Iraqi insurgency

Manuel 3-24 was put into practice when the US’s commitment to COIN was confirmed in 2007 when US President George W. Bush announced “The New Way Forward”, or the infamous “surge” of troops in Iraq by 30 000 soldiers to protect civilians and occupy new positions in 4GW. Under the objective of providing security for civilians and building democracy and government infrastructure (as studied in Biddle, Friedman and Shapiro), the main goal of COIN was focused on protecting civilian populations and building their trust. In other words, the aim was to “win the hearts and minds” of the Iraqi people through relationship building with local populations alongside providing economic opportunities for insurgent defectors and security for civilians from insurgents. The premise of COIN was based off a central belief of Gen. Patreus in Field Manuel 3-24, which supported the idea that a long-term presence of US troops in Iraqi communities could improve the security situation and allow for trust to develop between the locals and US military. Although some argue otherwise, many perceived the surge in troops to have resulted in a decrease in violence in Iraq. However, others like Biddle et al. argue that the surge was one…

Critics and pundits considered the Iraq War a success. However, in the beginning of the war from 2003 to 2006, military leaders were criticized for not achieving any gains against enemies in Iraq. Iraq proved to be just as challenging as Vietnam, where our enemies resorted to irregular warfare. Irregular warfare is defined as a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over a specific population. Irregular threats include actors who employ methods such as…

resulted in trillions of dollars of US debt. Add to the equation (whether caused by the wars or not) the economic crisis of the early 1970’s and the late 2000’s, and the instability and possible threat to the U.S. economy placed additional political pressure on the U.S. to end the conflicts. On the other hand, the insurgents (North Vietnam and Al Queda) required a minimal logistical footprint (living in their own country), secured sufficient international support, and were able to inflict…

activity. In the event that the Imam cannot be influenced, assassinating the Imam under a false-flag would ignite the anger of devout Muslims and perhaps bring a wave of popular support for Boko Haram. Coercing a member of the military to carry out the operation or dispatching a loyal follower to carry out the operation with an IED while posing as a government official or Christian could be sufficient to raise feelings of animosity in the North that could facilitate an overthrow of the…

Going back to the Iraq War, After Hussein was captured; the citizen in Iraq ironically did not gain any resources and freedom. In a Huffington Post article by Daniel Raphael, 8 percent of Iraqi children are malnourished, and 70 percent lack clean drinking water. This ironically was worse than 2003 when the Iraq War begin. The Causalities after Hussein was capture also staggering. After 2003, when the Iraq war start to kick in gear, they were estimated over 151,000 to 1 million…

sectarian violence. Later on Zarqawi made the list of the U.S Department of Justice’s FBI for the War on Terrorism list that eventually the US killed him in a targeted bombing. Second chapter in The State of Terror Stern and Berger go on and explain the rise of the terrorist organization that goes by the name of ISIS. After Zarqawi’s death Islam has been suffering with many setbacks and Al-Masri created the group called ISI which stands for Islamic State in Iraq. When Al-Masri died…

The AOI strategy was based on six essential elements that derived from a proposal meeting with senior Iraqi officials; let the Iraqis lead, help Iraqis protect the population, isolate extremists, create space for political progress, diversify political and economic efforts, and situate the strategy in a regional approach (Mansoor 2013). The rapid deployment of five additional Brigades, in support of surge operations, spanned over a five-month period, from January to May of 2007. The…

After Saddam Hussein 's regime was toppled, the denationalization of the oil companies began. This was in opposition to economic development because many Iraqis depended on these jobs that were not being outsourced to companies for a fraction of the cost. An example of this is the story she tells of the man named Mahmud where a fight broke out in the factory he worked in over privatization. Once, the privatization was completed the contractors failed consistently to provide the services they…

changed to dual processes of providing basic services for Afghans and building government institutions as the scale of human security crisis as a result of this conflict became apparent. This approach greatly reflects the “state centric” approach – only seeking humanitarian goals once the security of the state is enhanced. The extent of the “state-centric” perspective can be seen in a statement by the then secretary of state, describing humanitarian NGOs as “force multipliers” and “members of…

Geographic Advantages, Disadvantages, and Natural Resources of Iraqi Kurdistan The purpose of this research is to identify the distinct geographic advantages and disadvantages Iraqi Kurdistan currently possess in order to develop strategies for resource sharing, stability, governance and regional stability to a unified Iraq. The primary focus of selecting key geographic advantages and disadvantages is to have the ability to apply one or all of the lessons learned to effect change in Iraq and the…