Added: 09/12/2005 |
The struggle against terrorism: Is the war in iraq a tragedy of our days or it is the way to peaceful settlement of world problemsDark night. In deaf Iraq village the embittered combat are taking place. The circuits of tracer shells break off blinding haze with crash. The continuous rumble of tanks and helicopters is audible. Bursts of machine carbine and shouts of marines merge in united lingering howl. The next large explosion of grenade cup discharge shell limelight bloody pictures of night assault. And so till dawn. Above the ancient land of Mesopotamia a black fatal bird, which name is WAR, are soaring proud again !
Iraq - the Arabian state in Southwest Asia. The country limited from the north and the east with mountains, is located basically between Tigris river and Euphrates river - in territory of ancient Mesopotamia. The area of Iraq - 434.9 thousand sq. km. Nature of Iraq are rather various. In the north it is unapproachable mountain ridges, in the winter covered with a snow, in the south - sand of deserts with rare green oases.
The history of Iraq from Babylon times to our days is wealthy for fierce battles. So in the 6th century BC (586 BC), Nebuchadrezzar II conquered Judea (Judah), destroyed Jerusalem; Solomon's Temple was also destroyed. Nebuchadrezzar (604-562 BC) is credited for building the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Then in 634 AD, an army of 18,000 Arab Muslims, under the leadership of Khalid ibn al-Walid, reached and conquered the Euphrates delta. In the eighth century, the Abbasid Caliphate established its capital at Baghdad. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the Black Sheep Turkmen ruled the area now known as Iraq. In 1466, the White Sheep Turkmen defeated the Black Sheep and took control. In the 16th century Iraq became a part of the Ottoman Empire.
The beginning of XX century is commemorated for Iraq with the Great war in Iraq. Ottoman rule over Iraq has been lasted since British forces invaded the country. During the invasion the British suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Turkish army near Kut. An armistice was signed in 1918. For England Iraq was of strategic importance as it provided protection for the Anglo-Persian oil pipeline that was vital to the British navy. The British Mandate Period is commenceed. Iraq was carved out of the Ottoman Empire by the French and British as agreed in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. On November 11, 1920 it became a League of Nations mandate under British control with the name "State of Iraq". Emir Faisal ibn Husayn, leader of the arab revolt against the Ottoman sultan during the Great War, and member of the Sunni Hashemite family from Mecca, became the first king of the new state. He obtained the throne by the influence of T.E. Lawrence. Although the monarch was legitimized and proclaimed King by a plebiscite in 1921, nominal independence was only achieved in 1932, when the British Mandate officially ended.
Yet we can recall 1948 year when Iraq and other Arabian countries fought a war with Israel. The fighting continued till May 1949 when a cease-fire agreement was signed. The cost of the war had a negative impact on Iraq's economy.. Oil royalties paid to Iraq were halved when the pipeline to Haifa was cut. The war and the hanging of a Jewish businessman led to the departure of most of Iraq's Jewish community. Jews had lived in Mesopotamia for at least 2,500 years.
So the power of Iraq's Kings ended. Inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser, officers from the Nineteenth Brigade known as "Free Officers", under the leadership of Brigadier Abdul-Karim Qassem (known as "il-Za`im") and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif overthrew the Hashemite monarchy on July 14, 1958. King Faisal II and Abd al Ilah were executed in the gardens of al-Rihab Palace. Their bodies (and those of many others in the royal family) were displayed in public.
Then in July 1979 Saddam Hussein, assumed the offices of both President and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. He was the de facto ruler of Iraq for some years before he formally came to power. When Saddam Hussein failed to comply with this demand, the Persian Gulf War (Operation "Desert Storm") ensued on the 17th of January 1991 (3 a.m. Iraq time), with allied troops of 28 countries, led by the US launching an aerial bombardment on Baghdad. The war, which proved disastrous for Iraq, lasted only six weeks, one hundred and forty thousand tons of munitions had showered down on the country, the equivalent of 7 Hiroshima bombs. Probably as many as 100,000 Iraqi soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians were killed. Therefore, it is possible to make a firmly conclusion that the war in Iraq is not a rarity.
On 29 May 2003, President Bush said during an interview with Polish television network TVP that "We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories." The given statement served as the beginning of introduction of US armed forces in Iraq.
On March 20, 2003 at approximately 02:30 UTC or about 90 minutes after the lapse of the 48-hour deadline, at 05:30 local time, explosions were heard in Baghdad; coinciding with Australian Special Air Service Regiment personnel crossing the border into southern Iraq. At 03:15 UTC, or 10:15 pm EST, U.S. President George W. Bush announced that he had ordered the coalition to launch an "attack of opportunity" against targets in Iraq. So the war in Iraq began.
In keeping with the rapid advance plan, the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division moved westward and then northward through the desert toward Baghdad, while the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and 1 (UK) Armoured Division moved northward through marshland. All forces avoided major cities except when necessary to capture river crossings over the Tigris and Euphrates. The British 7 Armoured Brigade ('The Desert Rats') fought their way into Iraq's second-largest city, Basra, on 6 April, coming under constant attack by regulars and Fedayeen, while the 3rd Parachute Regiment cleared the 'old quarter' of the city that was inaccessible to vehicles. The entering of Basra had only been achieved after two weeks of conflict, which included the biggest tank battle by British forces since World War II when the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards destroyed 14 Iraqi tanks on 27 March. The UK's control of the city was, however, limited. Element's of 1 (UK) Armoured Division began to advance north towards U.S. positions around Al Amarah on 9 April. The 2nd Battalion of the U.S. 5th Special Forces Group (part of the Green Berets) conducted reconnaissance in the cities of Basra, Karbala and various other locations. In the North 10th SFG had the mission of aiding the Kurdish factions such as the Union of Kurdistan and the Democratic Party of Kurdistan. Turkey had officially forbidden any US troops from using their bases, so lead elements of the 10th had to make certain detours; their journey was supposed to take four hours but instead it took ten.
Three weeks into the invasion, armed forces in Iraq moved into the Capital Baghdad. Initial plans were for armor units to surround the city and a street-to-street battle to commence using Airborne units. However, within days a "Thunder Run" of US tanks was launched to test Iraqi defenses, with about 30 tanks rushing from a staging base to the Baghdad airport. They met heavy resistance, including many suicide attacks, but launched another run two days later into the Palaces of Saddam Hussein, where they established a base. Within hours of the palace seizure, and television coverage of this spreading through Iraq, Iraqi resistance crumbled around the city. Iraqi government officials had either disappeared or had conceded defeat. On April 9, 2003, Baghdad was formally secured by US forces and the power of Saddam Hussein was declared ended. Saddam had vanished, and his whereabouts were unknown.
On 22 July 2003 during a raid by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division and men from Task Force 20, Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, and one of his grandsons were killed. Saddam Hussein was captured on December 13, 2003 by the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division and members of Task Force 121 during Operation Red Dawn.
During 2004 and till the autumn 2005 the war in Iraq continued. US armed forces put up a stubborn defence of the won positions of democracy. A military occupation was established and run by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which later appointed and granted limited powers to an Iraq Interim Governing Council. Troops for the occupation came primarily from the United States and the United Kingdom, but twenty-nine other nations also provided some armed forces, and there were varying levels of assistance from Japan and other allied countries. Tens of thousands of private security personnel provided protection of infrastructure, facilities and personnel. Coalition and allied Iraqi forces have been fighting a stronger-than-expected militant Iraqi insurgency, and the reconstruction of Iraq has been slow. Some have criticized the failure to anticipate the insurgency and the slow rate of progress and have attributed it to poor planning and mistakes in judgement and diplomacy made both during and after the invasion.
During the "post-war in Iraq occupation", occupying forces have turned their attention to enforcing order through patrolling. These patrols faced insurgents who have seized upon the discovered weaknesses of American vehicles, capitalizing on them with carefully placed and timed explosives. The patrols require armored vehicles capable of stopping at least small arms fire of 7.62mm machine gun rounds along with mandatory external weapons platforms and tracking equipment. Patrolling soldiers spend nearly eight hours a day in sector and accrue nearly 100 patrols per month.
Reforms, concerned to reconstruction of civil rights and political liberty have a place. So on 31 January 2005, an election for a government to draft a permanent constitution took place. Although some violence and lack of widespread Sunni participation marred the event, most of the eligible Kurd and Shia populace participated.
Studying the centuries-old history of millitary actions in Iraq, it would be desirable to believe that at last after so many bloody battles and goverment transformations the white pigeon of peace will find the road to the country of Alladin and of Shahrazad and the country of great stocks of oil.
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