invasion of Iraq was launched. The Bush administration insisted the invasion was the "serious consequences" spoken of in UNSC Resolution 1441.
Iraq's government was quickly toppled and on May 1, 2003, Bush stated that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. However, an insurgency arose against the U.S.-led coalition and the newly developing Iraqi military and post-Saddam government.
Elements of the insurgency were led by fugitive members of President Hussein's Ba'ath regime, which included Iraqi nationalists and pan-Arabists. Many insurgency leaders are Islamists and claim to be fighting a religious war to reestablish the Arab Islamic Caliphate of centuries past.
After months of brutal violence against Iraqi civilians, in January 2007 President Bush presented a new strategy for Operation Iraqi Freedom based upon counter-insurgency theories and tactics developed by General David Petraeus. The Iraq War troop surge of 2007 was part of this "new way forward" and, along with US backing of Sunni groups it had previously sought to defeat, has been credited with a widely recognized dramatic decrease in violence by up to 80%, and a more controversial possible increase in political and communal reconciliation in Iraq.
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
In July 2006, following the killing of three Israeli soldiers and the taking prisoner of two more by Hezbollah, Israel invaded southern Lebanon, intent on the destruction of Hezbollah. The conflict lasted over a month and caused the deaths of between 845 and 1300 Lebanese (Mostly civilians) and 163 Israelis (119 military and 44 civilian) and wounding thousands more Israelis and Lebanese.
The Lebanese government, Hezbollah and the Israeli government have agreed to the terms of the ceasefire agreement created by the United Nations that began at 0500 on August 14, 2006. While the conflict is associated with the longer running Arab-Israeli conflict, prior to the declaration of the ceasefire, Israel claimed it was fighting a war against terror, the U.S. government stated the conflict was also a front in the "War on Terror" and President Bush reiterated it in a speech the day the ceasefire came into effect. Hezbollah also claims that Israel is terrorist state.
2007 Lebanon conflict
Fatah-al-Islam has been described as a militant jihadist movement that draws inspiration from al-Qaeda.The US provided military aid to Lebanon during the conflict. On September 7, 2007 Lebanese Forces captured the camp and then declared victory.
2008 fighting in Lebanon
In May 2008, Lebanon's 17-month long political crisis spiralled out of control. The unrest saw fighters from Shi'a movements Hezbollah and Amal opposing pro-government gunmen, including fighters loyal to the Sunni Future Movement Party, in several areas of the capital.The government was US-backed while the Shi'a militants were armed and financed by Syria and Iran. The fighting led to the fall of Beirut and the eastern Aley area to opposition forces.
Saudi Arabia
The latest wave of attacks in Saudi Arabia started with the bombing in Riyadh on 12 May 2003 by al-Qaeda militants. The attacks targeted the Saudi security forces, foreign workers, and tourists (mostly Western).
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Fatah-Hamas conflict
The Fatah-Hamas conflict began in 2006 and has continued, in one form or another, into the middle of 2007. The conflict is between the two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, with each vying to assume political control of the Palestinian Territories.
The majority of the fighting is occurring in the Gaza Strip, which was taken over by Hamas in June 2007. Fatah is United States backed whereas Hamas, despite being considered a terrorist organization by the United States, United Nations and the European Union, won the first free and democratic elections held in the Palestinian territories.
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
Following Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip during the Battle of Gaza Israel imposed a blockade of the territory. What ensued was a series of rocket attacks by Hamas against southern Israel and small military operations against the rocket teams by the IDF. This culminated by the end of December 2008, after a six-month truce ended between Israel and Hamas. Rocket attacks intensified and Israel responded with heavy air strikes on December 27, 2008. At least 225 people were killed on the first day of the Israeli attack, 140 of the Hamas militants according to the IDF. Following a week of air raids Israeli troops started ground operations and attacked the Gaza Strip on January 4, 2009. The attack cut Gaza into three parts and by January 18, 1,417 Palestinians (926 civilians) and 13 Israelis (10 soldiers) were killed. By some the conflict had been considered, just like the 2006 Lebanon war, as a proxy war between Israel's Western allies and Iran for the Middle East.
Only days after the war in Gaza ended Israeli warplanes hit an arms convoy in Sudan. The convoy was manned by Sudanese, Ethiopians, Eritreans and several Iranian Revolutionary Guard members and was to head through Egypt's Sinai desert to the border with Gaza where the weapons would be smuggled to Hamas. 39 people were killed and 17 trucks were destroyed. Israeli warplanes used the U.S. military airport in Djibouti for the operation. The U.S. also provided military intelligence, beside the airstrip, for the attack as part of an agreement between the U.S. and Israel to stop arms smuggling into Gaza.
Terrorism in Yemen
There had been a number of terrorist attacks against foreign targets in Yemen since the start of the War on Terrorism. Yemen has a weak central government and a powerful tribal system that leaves large lawless areas open for terrorist training and operations. It is stated that al-Qaida has a strong presence in the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment