Current Events in north africa and middle east (2001-present)
Iraq War- After the September 11th attacks leaders in the United States realized that Saddam Hussein was a much larger threat than originally believed. So, the U.N. ordered a weapons investigation and due to the investigation being poorly conducted and Iraq's unwillingness to comply with orders, there was no stockpiles of nuclear weapons found. But, officials still believed that the investigation was not good enough and so in 2003 a U.S.-led collation invaded Iraq and kicked out Saddam in the same year. But the job was not done; we still had to create peace and in 2005 Iraq had it's first multi-party election in fifty years. Since then we had kept troops there still dealing with terrorists and Saddam supporters, but finally in 2011 President Obama pulled out the last of our troops in Iraq.
Libyan Civil War- This conflict was preceded and caused by Protests in Benghazi that turned violent and led to security forces to fire on the crowd. This event started the war on february 15, 2011 and ended on October 23, 2011 with the National Transitional Council "declared the Liberation of Libya". The Libyan Civil War lasted about 8 months and was between those loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those who wanted to kick him out and his form of government out of Libya. At first the tide of the war was in favor of the rebels when they took major cities and important ports and got closer and closer to, the capital of Libya, Tripoli. But, then Gaddafi launched a offensive and took back a large chunk of the lost land lost, which included Benghazi, the area in which the war started. But, the rebels where not done yet and launched an offensive on August 20th and they took control of the capital and had both of Gaddafi's sons under arrest by August 28th. On October 20th, 2011 while he was trying to flee from the city of Sirte with his defense minister he was cornered by his rebel captors and stabbed to death by a bayonet. Three days after his death the Libyan Civil War was officially over.
War in Afghanistan- After the September 11th attacks on the United States an invasion of Afghanistan to take out the Taliban and bring peace to the country ensued. The coalition was led by the United States, but also involved the UK, France, Canada, and Australia. At first, the U.S. demanded that that the taliban hand over the mastermind of 9/11, Osama Bin Laden and give up their power, which was about 90% at the start of the war, in Afghanistan. Soon after the initial invasion the coalition drove out the Taliban and took control of all major cities and towns in Afghanistan. Soon after the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, was set up by the U.N. Security Council to oversee the country and train it's army. In December of 2001 Hamid Karzai was chosen to head the Afghan Intermin Administration; and eventually in the 2004 Popular Elections he was elected as the 1st president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, it's new permanent government. In 2003 NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, took over control of the ISAF. That same year that Taliban started an insurgence back in Afghanistan and they were extremely outnumbered by the soldiers from NATO and the Afghan Government. Despite this they were able to work there way back into the country by exposing the corruption of the Afghanistan Government, one of the most corrupt in the world. Since then the coalition has been dealing with guerilla-type warfare fighting and not to mention regular bombings and suicide bombings. In 2006 NATO responded to this by increasing the amount of troop in Afghanistan by using a "Win hearts and minds of the people" tactic. On May 2nd, 2011 U.S. Forces finally got revenge by killing Osama Bin Laden in his compound in Northwest Pakistan, where there the fighting had spread to. A few weeks later countries involved in NATO supported an exit strategy for removing their soldiers; but, the fighting in Afghanistan still continues today. There are thousands of fatalities from both sides, the coalition's fatalities are up to about 3,316, and the Taliban's fatalities being unknown exactly being a rough estimate says that they are at about 25,000 or so. Civilians have also suffered a great loss with their fatalities at about 12,500 - 14,700 in the 11 year span.
Syrian Rebellion- This conflict between the Syrian Government and Iran against the Syrian National Coalition is classified as a Non-International Armed Conflict, which is the legal term for Civil War. The war is still ongoing and has been going on for a little over 2 years. This started sort of like the Civil War in Libya with the citizens protesting the government and demanding that the president resign and this led the soldiers to be ordered to fire upon the crowds all across the country. These "military sieges" eventually led the rebels to start an armed rebellion to get President Bashar al-Assad out of power. The rebels do not have a organized leadership and are made up of mainly former soldiers and volunteers. Currently there is no set, clear fronts most battles take place in cities and towns across the country. The fighting had stayed in smaller towns and villages until about late 2011 when it reached two of the largest cities of Damascus and Aleppo. This led to full-scale urban warfare in Damascus and in the deadly and very important battle of Aleppo, which is still an ongoing battle. Fighters from both sides call this the "Mother of all battles". But, in early 2013 the battle, and the war itself came to a screeching halt into a stalemate. On May 15th, 2013 the UN estimated that 80,000 people had died in the war; also Opposition, aka the rebels, Activist Groups had said about half of the casualties were civilian. In the last two years of fighting 1.2 million people have left Syria and gone to neighboring countries. Recently, the country that has openly chosen a side in this conflict is Russia, they have chosen to support the Syrian Government and the U.S. have told Russia that selling the Syrian government arms is 'a mistake.' Right now this is the conflict that the world is paying close attention to because this could lead to greater and more dangerous things.
Arab Spring- "Arab Spring" is just a tag that is used by that media to illustrate the revolutionary string of peaceful or violent protests, riots, and even civil wars that have occurred in the Arab world. It started in December 2010 with Tunisia when a man burned himself alive in protest of how the police were treating him and the others in the country; this protest ended in government overthrow on January 14th, 2011. The Arab Spring still continues to this day with protests currently occurring in: Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan, and Jordan. To name a few countries whose protests that have so successful that they have actually removed their leaders from power are: Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen. Some countries have little protests and others have had large protests, but every protest no matter the size is a cry for change from the common people.The protests and revolutions isn't a new thing for the Arabs, but what is new is that the revolutions aren't pointed at foreign rule it's actually pointed towards rulers of their own nationality, generally. Overall, the revolutions are very effective at creating change for the country, but only time will tell if they will be positive changes.
Libyan Civil War- This conflict was preceded and caused by Protests in Benghazi that turned violent and led to security forces to fire on the crowd. This event started the war on february 15, 2011 and ended on October 23, 2011 with the National Transitional Council "declared the Liberation of Libya". The Libyan Civil War lasted about 8 months and was between those loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those who wanted to kick him out and his form of government out of Libya. At first the tide of the war was in favor of the rebels when they took major cities and important ports and got closer and closer to, the capital of Libya, Tripoli. But, then Gaddafi launched a offensive and took back a large chunk of the lost land lost, which included Benghazi, the area in which the war started. But, the rebels where not done yet and launched an offensive on August 20th and they took control of the capital and had both of Gaddafi's sons under arrest by August 28th. On October 20th, 2011 while he was trying to flee from the city of Sirte with his defense minister he was cornered by his rebel captors and stabbed to death by a bayonet. Three days after his death the Libyan Civil War was officially over.
War in Afghanistan- After the September 11th attacks on the United States an invasion of Afghanistan to take out the Taliban and bring peace to the country ensued. The coalition was led by the United States, but also involved the UK, France, Canada, and Australia. At first, the U.S. demanded that that the taliban hand over the mastermind of 9/11, Osama Bin Laden and give up their power, which was about 90% at the start of the war, in Afghanistan. Soon after the initial invasion the coalition drove out the Taliban and took control of all major cities and towns in Afghanistan. Soon after the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, was set up by the U.N. Security Council to oversee the country and train it's army. In December of 2001 Hamid Karzai was chosen to head the Afghan Intermin Administration; and eventually in the 2004 Popular Elections he was elected as the 1st president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, it's new permanent government. In 2003 NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, took over control of the ISAF. That same year that Taliban started an insurgence back in Afghanistan and they were extremely outnumbered by the soldiers from NATO and the Afghan Government. Despite this they were able to work there way back into the country by exposing the corruption of the Afghanistan Government, one of the most corrupt in the world. Since then the coalition has been dealing with guerilla-type warfare fighting and not to mention regular bombings and suicide bombings. In 2006 NATO responded to this by increasing the amount of troop in Afghanistan by using a "Win hearts and minds of the people" tactic. On May 2nd, 2011 U.S. Forces finally got revenge by killing Osama Bin Laden in his compound in Northwest Pakistan, where there the fighting had spread to. A few weeks later countries involved in NATO supported an exit strategy for removing their soldiers; but, the fighting in Afghanistan still continues today. There are thousands of fatalities from both sides, the coalition's fatalities are up to about 3,316, and the Taliban's fatalities being unknown exactly being a rough estimate says that they are at about 25,000 or so. Civilians have also suffered a great loss with their fatalities at about 12,500 - 14,700 in the 11 year span.
Syrian Rebellion- This conflict between the Syrian Government and Iran against the Syrian National Coalition is classified as a Non-International Armed Conflict, which is the legal term for Civil War. The war is still ongoing and has been going on for a little over 2 years. This started sort of like the Civil War in Libya with the citizens protesting the government and demanding that the president resign and this led the soldiers to be ordered to fire upon the crowds all across the country. These "military sieges" eventually led the rebels to start an armed rebellion to get President Bashar al-Assad out of power. The rebels do not have a organized leadership and are made up of mainly former soldiers and volunteers. Currently there is no set, clear fronts most battles take place in cities and towns across the country. The fighting had stayed in smaller towns and villages until about late 2011 when it reached two of the largest cities of Damascus and Aleppo. This led to full-scale urban warfare in Damascus and in the deadly and very important battle of Aleppo, which is still an ongoing battle. Fighters from both sides call this the "Mother of all battles". But, in early 2013 the battle, and the war itself came to a screeching halt into a stalemate. On May 15th, 2013 the UN estimated that 80,000 people had died in the war; also Opposition, aka the rebels, Activist Groups had said about half of the casualties were civilian. In the last two years of fighting 1.2 million people have left Syria and gone to neighboring countries. Recently, the country that has openly chosen a side in this conflict is Russia, they have chosen to support the Syrian Government and the U.S. have told Russia that selling the Syrian government arms is 'a mistake.' Right now this is the conflict that the world is paying close attention to because this could lead to greater and more dangerous things.
Arab Spring- "Arab Spring" is just a tag that is used by that media to illustrate the revolutionary string of peaceful or violent protests, riots, and even civil wars that have occurred in the Arab world. It started in December 2010 with Tunisia when a man burned himself alive in protest of how the police were treating him and the others in the country; this protest ended in government overthrow on January 14th, 2011. The Arab Spring still continues to this day with protests currently occurring in: Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan, and Jordan. To name a few countries whose protests that have so successful that they have actually removed their leaders from power are: Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen. Some countries have little protests and others have had large protests, but every protest no matter the size is a cry for change from the common people.The protests and revolutions isn't a new thing for the Arabs, but what is new is that the revolutions aren't pointed at foreign rule it's actually pointed towards rulers of their own nationality, generally. Overall, the revolutions are very effective at creating change for the country, but only time will tell if they will be positive changes.