Major Issues in Imperial Crusades - Essay Example

? Imperial Crusades of the Institute Appears Here Appears Here Table of Contents Introduction 2 Discussion 3 Conclusion 7 References 8 Introduction Crusades were strategic and economic wars which were motivated by religion. These wars took place between 1095 and 13th Century. In the strict sense, the word crusade is only understood as the ones which took place during eleventh and thirteenth century. The Crusades of the Middle Ages were pilgrimages armed preached by the pope or the spiritual authority of Christianity (Cockburn and Clair, 2004). They were also military expeditions in order to deliver Jerusalem from Muslims. However, the term "crusade" has been extended to other military actions, whose aim was not to extend religion.  Imperialism is a strategy or a political doctrine of conquest which relates to the formation of an empire or domination. Imperialism of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century is no longer linked to the idea of an empire spanning the world known. Instead, following the rise of nationalism in the nineteenth century, imperialism gives rise to a struggle between competing empires (German Empire, British Empire and Imperial Russia). Today the term is used broadly to refer to any report domination established by a nation or a country or other countries. Imperial crusades refer to modern wars which took place between Muslim and Christian states. Prominent wars which are termed as imperial crusades are the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia (Cockburn and Clair, 2004). These three wars affected millions of people worldwide and their economic costs were huge. The paper compares and contrasts the causes and impacts of the imperialistic wars of Afghanistan and Iraq. Both wars are termed as imperialistic because they are perceived as a US design to gain control over global resources. The paper discusses similarities and differences between these two wars to gain meaningful insights. Discussion To compare and contrast the two wars termed as imperialistic wars of US – Afghanistan War and Iraq War, it is essential to evaluate the key facts of the two wars. Iraq War The Iraq war began in March 2003 with the invasion of Iraq. The war was termed by the coalition led by the United States as “Operation Iraqi Freedom " against the Baath Party of Saddam Hussein and ended in December 2011 with the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops. The invasion led to the rapid defeat of the Iraqi army, the capture and execution of Saddam Hussein and the establishment of a new government. President George W. Bush formally declared the completion of the fighting on May 2003, under the banner ‘Mission Accomplished’ (Israeli, 2004). However, violence against coalition forces rapidly led to an asymmetrical war involving several groups of insurgents, militia, members of Al Qaeda, the U.S. military forces and the new Iraqi government.  Iraq Body Count, which bases its analysis on data published in the media, estimates that 114,731 Iraqi civilians have died in the violence, mainly composed of attacks, and at least 250,000 Iraqi civilians were wounded (Murray and Scales, 2003). The war led to the exodus of two million Iraqis fled abroad mainly to Syria Syria and Jordan but also to Europe and United States.  War in Afghanistan The Afghan War to the military insurgency of the United States along with coalition forces and with the military contribution of the Northern Alliance against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. This war was part of the " war against terrorism” declared by the Bush administration following the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington (Fiscus, 2004). The purpose of the invasion according to the United States and its allies was to capture Osama bin Laden, destroy the organization Al Qaeda which allegedly had bases in the country with the support of the Taliban. The initial attack drove Taliban out of power, allowing the establishment of a provisional government headed by Hamid Karzai after the Bonn Agreement of December 2001. The Taliban then engaged a guerrilla war against the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Since 2006, the Taliban armed forces are very active (Girardet, 1985). The Afghan government of Karzai, which was elected president in October 2004, had little legitimacy in 2006 and did not control Kabul city . In January 2009 , International Council on Security and Development stated in a report that Taliban were active in about 72% of Afghan territory which was disputed by the NATO command. National Priorities estimated the cost of the war at over $ 500 billion (Rubin, 2000). This war is also linked to the armed conflict in the Northwest of Pakistan. This conflict is the longest commitment of the U.S. military since the Vietnam War (1959-1975). Key Similarities and Differences in the light of the above mentioned facts, several key similarities and differences between the two wars are found. These are compared and contrasted below: Objectives of the Two Wars the key similarities between the two imperialistic wars were the objectives of the wars. The declared political objectives of United States in both the wars were to establish as quickly as possible a transition government that would designate the people in a democratic government representative of all communities within these countries. The political objective in Iraq War was to overthrow the dictatorial regime of Baath Party and Saddam Hussein, while the political objectives for Afghanistan War was to overthrow Taliban regime (Miller, 2003 ). Humanitarian objectives stated by the allied forces for the two wars were also very similar. The stated objectives were to create united and stable societies in the two countries and to support reconstruction and humanitarian aid in these regions (Meher, 2004). Since both Afghanistan and Iraq were Muslim countries, allied forces also claimed that the purpose of invasion was to promote democracy and women's rights in the Muslim world. Similar Stated Aims of Anti-terrorist Action a very key similarity between the imperial wars of Iraq and Afghanistan is that both wars were motivated by stated aims of destroy pockets of support for terrorism located in Iraq and Afghanistan. The minor difference is that in Iraq, the state government was termed as a potential threat for terrorism acts, while in Afghanistan the ruling regime of Taliban was held responsible for terrorism acts which were already committed. The objective of the invasion was to eliminating allies of who aid and protect terrorists, finances them, and provides a refuge for various terrorist groups (Murray and Scales, 2003). Iraqi government was termed as being associated with Palestinian terrorist while Taliban were considered an ally of Al Qaeda. Since, Al Qaeda was considered to be a direct perpetrator of crimes against United States, the organization was much more critical for United States of America. Even though, Afghanistan’s government was given a choice to turn over leader of the terrorist organization to United States, the war on Iraq was not very conditional (Cordesman, 2003). Only some anecdotal evidence linking Iraq to Al-Qaeda could be found by US intelligence agencies and there were no concrete traces of the intervention in Iraq in the preparation or implementation of the September 11 attacks.  Accusations of US Imperialism the key resemblance between the two wars are the accusations pertaining to US imperialism for the two wars. For both Iraq and Afghanistan wars, it is alleged that political objectives of US were to install a democratic regime that will serve U.S. interests and that would be a threat to several neighboring Islamic regimes. Following the terrorist threats, which were expressed with the attacks on World Trade Center, and the outbreak of the war against terrorism (Iraq and Afghanistan), it is mentioned that the two wars have allowed the US administration of the time to become a bulwark against terrorism in view of million Americans and had allowed the unprecedented deployment of American military power (Medler, 2005). Another ulterior objective of the two wars is asserted to enhance the image of the then US government as a patriot and defender of the nation. Economic Objectives Perhaps the single most important commonality between the two wars are speculations pertaining to economic and imperialistic objectives of these wars. It is asserted that both wars allowed many U.S. companies which were close to the US administration – such as Bechtel and Halliburton – to profit from oil and other natural resources of these countries. The difference between the two wars lies in economic costs of these wars for the US economy. The operations in Afghanistan had a cost in total of 124.1 billion dollars (Jo, Shim and Jung, 2008). On the other hand, the cost for Iraq War as revealed by the Department of Defense has a cost to the nation of $ 808 billion from its beginning to completion. Outcomes of the Wars The two wars also differ in terms of the outcome. The war in Iraq came to a close when U.S. President Barack Obama announced the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq. In contrast, the number of soldiers in Afghanistan is increased during the same time. While the operation in Iraq is termed as the one which has reached completion, the war in Afghanistan is ongoing and has intensified since Nov 2011 (Gunduz, 2007). United States have been quite incapable of stabilizing the situation and establishing a strong state in Iraq. Army and police force are incapable of maintaining order in the country, while being dedicated to U.S. interests. In a country which was ravaged by unemployment Americans army had fueled a guerrilla war. The outcome of the war was that American leaders chose to rely on community militias, linked to a particular faith. They started in Kurdistan, where they promoted the establishment of a veritable army Kurdish especially able to maintain order in northern Iraq that enjoys the consensus of the majority of the Kurdish population in this region. Then they relied on community militias in other parts of the country. This is one aspect of chaos which was an aftermath of US intervention. The clashes between Iraqis, especially between Sunni and Shiite militias cost daily dozens of lives in suicide bombings, assassinations and punitive raids (Rubin, 2000). Under the regime of Saddam Hussein, who was one of the most secular of the Arab world, the different communities were still relatively mixed, many families were mixed. In fact, neighborhoods, cities, regions are now dominated by these militias led by warlords who truly obey themselves really well. This choice of relying on militias community carries with it the logic of ethnic cleansing and thus the partition of Iraq. The foreseen outcome of Iraqi War is, hence, a division of Iraq among various ethnicities. On the other hand, the outcome of war in Afghanistan has been tragic in different manners. Afghanistan is now under the control of various warlords who has divided the country, since the control of Karzai government is almost non-existent. Corruption and mismanagement of this government, the brutality of the occupation troops, blunt bombardment, and increase in poverty in many areas have strengthened Taliban who embody the national resistance to foreign occupation (Fiscus, 2004). In several ways, the war strengthened the force which it had started out to eradicate. They now count tens of thousands of fighters control part of the south and east. What was originally presented as a brief intervention has become a real occupation, with a deadly war. The current system has put imperialism in place. Outside the capital, the country is under the control of various brutal feudal warlords who raise taxes and do not obey the central government. At the option of alliances and ruptures, these feudal times are built right into the state apparatus and appointed governors (Girardet, 1985). Opium production has returned to a high level and it provides local warlords with significant financial resources. Reconstruction promised by imperialist forces of US has fell by the wayside. Women for whom imperialism had promised emancipation are now in a similar situation in which they were during Taliban’s regime. Conclusion The paper evaluated two recent imperialistic wars of Afghanistan and Iraq. It is concluded that there are various similarities and differences between the two wars. The declared political objectives of United States in both the wars were to establish as quickly as possible a transition government that would designate the people in a democratic government representative of all communities within these countries. It is found that the war in Iraq came to a close when U.S. President Barack Obama announced the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq. In contrast, the number of soldiers in Afghanistan is increased during the same time. References Cockburn, A. and Clair, J. (2004) Imperial Crusades: Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia : A Diary of Three Wars, New York: Donnelley & Sons. Cordesman, A. (2003) The Iraq War: Strategy, Tactics, and Military Lessons, Washington: Centre for Strategic Studies. Fiscus, J. (2004) America's War in Afghanistan, New York: Rosen Publishing Group. Girardet, E. (1985) Afghanistan: The Soviet War, Australia: Helm Limited. Goodson, L. (2001) Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure and Regional Politics, Washington: University of Washington Press. Gunduz, G. (2007) 'Dynamics of the world terror and the war in Iraq', Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 579-595. Israeli, R. (2004) The Iraq WAR: Hidden Agendas and Babylonian Intrigue, New Jersey: Brighton. Jo, S., Shim, S. and Jung, J. (2008) 'Propaganda or public relations campaign? International communication on the war against Iraq', Public Relations Review, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 63-65. Medler, J. (2005) 'Afghan Heroin: Terrain, Tradition, and Turmoil', Orbis, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 275-291. Meher, J. (2004) America's Afghanistan War: The Success that Failed, Dehli: Nagar Press. Miller, R. (2003 ) The War on Terrorism: The War in Afghanistan, Ohio: Gale Printing. Murray, M. and Scales, R. (2003) The Iraq War: A Military History, New York: John Wiley & Sons. Nicholson, H. (2004) The Crusades, New Jersey: Greenwood Press. Rubin, B. (2000) 'The Political Economy of War and Peace in Afghanistan', World Development, vol. 28, no. 10, pp. 1789-1803. Williams, P. (2006) 'Projections for the geopolitical economy of oil after war in Iraq ', Futures, vol. 38, no. 9, pp. 1074-1088. Read More