Two Wars on Terror: Iraq and Afghanistan

Afghanistan War

War in Afghanistan was started in 2001 and still is going on in present day. The war refers to the intervention of Afghan Civil War by the United States and its allies. The war was started following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 to dismantle Al-Qaeda and to bring down the Taliban in Afghanistan.

A political cartoon about the war in Afghanistan that has been going on for over 12 years now. 

Iraq War

The Iraq War was an armed conflict in Iraq that consisted of two phases. The first was an invasions Ba'athist Iraq on March 20, 2003 by an invasion force led by the United States. It was followed by a longer phase of fighting which ended with the newly formed Iraqi government and the United States pulling troops on December 2011. 

President Bush argued that the vulnerability of the United States follow September 11, 2001, combined with Iraq's alleged continued possession and manufacture of weapons of mass destruction and its support for terrorist groups, made disarming Iraq a main priority of the United States. 

This is a picture of a solider watching while the statue of Saddam is being brought down from it post and destroyed. 

President George W. Bush: War on Terror

The phrase "War on Terror" was first used by President George W. Bush on September 20, 2001. President Bush and other media outlets have since used the term to signify a global military, political, lawful, and conceptual struggle targeting both terrorist and regimes. 

When the Afghan Taliban regime was not forthcoming with Osama bin Laden. President Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime. Because of this man we are still fighting an ongoing war on terror.

The speech where President Bush first used the term "War on Terror". 

War on Terror: 2001- Present Day

The War on Terror or the Global War on Terrorism is a term that is commonly applied to the international military campaign which started after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States of America. This resulted in an international military campaign to eliminate Al-Qaeda and other militant organizations.

Picture of Uncle Sam telling you he wanted you to support the War on Terror that the United States has been fighting since September 11, 2001 attacks. 

The Korean War: The Forgotten War

The Korean War took place at the beginning of the Cold War.  The war was mainly between North Korea and South Korea.  After World War 2 Korea was divided along the 38th parallel with the U.S. in the South and the Soviets in the North. So naturally the North took up communism leading to many problems in Korea.  Eventually North Korea would invade the South leading to the Korean War.  During the Korean war President Truman ordered General MacArthur to use "any force necessary" to aid the South Koreans all to help the larger picture of preventing the Soviets from spreading communism.  At one point the U.S. had sent over to Korea about five million soldiers.  As the war went on, more countries such as China entered the war.  Eventually the war came to and end due to the armistice agreement that restored the border between North and South Korea.  To this day there is still some conflict between the two, but the Korean War just opened up the Cold War for The United States and the Soviets.  The Korean War is often referred to as the forgotten war due to the fact that it took place between two bigger wars: World War 2 & The Vietnam War.

Douglas MacArthur

Commander and Chief of the Far East

One can not talk about great American military leaders without mentioning the great Douglas MacArthur.  MacArthur did not only play a significant role during the Korean war but he also did during World War 2.  MacArthur was one of the most powerful in the world during his time.  During World War 2 he was actually the supreme commander of Japan after Japan surrendered.  In the Korean War MacArthur led all American troops.  MacArthur had everything going for him including a genius plan to win America the war.  However, the Chinese surprised MacArthur causing the U.S. to briefly retreat.  This lead to the fall of Douglas MacArthur, after the retreat MacArthur wanted to launch a full scale attack in response.  President Truman strongly disagreed and ended up relieving MacArthur of his duties.  

Farewell speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuagi9kZe8A

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States. He led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II. His legislative program, the New Deal, greatly expanded the role of the federal government in American society. FDR was able to get the United States back on it's feet after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He nearly achieved victory in Europe and the Pacific by the time he passed away of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12th, 1945. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had possibly the most challenging terms in history and successfully led the country through its greatest economic crisis, and its second greatest military crisis.

World War II: The Pacific

The Pacific War began on December 7th 1941, when the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed Pearl Harbor in the United states. This attack occurred at approximately 7:48 A.M. Hawaiian time. The strike was intended to prevent the United States Pacific fleet from interfering with Japan's plan to attack Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States. The attack involved 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes. All of the eight United States Navy battleships were damaged, four of those were sunk. The also destroyed three cruiser ships, three destroyers, a training ship and 188 planes. The attack resulted in 2,402 Americans killed and 1,282 wounded. Franklin D. Roosevelt, president at the time, declared December 7th, 1941 as "a date which will live in infamy" and announced the start of the Pacific War.

The Pacific War was fought in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean. Some of the important and final battles of the war were the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa. Iwo Jima occurred in February of 1945. Iwo Jima is an island between Tokyo and the Mariana Islands. During most of February and March 1945 the Americans pushed north and had taken two-thirds of the island. Finally on March 26th, the battle had ended. 6,800 Marines were killed and 20,000 were wounded. The Japanese lost well over 20,000 men and 1,083 prisoners were taken.

The largest and bloodiest battle of the Pacific was the Battle of Okinawa. It lasted from April to June of 1945. It resulted in over 100,000 Japanese casualties and about 38,000 allies wounded and 12,000 killed. There were more than 26,000 non-battle casualties. Thirty-four allied ships had been sunk by kamikazes. Okinawa was the last chance for the Japanese and it resulted in an allied victory. On August 6, 1945 the  atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan and on August 9th, 1945 the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. On August 14, 1945 the Japanese agreed to an unconditional surrender and the war finally ended on September 2, 1945.

World War II: Nazi Germany

The Second World War was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in military units from over 30 different countries. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and declared the Nazi Party to be Germany's only political party. In 1934, Adolf Hitler declared himself leader of Germany and violated the Treaty of Versailles. He stripped the Jews of their rights by creating the Nuremberg Race Laws.
The first two laws of the Nuremberg Race Laws were: "The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor" and "The Reich Citizenship Law".

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and ultimately started the Second World War. The same year that Germany invaded Poland, Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declared war against Germany. On September 27, 1939, Warsaw (the capital of Poland) surrendered to the German Army. This sight became famously known as the Warsaw Ghetto. The German Army constructed a wall that closed out Warsaw from other cities on April 1st, 1940 and closed the ghetto to the outside world on November 16th of that year. The total deaths from 1940-1943 was 300,000 Polish Jews.

By 1943, Germany had invaded about 12 countries. The United States had cut off all trade between Germany and Italy during this time and had managed to stay out of the war until 1941. Adolf Hitler declared war against the United States on December 8th 1941, one day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii which put the United States in the direct middle of the war.

D Day: The Invasion of Normandy
June 6th, 1944

The Vietnam War: The Longest War in U.S. History

The Vietnam War escalated too a point the United States would never have imagined.  The war was between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam(North Vietnam) with the Viet Cong and the Republic of Vietnam(South Vietnam) with help from the United States.  This war took place around 1945 and ended in 1975 lasting 30 years making it the longest war in U.S. history.  The war also helped fuel the Cold War that was going on due to the fact that the U.S. and Soviets aided opposing sides of Vietnam.  Ho Chi Minh led the North by sending the Viet Cong to use it's guerrilla warfare tactics against the South to try and make the entire country communist.  This lead to the United States eventually sending troops in to help stop the spread of communism.  The war escalated to a point the U.S. thought it never would, leading to President Johnson actually decided not to run to be reelected.  When President Nixon was elected he decided that the U.S. wanted to let Vietnam work out their own problems due to the large amount of causalities they were taken on.  Thus the U.S. began to recall their troops, and on January 27, 1974 a peace treaty was reached only to be broken within the year.  However, after the U.S. had left, the North invaded again and ended up capturing Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam at the time; this lead to the unification of Vietnam in the year on April 30, 1975.

Casualties of the War

One of the major reasons for the recall of U.S. troops was the large amount of casualties in the war.  In fact the U.S. had about 58,000 casualties.  While the South Vietnam who lost the war had about 230,000 casualties.  While North Vietnam did conquer South Vietnam in the war they did pay the price of having around 1,000,000 causalities.  

Ho Chi Minh

Leader of the North Vietnamese during Vietnam War

Ho Chi Minh is the creating of the Vietminh, which was created to help free Vietnam from the French. The Vietminh were experts in guerrilla warfare.  Ho Chi Minh also created the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945.  Ho Chi Minh led the North against South Vietnam and the United States, having complete control over most of Vietnam the entire time no matter what happened.  

Lyndon B. Johnson: President During The Vietnam War

Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th President of the United States

Johnson was the Vice President to President John F. Kennedy until Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.  Around the time of Kennedy's death was when the Vietnam War started to escalate.  Johnson refused to send troops to aid South Vietnam against the war because he felt that it would hurt is chances of winning the upcoming election.  After Johnson had won the election he wasted no time and sent troops to Vietnam to aid Southern Vietnam.  Nobody expected what was going on in Vietnam to escalate as much as it did especially Johnson, thus as the war got worse for the U.S. Johnson decided not to run for reelection in 1968.

Components of the Just War Theory

Just ad bellum includes:

1. Just Cause for a nation to to go war is to deter aggression, alleviate problems, and promote peace with other countries.
2. Competent Authority is the authorization by government and military officials to go to war. 
3. Right Intention includes diminishing problems so turmoil can be resolved and peace can thrive.
4. Last Resort - War itself is the last resort for problem solving. It comes after negotiating and reasoning with the enemy.
5. Limited Objective is to to go war in order to complete tasks that will ensure safety of individuals residing in that country. It must solve problems that provoked war in the first place. Anything else would be beyond the objective.
6. Reasonable Amount of Success means that if a country is going to war, then they better have high chances of winning the war and destroy all of the issues that started the confrontation. 

Just in bello includes:

1. Discrimination is defined as military forces must be applied only against the political leadership and military forces of the State. Civilians should not be harmed. 
2. Proportionality is explained as the damage at the end of the war should only be resent in areas in which fighting took place. In order for the war to be just, armies cannot harm buildings such as hospitals. 

The Gulf War: Just or Unjust?

What is the Just War Theory?

Through the centuries Christian thinkers have taken different positions on the controversial subject of war. Three broad theories concerning the morality of war for the Christian can be identified: activism, pacifism, and selectivism. Activism asserts that it is virtually always right to participate in war. Strict pacifism insists that it is never morally right to partake in war. Selectivism argues that it is sometimes right to take part in war.

Just war theory is a type of selectivism contending that while war is always tragic and often evil, it is sometimes morally right, just, and practically necessary. Some leading Christian advocates of just war theory have included Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), and Francisco Suarez (1548-1617). Just war theory involves two main moral categories of evaluation.

1. Jus ad bellum (Justness of War)
   Concerning the moral justness of waging war, a just war must conform to the following moral considerations
2. Jus in bello (Justice in war)
   Concerning the conduct of war, strategy and tactics must be just:
   Just war theory has been criticized for various reasons through the years (e.g., by failing to appreciate the benefits of a preemptive strike, being unrealistic in its moral expectations, being practically unworkable), yet it nevertheless remains the most commonly accepted position among Christian thinkers when it comes to evaluating the moral considerations of waging war.

Taiping Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion was a large-scale revolt against the authority and forces of the Qing Empire in China, conducted by an army and civil administration inspired by Hakka self-proclaimed mystics named Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing . Hong was an unorthodox Christian convert who declared himself the new Messiah and younger brother of Jesus Christ. Yang Xiuqing was a former salesman of firewood in Guangxi, who was frequently able to act as a mouthpiece of God to direct the people and gain himself a large amount of political power. Hong, Yang and their followers established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (... and officially, Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace) and attained control of significant parts of southern China.

Taiping Rebels

The Taiping Rebellion of 1850-1864 killed at least 20 million people and devastated southern China, but a more disturbing facet of the rebellion for the Imperial Chinese government was that they required considerable military assistance from Western powers to eventually suppress it, the Chinese Imperial Army (perhaps as many as 5 million + men) being insufficient by itself to get the job done.The Ever Victorious Army, trained and officered by Europeans and armed with modern weapons and active from 1860 was the decisive force in eventual victory.

The Taiping rebellion showed that the Imperial govenment was incapable of keeping control in its own country without foreign military aid - someone not lost on foreign governments.

Woodrow Wilson: 28th President of the United States

On April 2nd, 1917, Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany after they used undeclared submarine warfare against the United States. On April 6th, 1917 the United States joined the Allied powers of the War.
After the war had ended, Woodrow Wilson was one of the three most important politicians to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

More on Woodrow Wilson

World War I: The Great War

This war was known as the "Great War" not just because of the millions of people involved and affected by it, but because of it's size. It was a huge war, involving a large number of nations and armies, including five empires with their associated colonies and states. 
World War I was a military conflict lasting from 1914 to 1918. One of the major causes of this war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by a Serbian nationalist in 1914. This war involved and focused on two opposing powers. The Allied powers, which consisted of Great Britian, France, Russia, Italy and eventually, The United States versus The Central Powers, which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. 
Trench warfare, as well as machine weapons, tanks, and chemical warfare was introduced during this war. 
This war had been known as, "The War to End All Wars." The war officially ended in November 11th, 1918 with the signing of an armistice between Germany and the Allied powers. The outcome of the war resulted in the fall of Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Turkey. The Treaty of Versailles, known to be the final end to the war, was signed on June 28th, 1918.
8 million troops died.
21 million troops were wounded.
Over 200,000 men died in the trenches during the war.

More on World War I

George Washington: First American President

George Washington was the first President of the United States, the commander-in-cheif of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. He presided over the convention that drafted the Constitution, and established the position of President.

He was elected President as the unanimous choice of the 69 elections and served two terms in office. He oversaw the creation of a strong, well-financed national government that maintained neutrality in the wars raging Europe, suppressed rebellion, and won acceptance among Americans of all types.

He is the one of the reasons we stand today and can proudly say that I am an American and my country was founded on principals.

This is a picture of George Washington crossing the Delaware River. The event took place on December 25-26 1778. Was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey. They defeated British reinforcements at Trenton on January 2, 1777. 

American Revolution:1775-1783

The American Revolution was a political upheaval during 1775-1783 in which the 13 colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire. The American Revolution ended over 2 centuries of British rule for most of North America. Out of the American Revolution the United States of American was born from the 13 original colonies.

This is an image of the burning of stamps in Boston. The image takes place on August of 1765. This was in rebellion against the Stamp Act 1765.

The American Revolution was the result of a series of social, political and intellectual transformations in American society, government and ways of thinking.