...to reach its intended target because of heroic passengers. With nearly 3,000 civilians murdered, the United States began the “War on Terror” that targeted organizations designated as terrorist and those regimes accused of supporting them. The “War on Terror” took the fight to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq. The Theory of Just War is an ethical look to help determine whether the use of armed forces is justified or unjustified. This Theory is guided by three sets of criteria: the right to go war (jus ad bellum), the rules of engagement of war (jus in bello) and justice after war (jus post bellum). While these wars have been surrounded with controversy and claims of being unjust, the “War on Terror” is a just war that does not exceed the moral boundaries set in the Just War Theory and today's society? The first criterion for a just war is the right to go to war. Is there a just cause? Will war be declared by a competent authority? Has all other options for peace been exhausted? What are the chances for success? Before the dust for the fallen towers settled and while eighty-six other countries mourned the loss of loved ones that were indiscriminately killed by Al Qaeda operatives, leaders around the globe heeded their citizens’ call to war, forming a coalition against terrorists. President George Bush stated “our 'war on terror' begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been...
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...The Persian Gulf War Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighboring Kuwait in early August 1990. Alarmed by actions, fellow Arab powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the United States and other Western nations to interfere. Hussein refused United Nations Security Council demands removed from Kuwait by January 1991, and the Persian Gulf War began with a massive U.S. led air offensive known as Operation Desert Storm. After 42 days of constant attacks by the allied coalition in the air and on the ground. U.S. President George H.W. Bush declared a cease-fire on February 28. By that time, most Iraqi forces in Kuwait had either surrendered or fled. Even though the Persian Gulf War was initially considered an unqualified success for the international coalition, firing conflict in that region led to a second Gulf War known as the Iraq War, that began in 2003. Adding to Hussein’s speech, Iraq had begun amassing troops on Kuwait’s border. Surprised by these actions, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt initiated negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait in an effort to avoid intervention by the United States or other powers from outside the Gulf region. Hussein broke off the negotiations after only two hours. On August 2, 1990 he ordered the invasion of Kuwait. Hussein’s assumption that his fellow Arab states would stand by in the face of his invasion of Kuwait, and by not calling in outside help to stop it. Two-thirds of the 21 members of the Arab League...
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...between both sets of people. Islamists have gained a bad reputation in the west because they are seen as the sworn enemies of Christians, and the same applies to how Muslims view people from the west. On the whole, the war between the West and East has something to do with the world's political order, and this will form the basis of discussion in this paper. The war that exists between West and East is a result of politics and not the religious differences. Political ambitions have always been at the forefront of the existing conflict because different countries have always had diverse ambitions of controlling the rest of the world. A key moment in the history of the East was the deal that was made by the British at the end of the Second World War concerning the people of Palestine. The establishment of Israel in 1948 further escalated tensions and conflicts with the west, and the problems that exist today, almost have nothing to do with religion (Tausch, 2009). The world events of the past decade and a half, clearly show the origins of the conflict that exists between the west and the east. The invasion of Iraq by the United States in 2003 is a perfect example, which shows that the conflict that exists is not a religious war. The decision to invade Iraq was made on the assumption that the then leader of the country, Saddam Hussein, was...
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...Carl von Clausewitz once said: “No one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in is mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” One hundred and forty years later Dr. Fred Charles Iklé, a noted sociologist and expert defense strategist authored Every War Must End where he shares his insights on the difficult process which wars have been brought to a close and how those lessons learned from the past influence the strategies of the future. In Dr. Iklé’s book, he states: “fighting often continues long past the point where a ‘rational’ calculation would indicate that the war should be ended—ended, perhaps, even at the price of major concessions.” In my short lifespan...
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...the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger,” said President George W. Bush on the Morning of March 19, 2003, declaring the U.S. involvement in the Second Gulf War. On March 17, 2003, President Bush gave Suddam Hussein, the President of Iraq, an ultimatum: demanding the Hussein leave Iraq within a forty-eight-hour period or The United States would declare war. Suddam Hussein had been the President of Iraq since 1979 and was a major reason for the First Gulf War. In 2002, Congress and the Senate passed a law “authorizing the use of armed force against Iraq. This resolution empowered the President...
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...The Argument What is called the anti-war movement in the US, is a debate on whether or not to continue the demand for the US to pull its troops out of Iraq and to press for change in the role the military is playing within the country of Iraq The articles I looked at on the war in Iraq had very different opinions. The ones that had the most substation information in them to me was the one that are against the US going back into Iraq with military troops. They claim that military uprising would be costly and would be repeating the same mistakes America made in the past with the Iraq war. The US does not need to go back over to Iraq and start another civil war like we have in the past there has been to many lives lost in the battle already it’s time to pull out and see how Iraq can handle on their own. I feel that there is a stronger argument with supporting reasoning with very good sources on why would should leave Iraq alone. Iraq has cost America enough! The US will be picking up the pieces of this for war for many years. The number of American troops who have died fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan totaled 6,802 as of April 2014 with 32,000 hundred wounded (Maceda). Those individuals came from every part of the United States and its territories, and the great majority was young men. Many were married, with children, and all left families with a lifetime of pain. They died in a host of horrific ways. They were killed by insurgents’ deadly targeting...
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...The End of the Iraq War: Unrest in the Middle East Media- The news media, are often unpopular with the brass, for they function independently, without rules, regulations, or even a Code of Conduct except for some that are self-imposed. The media’s Newspapers, Radio, TV and Cable have a variety of interests of their own and set goals to be achieved. They have their fulsome share of rogues, incompetents and avaricious vultures. Yet at their best, the media provide the nation with a vital service it can get nowhere else. It is one of the pillars of the state. US military action against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria began on a small scale three months ago but has steadily expanded in size and scope, raising the stakes for Washington, experts say. The mission has morphed from protecting religious minorities in Iraq to a vow to "destroy" the IS group in both Syria and Iraq, a dramatic shift for an American president who as a candidate was an outspoken opponent of the previous US war in Iraq. Transnational actors-Globalization provides international actors with additional tools for enhancing their interests and power. More actors which assume the shape of threats are actively and directly involved in everyday international affairs. That is why extremist and terrorist ideological groups for example achieved the ability to manipulate an audience by cultivating fear on the global scale. Rebel or resistance movements, warlords, criminal organizations, local militias, ethnic...
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...or the Just War Theory is a military ethics doctrine derived from Episcopal philosophy of the Roman Catholic Church. As studied today, the Just War Theory is considered hugely informed by the Christian understanding of the justifications of wars of invasion. In ethicist literature as in moral theology and policy making, the Just War Theory is associated with the belief that conflicts can be justified under certain philosophical, political and religious criteria. This paradigm dates back to the times of Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman statesman, philosopher, lawyer, theorist and constitutionalist. The connection of the theory to medieval Christian theory and particularly, contemporary Catholicism is in the works of Thomas Aquinas and Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis (Gutman & Rieff, 2000). The former, also called Thomas of Aquin was an Italian Dominican priest, a theologian and a philosopher. The latter, also called St. Augustine, Blessed Augustine or Augustine of Hippo, was a onetime Bishop of Hippo Regius, a philosopher and theologian. This paper describes the tenets of the just war theory derived from the works of these philosophers and the utility of the theory within contemporary warfare. Specific focus is on the justification of the US invasion of Iraq and the consequences thereof. In the works of these three philosophers, the Just War Theory took a Christian connotation of the Roman Empire’s view of warfare. The Christian understanding of provocation to war and the ethics...
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...that the scarcity of our troops and the war in Iraq, combined with how each military branch spends their budgets are two main problems that this nation is facing. The United States military is one of the most influential forces in the world. Not only is the us military responsible for the protection of its homeland, but American forces are often called upon to provide peacekeeping and stability in crumbling nations or to provide humanitarian relief to countries that are in need. As a result, we have soldiers stationed all across the world, leaving our own country vulnerable. The United States spent almost 200 billion dollars on the Iraq war in the last year. The Untied States military budget in 2008 was close to 650 billion dollars and still more money was needed. The United States has been dubbed the “World Police” by other nations. We are the one nation that others come to when they are in need of help. We try to help in any way possible but when we do; our homeland is left open to terrorist attacks. The United States was rocked to the core on September 11, 2001, when two hijacked airplanes crashed the World Trade Center towers in New York City, and a third airplane crashed into the Pentagon. These terrorist attacks set the stage for the Iraq war. After the events of September 11th, President Bush stated that the “U.S. will hunt down and punish terrorists” (Gilmore). In 2003, President Bush sent 300,000 soldiers to Iraq to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction...
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...U.S. Involvement in the War on Terror The War on Terror is tough to define. It is considered a war, but not in the traditional sense. When one thinks of war they think of enemies, a battlefield, weapons, and death. However, the war on terror is slightly different. The lines that define enemies and allies are blurred, there is no battlefield, and the weapons come in all shapes and sizes. Nonetheless, there has still been death. Starting on September 11, 2001, the War on Terror has been waged for many years and has included many groups of people. On September 11, 2001, hijacked planes crashed in to the World Trade Center in New York City. Known as the Twin Towers, the World Trade Center is symbolic of the United State’s “economic power and military might” (Rahman). Immediately following the attacks, President Bush named Osama Bin Laden at fault and declared the War Against Terrorism. United States Congress had allocated billions of dollars and authorized President Bush to take any measures necessary (Moore). This war, however, is different from a typical war. President Bush told people to “go about their daily lives” unlike during World War II where 90% of Americans helped the war effort in some way. The war on terror is a war “without boundaries…directed against multiple enemies, not just one adversary” (Raz). The United States government has defined the war on terrorism against those who are declared “terrorists” or anyone accused of “harboring terrorists” (Rahman). ...
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...We are presently living in a world full of turmoil, conflict, and confusion, continually engulfed in various power struggles and wars of all kinds. As a result of this never-ending, widespread violence and corruption, we are also living in a world of refugees. According to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees: a refugee is a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country (Refugee, 2008). The current crisis of refugees around the world is overlooked by average, first world citizens every day. The topic of refugees, besides bringing up obvious issues of human rights, also involves numerous other global issues and raises countless questions. In this paper, we will discuss issues revolving around the history of refugees, refugee warehousing and its alternatives, as well as three individual case studies of current refugee crises around the world and how they connect to other global issues. Refugees were first defined and acknowledged as a legal group in the aftermath of World War II, due to the vast number of people fleeing Eastern Europe (Refugee, 2008). While it is clearly impossible to account for all of the world’s refugees, when this estimate is combined with the...
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...headquarters located in Brussels Belgium. After being deployed to Bosnia Herzegovina and realizing the role NATO was playing gave me a new found understanding of its mission. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization known as NATO was formed in response to the threat Western Democracies encountered from the spreading influence of communism in the post World War II era. Currently NATO has 28 nations who have aligned themselves in the organization, which has seen its share of good and bad times. During the immediate period up until the cold war era NATO was a driving force for peace efforts between countries and states. After the President Reagan’s historical proclamation on June 12, 1987 while speaking to the people in West Berlin, at the Brandenburg Gate. His speech is considered by many to be the beginning of the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism. The wall actually was torn down during November 9-11, 1989, reuniting families who were once separated by the wall. This event, even though a joyous occasion begin the slow demise of what NATO stood for. What would be the next step for NATO now that the Cold War was ending and the reality that communism’s spread was significantly diminished to a meager memory? The resurgence of NATO would be brought back to life with vigor as the United States and the world as a whole, dealt with the aftermath of the attack. Former President George W. Bush, while addressing the audience at the NATO summit in Prague a little over a year...
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...annihilating the state of Iraq and Iraqi civilians, the imperialistic invasion of Iraq in 2003 is a foreign policy blunder which endangered the lives of American soldiers while exhausting trillions of dollars. The Iraq war lead to the unification of outraged individuals from distinctive states to adopt a violent form of jihad. Before the invasion, the violent jihadist doctrine was comparatively contained, but afterward, it swiftly spread across continents....
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...1941: IRAQ AND THE ILLUMINATI The growing guerrilla war in Iraq has shown Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to be far more resilient than anyone realized. To understand their resilience and grass-roots strength, one must look at the party's mystical origins. Columnist Maureen Dowd says the Arabic word Baath stands for resurrection. But Baath is not a word that translates well into English. A better synonym would be the Italian word Risorgimento. Actually, the party had its origin in the little town of Asadabad in western Iran. Here, in 1839, was born Sayyid Jamal ad-Din, a Muslim mystic sometimes known as al-Afghani (Arabic for the Afghan--J.T.) and "the Sage of the East." Jamal ad-Din was raised as a Shiite Muslim and, in 1845, his family enrolled him in a madrassa (Islamic school) in the holy city of Najaf in what is now Iraq. Here Jamal was initiated into "the mysteries" by "followers of Sheik Ahmad Asai (1753-1826). He also may have had some family connections with the Babis, followers of Siyyid Ali Mohammed al-Bab," an imam keenly interested in politics. "After years studying Shia theology at the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, he spent several years in India, the Caucasus and Central Asia before surfacing in Afghanistan as the senior advisor to the pro-Russian ruler." (Editor's Comment: Strange that a supposedly devout Muslim would head for India instead of making the traditional haj or pilgrimage to Mecca. It appears that Jamal ad-Din was one of the few Illuminati to...
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...extremists in neighboring Iraq. MORE Boy Found in Basement Says Dad Abused Him With Pipe NBC News What Happened When One Woman Had Her Picture Photoshopped In 25 Different Countries Huffington Post Disturbing Details: Dad Told Cops He Searched Hot Car Deaths NBC News Benghazi Suspect Flown to Washington to Face Judge NBC News Uruguay eliminates Italy; Did Suarez bite again? Sports Illustrated Obama sent Congress a $500 million request Thursday for a Pentagon-run program that would significantly expand previous covert efforts to arm rebels fighting both the Sunni extremists and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad. The move that comes amid increased U.S. concern that the conflicts in Syria and Iraq are becoming an intertwined fight against the same Sunni extremist group. POPULAR AMONG SUBSCRIBERS Eat Butter Fat Time Magazine Cover Ending the War on Fat Subscribe The End of Iraq How Many People Watched Orange Is the New Black? No One Knows If approved by lawmakers, the program would in effect open a second front in the fight against militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, that is spilling over Syria’s border and threatening to overwhelm Iraq. “Obviously, in light of what has happened in Iraq, we have even more to talk about in terms of the moderate opposition in Syria, which has the ability to be a very important player in pushing back against ISIL’s presence and to have them not just in Syria, but also in Iraq,” Kerry said at the...
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