United States Military Technologies in Iraq and Afghanistan - Essay Example

The war in Afghanistan is one of the major United States military offensives aimed at destroying the terrorists’ hideouts that had inflicted heavy damage on American interests around the globe. Iraq war was launched to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein accused by the government of possessing weapons of mass destruction with intention of using them to spread terror. Both wars were executed with highly sophisticated weapons that allowed the United States forces to demolish the enemy defenses with high-precision aerial weaponry at an unprecedented rate. The quick demolition and annihilation of strategic enemy areas enabled the subsequent entrance of the ground forces into the countries to finish off the remaining resistance (DOD, 2007).

 According to Anne(2004,p15), the execution of both wars heralded a new era of military tactics, which heavily relied on technologically enhanced devices in carrying out both aerial and ground combat. This strategy was more precise, and faster, and resulted in a lower number of military and civilian casualties. DOD (2007) noted that the war strategy in both wars was the culmination of coordination of high-technology military hardware with enhanced communication devices that enabled them to strike with pinpoint precision. 

The war in Afghanistan witnessed the first application of robots that were used to carry out surveillance, clearance of mines, identification of targets, and rescue soldiers. The robots included Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) that undertook the aforementioned tasks without carrying human operators in them (David, 2005, p27). These robots helped in protecting soldiers from enemy attacks. According to David (2005, p 28), advanced technology has produced better robots that are equipped with high-precision equipment and artillery to strike the detected target.  The 2003 war in Iraq saw a combination of precision weapons, exemplary surveillance of the targeted enemy grounds, and swift ground combatants aided by a highly advanced communication network that enabled monitoring of distant operations from a remote region (DOD, 2007).

Though the application of advanced military technology enabled quicker executions of the mission, the war dragged on for many years, resulting in a heavy economic and human loss. According to DOD (2007), the number of United States troops killed in both Iraq and Afghanistan exceeds those killed in actual combat at the beginning of the war. Anne (2004, p31) notes that the threat of improvised explosive devices or roadside bombs continues to inflict damage on American forces. According to DOD (2007), the explosive devices have killed over 2000 American soldiers in Iraq, while more than 21,000 have suffered debilitating injuries that have effectively compromised their physical and psychological performance for life. In Afghanistan, the improvised explosive devices have claimed the lives of over 250 American soldiers, with over 1,700 suffering serious injuries (DOD, 2007).  

Anne (2004, p21) notes that explosive devices are the highest killer of the Allied forces in both countries and they have greatly undermined the efforts achieved by the application of advanced military technology. However, continuous innovation in the American military has produced mine-resistant ambush–protected all-terrain vehicle(M-ATVs) that offers better protection from roadside bombs than the heavier mine-resistant- ambush-protected vehicles(MRAPs) (DOD, 2007). Advance in communication technology has also resulted in better execution of military missions in Afghanistan. According to Cooper (2006, p10) forces in Afghanistan used obsolete radios and communication networks that needed line-of-sight communication. This mode of communication proved very ineffective and costly in the highly mountainous Afghanistan terrain. Modern technology has enhanced communication through tactical satellites and more effective innovations such as the voice over internet protocol (VoIP), and video conferencing that have enhanced better coordination of operations from distant regions in the country and beyond (David, 2005, p30).

The advanced military applications were largely successful in the initial stages of both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, after the toppling of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein in Afghanistan and Iraq respectively, a resurgence by rebels in both countries occurred resulting in heavy losses of American lives. Though the application of improvised explosive devices by the rebels has been singled out as the cause of most deaths, Anne (2004, p24), argues that heavy reliance on technology by American forces has contributed to worsening the security situation in both countries. According to Cooper (2006, p 11), the perceived superiority of the American military has resulted in the isolation of local people from participating in enforcing security in the country. In this regard, the American forces have become socially isolated and this makes it difficult to collect intelligence information from the ground where most insurgents operate in collaboration with the local people. This has resulted in the formation of secretive movements of radicals that almost caused a civil war in Afghanistan last year.