U.S. War in Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom
Following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the United States invaded Afghanistan. Its purpose was to remove the Taliban from power, who came into power in Afghanistan in 1996 as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which catapulted the country into a civil war. The Taliban, a Sunni Islamist group, provided the training ground for other global jihad groups - including al-Qaeda, who planned and executed the terror attacks on the United States in 2001. The War in Afghanistan lasted from October 2001 until December 2014.
Use the interactive timeline below to explore the events of "Operation Enduring Freedom" in Afghanistan.
Use the interactive timeline below to explore the events of "Operation Enduring Freedom" in Afghanistan.
U.S. War in Iraq: Operation Iraqi Freedom
In 2003, troops from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq. On March 21, 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld outlined the objectives of the invasion and if achieved, they would consider the war a victory:
Use the interactive timeline below to explore the events of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in Iraq.
- "End the regime of Saddam Hussein by striking with force on a scope and scale that makes clear to Iraqis that he and his regime are finished."
- "Identify, isolate and eventually eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, production capabilities, and distribution networks."
- Search for, capture, drive out terrorists who have found safe harbor in Iraq."
- "Collect such intelligence as we can find related to terrorist networks in Iraq and beyond."
- "Collect such intelligence as we can find related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction activity."
- "To end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian relief, food and medicine to the displaced and to the many needy Iraqi citizens."
- "Secure Iraq's oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people, and which they will need to develop their country after decades of neglect by the Iraqi regime."
- "To help the Iraqi people create the conditions for a rapid transition to a representative self-government that is not a threat to its neighbors and is committed to ensuring the territorial integrity of that country.''
Use the interactive timeline below to explore the events of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in Iraq.
The war began on March 20, 2003, when the United States launched a series of "shock and awe" bombing attacks on Iraq. Before this, no declaration of war on Iraq was given by the United States. Although Saddam Hussein's security forces were ready for action, "shock and awe" took the country by surprise, and blindsided Iraq militarily with rapid dominance and power, crippling Iraq's defenses.
After several weeks of attacks, the city of Baghdad fell to U.S. troops on April 9, 2003. This ended the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party, Hussein's political party. U.S. troops seized Ba'ath Party buildings that were deserted, and aided Shi'a citizens in the tearing down of the statue that stood of Saddam Hussein in an act of victory against the Iraqi tyrant after decades of oppressive rule. Following these events, the U.S. began the process of De-Ba'athification - the order to remove any and all Ba'ath Party influence from the Iraqi government by the Coalition Provisional Authority (a transitional government set in place by the United States after the fall of Hussein). This meant removing all Ba'ath Party employees from the public sector and banning them from future employment. Below is the full text of the Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 1. |
The Coalition Provisional Authority (a transitional government set in place after the fall of Saddam Hussein) ordered to dismantle the military, security and intelligence agencies of Saddam Hussein. As the Ba'ath Party was of the Sunni sect, CPA Order No. 1 and No. 2 removed [nearly] all Sunni members from any and all government positions and the army. Additionally, this essentially put hundreds of thousands of trained and armed men out of work and onto the streets. Below is the full text of the Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2. |
Although the later months of 2003 and early months of 2004 were relatively quiet in regards to the insurgency, the spring of 2004 marked an increase in the insurgents' activities. The war waged on violently and the insurgency grew with aid from foreign fighters who wanted to join the jihad, or holy war, including al-Qaeda militants in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. These Sunni insurgents were motivated by both nationalistic purposes as well as Islamist reasons. (An Islamist is someone who believes that Islam should guide social and political life, or Islamic law.) Additionally, several Shi'a militia groups formed and joined the insurgency in attempts to take control of the Iraqi government and military. The Mahdi Army, formed by Muqtada al-Sadr, fought against both United States military troops as well as Sunni insurgents.
In February 2006, the al-Askari Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, one of the holiest sites for Shi'a Islam, was attacked by Sunni insurgents, or rebels. While no one was killed directly from this bombing, the attack on the mosque resulted in high violence fighting for several days killing people from both sides. This event sparked a new level of sectarian violence in Iraq between the two main sects of Islam, Sunni and Shi'a Muslims and ultimately catapulting Iraq into a sectarian civil war.
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An insurgency is an organized effort to overthrow or destroy a constituted government through the means of violence, terrorism, espionage and subversion. In 2003, following the CPA's order of removing Sunni Ba'ath Party members from government and the military, armed Sunni, Saddam-supporting rebels rose up, feeling that they had no voice, no job, and no future. Shortly after, Islamic radicalists joined the fight. The insurgents used guerrilla warfare tactics, including suicide attacks, car bombs, IEDs (improvised explosive devices), fire arms, grenades and so forth. The Iraqi Insurgency was met with Western forces but ultimately failed.
Read an article by The Guardian in 2005: US in talks with Iraqi Insurgents" US military troops made process in capturing the remaining leaders from Hussein's Ba'ath Party government, including Hussein's sons. On December 13, 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured. In doing this, the US government and the Coalition Provisional Authority felt more secure in the efforts to transition Iraq into an interim, or temporary government. In 2007, US Preside George W. Bush implements "the surge," in which American troops are increased in Iraq in order to secure the region. In his address to the American public, President Bush states, "America will change our strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence and bring security to the people of Baghdad. This will require increasing American force levels. So I've committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq..." The strategy of the Surge, also known as the New Way Forward, focused on six main objectives:
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Use the various links below to further experience and understand the events of the Iraq War.