Operation Iraqi Freedom

Brief:

As most of you know, Operation Iraqi Freedom was a military response to Saddam Hussein's refusal to give in to a United States ultimatum. The United States believed that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, claims that later were discovered to be false. The end result of the conflict was that Hussein was ousted from power, captured, and executed. The actual military fighting ending fairly quickly, however after the war's supposed end, an insurgency has complicated development in the country. A power vacuum was left by Saddam's departure and their has been civil war between different sects in the country. The outcome following the war has left Americans wondering whether Iraq is really any better off before we liberated them.

Stats 

United States Fatalities: 4412 (As of July 20th, 2010)

Iraqi Civilian Deaths: 95,082-105,855 (As of July 20th, 2010)

Analysis

The initial cause for the war was wrong. Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. It was only after this that the operation in Iraq became a humanitarian intervention. This change of heart refutes the "altruistic" intentions of the United States. It is unclear what we wanted out of Iraq. Oil? We haven't gotten much. An ally in the Middle East? It will probably take another 25 years before Iraq is a full functioning ally of the United States. Its rather hard to be productive after the United States overthrew the social structure and bombed the country back into the middle ages. 

The carnage during the reign of Saddam Hussein and during American occupation are comparable. It is obvious that Iraqis are not "grateful" for being liberated. Unlike the Persian Gulf War, this war in Iraq made the United States seem like a trigger happy, Muslim hating, killing machine. The war was accompanied by an economic backlash.

The Bottom Line:

This intervention was unnecessary. The government pulled a fast one on the civilians and used the high emotion time of 9/11 to strike a totally unrelated enemy. The only thing this intervention did was cause problems with Muslims and divert efforts from catching Osama Bin Laden.  

Somalia 1992-1994 (Operation Restoring Hope)

Brief:

Other than inspiring one of the goriest movies of all time, Black Hawk Down. The intervention in Somalia and the Battle of Mogadishu changed the way that the United States approached humanitarian interventions. The United States military was involved in Somalia in 1991 and 1992, but at that time the mission had solely been to help the general Somalian population, which was starving. 

When President Clinton came to office in 1993 the situation in Somalia had worsened and a half a million Somalians had either died of war or hunger, and a million more were expected to starve that year. Because of the success of the Gulf War the American public was overconfident in its military ability and was angry at military leaders for not intervening in what seemed to be a quick fix in Somalia. 

Ultimately the United States interfered in an internal Somalian conflict. The regular troops on the ground were not trained well enough to do the extreme peace keeping tasks that they were assigned. In the end, the United States sought to do an operation involving specialist forces in order to capture resistance leader Muhammad Aidid. During the Battle of Mogadishu, an attempt to arrest Aidid went wrong and the warlord's fighters were able to down a low flying Blackhawk helicopter. Customary to military tradition, a rescue team tried to extradite the helicopter's crew when bands of Somali citizens and gangsters attacked them with small arms.

Stats:

Americans Killed: 43

Analysis:

This defeat was humiliating. It deflated the confidence gained by the Persian Gulf War. Unlike the Persian Gulf, the military forces in Somalia were simply a bunch of rebels. The view of the defeat back home was very negative. Essentially, the American public said, "We were just beaten by a bunch of hooligans." 

This is however not the case. The strike against American forces in the Battle of Mogadishu was very well planned. Aidid knew that American soldiers would come for their own so he chose to down the Blackhawk in the middle of his "backyard" full of the warlord's supporters. He knew that the Americans were gathering intelligence about him so he used that to his advantage as well. 

But nevertheless the defeat in Somalia was embarrassing. American bodies were dragged through the street on televisions world wide. No matter how sophisticated or well-armed the Somalians may have been, the common perception still remains that they were a group of unorganized rebels who managed to kill a decent amount of Americans. 

Technically, this intervention was a United Nations affair, but it was the United States' decision to start the Battle of Mogadishu which effectively killed the intervention. Technically, the Somalian suffered more lost at the Battle of Mogadishu-only 18 Americans were killed compared to hundreds of Somalians.  None of the technical things matter because the Somalian warlords were able to best United States Special Ops in the eyes of the rest of the world. 

The Bottom Line:

The Intervention in Somalia was a failure and resulted in rule changing in humanitarian interventions (Presidential Decision Directive 25 of 1994)

Panama 1989

Brief:

The U.S. intervention in Panama in 1989 was essentially over the disobedience of one man, Manuel Antonio Noriega. Noriega was no doubt a bad man. In the past he had been on the C.I.A's payroll while he was providing information about the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. However, Noriega parted ways with the United States, like a stray dog wanders from its owner. He became heavily involved in the drug trade and began to gain power in Panamanian society. He slowly became a behind the scenes dictator through a combination of illegal activities and violence. The murder of Dr, Hugo Spadafora essentially left power to Noriega unchallenged. 

Though a full scale invasion of Panama was undesired the United States was left no choice as Noriega refused to give up power. The United States charged Noriega in the United States on drug charges and Noriega was not about to leave his throne in Panama to face those charges in the United States. 

One of the main concerns in the Panamanian invasion was the concern for the approximately thirty-four thousand American citizens in Panama. The United States and then President Bush were afraid that the Anti-American rhetoric used by Noriega would incite violence against these students. This idea was furthered by the fact that leading up to the intervention, harassment toward American citizens had exponentially increased. 

Stats:

American Special Forces Killed 11

American Special Forces Deployed 4,150

American Soldiers Killed: 23 

American Soldiers Deployed 23,000

American Civilians Killed 3

Panamanian Troops killed: 314

Panamanian Civilians Killed 300

Analysis

This military action was well planned and well executed. The strike was quick and efficient as the casualities were relatively low on both sides of the field. The reason for the intervention was suspicious because Noriega was once on the C.I.A. payroll, however the rouge Noriega was no longer helping the United States but hurting it making him disposable. 

All of the objectives of the mission ousting Noriega, protecting American citizens, and restoring American military prominence were accomplished in this mission. 

The Bottom Line:

This was a good intervention. It boosted the image of the American military both domestically and abroad. It was effective and the government, despite having shaky motives, was able to convince the public that the intervention was for the best. 

Iranian Hostage Crisis 1979-1981

Brief:

A consequence of the earlier overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh. During the Iranian Revolution during which the American backed Shah of Iran was ousted about 300-500 students overran the American embassy in Tehran taking citizens and diplomats inside hostage. Originally 66 hostages were taken, but after releasing women and African Americans, only 55 hostages were left. The people were angry that the oppressive shah was able to receive asylum in the United States, where he had come for medical treatment. 

The most well known things about this crisis is Jimmy Carter's failure to retrieve the hostages. After trying and failing to get the hostages out through diplomacy, they resulted to a hastily planned military extraction attempt called Eagle Claw. Eagle Claw was hastily planned and a military disaster. Tehran, which is in the middle of the desert was harder to reach than expected and there was difficulty in helicopter communication and navigation resulting in the destruction of a few of the helicopters. The Iranians later paraded this military failure on television providing a great deal of embarrassment to the United States. 

Jimmy Carter's presidency may have ultimately ended because of his failure to end the hostage situation. In what is speculated to have been an arrangement by the Reagan Administration, the hostages were released a few hours after Carter's departure from office.

Analysis:

Something had to be done to get the men out of Tehran, but Eagle Claw was not the right answer. More research should have been done before the operation was carried out. The embarrassment to the United States military was beginning to pile on and it created more of the a need for the United States to "prove its mettle." 

The fact is that this situation was entirely of the United States's own making. The fact is that if the United States had not overthrown Mohammed Mossadegh, then this whole situation could have been avoided. 

Bottom Line:

Though it was a bad situation, it would have been worse if the hostages had died. The government did what it thought it had to do but it failed. If allegations of Reagan making a deal with the Iranians not to release the hostages until after Carter left office are true, that is despicable. 

U.S.S. Mayaguez Incident 1975

Brief:

This incident was the first military action after Vietnam. The U.S.S. Mayaguez was overtaken my a group of Khmer Rouge militants of Cambodia. The 39 man crew of the ship was taking hostage. After an unsuccessful attempt at diplomacy, then President Gerald Ford ordered that military action be taken. The rescue attempt was quickly planned. It was reported that the Khmer Rouge had taken the crew to the island of Koh Tang and for this reason the military invaded the island. Unfortunately the military underestimated the military capabilities of the Khmer Rouge and the extent of the islands defenses. The Khmer Rouge barraged the helicopters that were dropping troop off on the island with heavy caliber machine gun fire, mortars, and rocket propelled grenades from hard to target bunkered positions. Multiple helicopters were shot down and more were seriously damaged, throwing a wrench the Americans' plan to overtake the island.

Meanwhile, American troops took back the U.S.S. Mayaguez but to their surprise the crew was not present. However the crew was later released by the Khmer Rouge unharmed. It is believed that Khmer Rouge compliance was a result of American bombing of the Cambodian mainland.

Stats :

Number of Crewman Captured: 39

Number of Americans Killed: 41 (Three of which were initially reported missing, but after a Department of Defense Investigation were ruled to be dead.)

Number of Americans Wounded: 50

Analysis:

The first attempt to redeem the credibility of the United States military post-Vietnam was another failure. Hasty planning and faulty intelligence resulted in the deaths of 41 men and the maiming of 50 others. In addition, a great deal of money was lost with the damage done to the helicopters. It is one thing to simply die in battle, but it is different if you die in battle because you were sent into a death trap by your superiors. That's what Koh Tang was to those troops- a death trap. 

The helicopter crews were totally unaware of the capablities of the enemy and for this reason the mortars, RPG's, and machine guns of the enemy were able to wreck havoc as the troops tried to land on the island.

Unlike many U.S. interventions there was a valid reason to strike. However, a tell tale sign of a failure is when more rescuers die than hostage are held captive. It's like watching Saving Private Ryan all over again. The best course of action here would have been an extended attempt at diplomacy. The window for diplomatic action was too short. 

Many considered that attacking mainland Cambodia was too harsh a punishment for the actions of a few pirates, I disagree. The Khmer Rouge was completely aware of the actions of some of its patrol boats and they should have been held responsible. The attacks were not done on civilian targets, but on military targets.

The Bottom Line:

The U.S.S. Mayaguez rescue attempt had good intentions, but it was performed with faulty intelligence. I doubt that President Ford would have delayed military action had he known the fierceness of the ensuing firefight. The failure of the invasion Koh Tang only threw salt on the wound of the failure in Vietnam.  

Iran 1953

Brief:

The United States organized the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammed Mossadegh. He became disposable after he tried to nationalize Iranian oil companies.  This was supposedly a covert mission; however, the United States's fingerprints were all over this coup. 

Analysis:

This was a failure. The United States sloppily tried to eliminate Mossadegh without thinking of the consequences. In this case the consequences were dire. The shah of Iran who retook power after Mossadegh was oust was extremely oppressive and turned the Iranians against the United States. The move to overthrow Mossadegh was selfish and it appeared that way to other countries in the reason. In the long run, the negative effects of Iranian non-compliance far outweigh the less than a quarter of a century oil benefits enjoyed by ousting Mossadegh. 

The Bottom Line:

A overall terrible decision. The risks far outnumbered the benefits. The fact that this covert mission was obviously a United States plot did not help either. The United States still must face the repercussions of its actions in this coup today. The current Iranian government carries a direct link to animosity toward the United States after this coup. For this and other reason this piece of foreign military policy was a...

Failure

Iran 1953

Brief:

The United States organized the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammed Mossadegh. He became disposable after he tried to nationalize Iranian oil companies.  This was supposedly a covert mission; however, the United States's fingerprints were all over this coup. 

Analysis:

This was a failure. The United States sloppily tried to eliminate Mossadegh without thinking of the consequences. In this case the consequences were dire. The shah of Iran who retook power after Mossadegh was oust was extremely oppressive and turned the Iranians against the United States. The move to overthrow Mossadegh was selfish and it appeared that way to other countries in the reason. In the long run, the negative effects of Iranian non-compliance far outweigh the less than a quarter of a century oil benefits enjoyed by ousting Mossadegh. 

The Bottom Line:

A overall terrible decision. The risks far outnumbered the benefits. The fact that this covert mission was obviously a United States plot did not help either. The United States still must face the repercussions of its actions in this coup today. The current Iranian government carries a direct link to animosity toward the United States after this coup. For this and other reason this piece of foreign military policy was a...

Failure