Chronology of Events: Operation Iraqi Freedom

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Comment and Chronology of Western Involvement in the Middle East

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Annex A: Understanding History and War. Discussion, Study, and Examination Questions:

  1. What is history? Define history. What is the historian’s task? What is historiography? Is history a science? Is history an art? Explain. Delineate the major problems in writing history. What does an understanding of history and historiography tell us about humanity about ourselves? Who are the authors of the books used in this class? Given their backgrounds what problems might they have in writing an accurate narrative of, and explanation for specific events?
  2. What is war? What are the causes of war? Is man by nature warlike? Is it possible to end war? What is Hobbes’ thesis on human nature? Do you agree or disagree with his thesis? What is Rousseau’s thesis on human nature? Do you agree or disagree with his thesis? (See handout: “The Causes of War,” by Adrian R. Lewis)
  3. Who was Carl von Clausewitz? Delineate the five tenets of Clausewitz. Explain his concept of the total and limited war? World War II was the most total war in human history. Why? Explain Clausewitz’ thesis of the “remarkable trinity.” According to Clausewitz how do you win a war? Explain Clausewitz’ thesis on “friction,” “the center of gravity,” and the “culmination point.” Explain Clausewitz analytical tool on the levels of war.
  4. What is policy? What are political objectives? How are political objectives determined? What is strategy? How is strategy developed? What are the connections between policy and political objectives, political objectives and strategy?
  5. What is doctrine? What is the relationship between technology and doctrine? What were the most significant technological and doctrinal developments in the conduct of war in the twentieth century? How does doctrine influence strategy?
  6. Trace the evolution of military technology from the Civil War to World War II. Using technology explain the outcome of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. How did technological developments influence the conduct and outcome of each war?
  7. How did the relationship between technology and doctrine change after World War II? Why?
  8. What are “Joint Operations?” What are “Combined Operations?” Delineate the problems involved in conducting joint and combined operations. What is the Goldwater-Nichols Act? Why was it developed? What is the “Whole of Government” approach to war?
  9. Who was the father of modern strategic bombing doctrine? What exactly was his thesis on the role of the bomber in modern warfare? How did the British, Americans incorporate air war doctrine into their practices of war? Why did the British and Americans adopt strategic bombing doctrine, and why did the Germans, French, Italians, Russians, and Japanese fail to adopt it? Which air doctrine was most effective, the British or American? Why?
  10. Who was the father of modern naval warfare doctrine? What was thesis on naval power? Is it still valid today? If so, why? If not, why?
  11. Who are John Shy and Russell Weigley? What are their theses on the American way of war? Characterize and describe the traditional American Way of War. How did the American way of war influence the U.S. conduct in the post-World War II period?
  12. What is a state? What is a nation? Can a state fight total war? Can a nation fight total war? Explain. Consider Clausewitz’s “remarkable trinity.”
  13. What resources are required to achieve "superpower" status? What makes the United States a superpower? What made the Soviet Union a superpower?
  14. Civilian control of the military is a major tenet of the American, constitutional democracy. How did the founding fathers seek to insure civilian control of the armed forces? Are the measures they put into place still operative today? What changes have taken place to strengthen the system of civilian control? What are the repercussions of these changes? Does the system impede the ability of the United States to successfully fight war?
  15. What is the thesis in The American Culture of War? That is the argument the author seeks to advance? What is his methodology? How does he go about making his argument? Why use this approach? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this approach? What evidence is used to support the thesis advanced? Are you satisfied with the evidence presented? What other evidence do you think is necessary, if any? Do you agree or disagree with the thesis? Explain your answer. What are the implications of this argument? Why does it matter?

Identify and State the Significance of the Following Terms:

  • Strategy
  • Doctrine
  • Policy
  • Generalship
  • Combat Power
  • Center of Gravity
  • Joint Operations
  • Combined Operations
  • The American Way of War
  • The levels of War
  • Command of the Air
  • “The Iron Triangle”
  • The National Security Act of 1947 and Amendment of 1949
  • The National Command Structure National Strategy
  • National Military Strategy
  • The National Security Council
  • President of the United States
  • Congress of the United States
  • Secretary of State
  • Secretary of Defense
  • The Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • Carl von Clausewitz
  • Alfred Thayer Mahan
  • Giulio Douhet
  • The Influence of Sea Power Upon History On War
  • The Military Industrial Complex
  • CIA
  • The Trinity of War
  • Limited War and Total War

Annex B: Persian Gulf War I, Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Discussion, Study, and Examination Questions:

  1. What were the political objectives of the George H. W. Bush Administration in Operation Desert Storm? What were the political objectives of the American people in Operation Desert Storm? Did we achieve our political objectives? Explain your answer.
  2. Explain the outcome of the Persian Gulf War? Explain victory. Why did the coalition led by the Bush Administration succeed in defeating the Armed Forces of Saddam Hussein? What service, the Army or the Air Force, was most decisive in determining the outcome of Operation Desert Storm? Delineate the argument advanced by the Air Force. Delineate the argument advanced by the Army? Which service do you believe provides the best explanation?
  3. Why did Saddam Hussein invade Kuwait? What were his political objectives? Did he have the approval of the Bush Administration to pursue those objectives? What was the policy of the United States regarding the Middle East, and specifically Iraq? Did American foreign policy makers miscalculate in their dealings with Saddam Hussein? If so, how and why?
  4. What was the status of the U.S. Army on the eve of Operation Desert Storm? Discuss technology, doctrine, capabilities and morale. What was the status of the U.S. Air Force on the eve of Operation Desert Storm? Discuss technology, doctrine, capabilities, and morale. Did “Jointness” prevail? If so, how and why? If not, why not and how did it fail?
  5. Who is Robert Scales? How does he explain the outcome of Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm? Who is Richard Hallion? How does he explain the outcome of Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm?
  6. What were the objectives of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986? Delineate the problems the Act was designed to fix. Did the Act achieve its objectives? Explain.
  7. Divide the Persian Gulf War into phases. Explain the transitions from one phase to the next. Did the operational plan follow the intent of General Schwarzkopf? Did the operational plan achieve the political objectives of the United States? If so, how? If not, why?
  8. How did geography and terrain influence the plan and conduct of the war? Analyze the geography and terrain from the operational and strategic perspective. Consider the positions of the G1, Personnel Officer, G2 Intelligence Officer, G3 Operations Officer, G4 Logistics Officer, and G5 Civilian Affairs Officer.
  9. Describe the relationship between the media and military in the wake of the Vietnam War. How did the nature of that relationship influence the media coverage of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm? Did the media perform its primary function for the American people in the Persian Gulf War? If not, why? If so, how?
  10. Describe and characterize the Coalition formed by President Bush to fight the war in Iraq. How effective was the Coalition? In what ways was it unique? How did the Coalition place restraints on American actions? Who paid for the war?
  11. Explain the transformation of the Armed Forces of the United States from defeat in 1973 to victory in 1991? Why were the Armed Forces of the United States so effective in Operation Desert Strom destroying the fourth largest army on Earth? Were they decisive? Why? Or, why not?
  12. What did the war achieve? What were the military lessons of the Persian Gulf War? What were the strategic lessons of the war? What were the political lessons of the war? Did we learn the right lessons?
  13. What role did the American people play in the Persian Gulf War? Do the American people have any duties or responsibilities to the nation in artificial limited war? Should they have? Explain. How would the situation of the American people differ in total war?
  14. Who are Michael R. Gordon and Bernard Trainor? How do they explain the outcome of the Persian Gulf War? Delineate their thesis? How does he explain the outcome of the Persian Gulf War? What is the problem they have identified? Can we fix it?

Identify and State the Significance of the Following Terms

  • Saddam Hussein Kuwait
  • F 117
  • Colin Powell
  • H. Norman Schwarzkopf
  • Chuck Horner
  • Buster Glosson
  • Brent Scowcroft
  • VII Corps
  • M 1 Abrams
  • M 2 Bradley
  • Fred Franks
  • Soviet Union
  • Air-Land Battle Doctrine
  • Republican Guard
  • XVIII Airborne Corps
  • Precision Munitions
  • The Air War
  • The Ground War
  • Jointness
  • Goldwater-Nichols Act
  • Barry McCaffrey CENTCOM
  • Dick Cheney
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Desert Shield
  • The Bush Coalition

Annex C: Operation Iraqi Freedom, Discussion, Study, and Examination Questions

  1. Delineate the major arguments for the causes of the war in Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom? Who are the authors of these arguments? Which argument do you believe is most accurate? Why?
  2. What were the political objectives of the George W. Bush Administration in Operation Iraqi Freedom? Did the United States and the “Coalition of the Willing” achieve their political objectives? Explain.
  3. Explain the military outcome of the second Persian Gulf War. Explain military victory and defeat. Why did the Armed Forces of the United States and coalition forces defeat the Armed Forces of Iraq?
  4. What are Weapons of Mass Destruction? Are all WMDs created equally? What makes a WMD a WMD? Is this a useful term for understanding the destructive capabilities of these weapons? If not, why? Were Saddam Hussein’s WMDs a threat to the security of the United States? If so, why and how?
  5. Analyze the geography and terrain of Iraq? How did geography and terrain influence the American operational plan and conduct of the war? What were the major differences between Operation Desert Strom and Operation Iraqi Freedom?
  6. Describe and characterize the armed forces of Saddam Hussein? How were they different from the forces that fought in Operation Desert Storm?
  7. What was Saddam Hussein’s strategy for war against the United States and Coalition forces? What is Iraq, a state, a nation, or a modern nation-state? Why does this matter?
  8. What was Shock and Awe? How did Rumsfeld plan to win the war in Iraq? Who Tommy Franks
  9. Divide Operation Iraqi Freedom into phases based on shifts in strategy and changes in operational doctrine?
  10. What are Phase IV Operations? Explain why they failed? What were the consequences of this failure?
  11. What were the findings of the Iraq Study Group? How did these findings influence U.S. strategy in Iraq?
  12. Who is General David H. Petraeus? What was his strategy and doctrine for the war in Iraq? Was he successful?
  13. What was the Obama Administration strategy for the war in Iraq? What was the reasoning behind this strategy? If our objective is peace and security in the region was this the best approach? What are the pros and cons of the Obama strategy?
  14. The war in Iraq cost the American people over 1 trillion dollars according a report from the Congressional Research Service. Was the war worth it? What was achieved? What was the significance of the second Persian Gulf War? Explain.

Identify and State the Significance of the following terms:

  • Saddam Hussein WMDs
  • Shock and Awe
  • CENTCOM Coalition
  • 3rd ID
  • 4th ID
  • 1st Marine Division
  • V Corps
  • 1MEF
  • Sectarian Division
  • The Sunni Awakening
  • Eric Shinseki
  • USS Abraham Lincoln
  • L. Paul Bremer
  • Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)
  • Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA)
  • Ricardo Sanchez
  • FM 3-24 Counterinsurgency
  • The Iraq Study Group Report
  • Abu Ghraib prison
  • Multi-National Force-Iraq
  • Counterinsurgency (COIN)
  • “The Surge”
  • Sunni, Shia, Kurds
  • Private Military Firms (PMFs)
  • Fedayeen Irregulars

Annex D: The Global War on Terrorism and Operation Enduring Freedom, Discussion, Study, and Examination Questions

  1. What were the political objectives of the Bush Administration in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)? What resources were required to achieve these objectives? Was it possible to achieve the state objectives delineated with the resources of the United States?
  2. What is terrorism? Why do various groups and organizations employ terrorism? What is counterterrorism? What are the instruments necessary to conduct counterterrorism operations? What is an insurgency? What is counterinsurgency?
  3. Why did the Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist organization Al Qaeda attack the United States on September 11, 2001? Did the attack achieve the political objectives they expected?
  4. What was the Revolution in Military Affairs that many believe took place after Operation Desert Storm? What is Network Centric Warfare? Describe and characterize the Armed Forces of the United States in 2001?
  5. What were the political objectives of the United States in Afghanistan? Was war necessary to achieve those objectives?
  6. What was the Bush Doctrine? Why did Bush promulgate a new doctrine after the terrorist attack on 9/11?
  7. How did the Bush Administration plan to win the war in Afghanistan? What was its strategy for victory? Who was responsible for developing that strategy? On what assumption was it based?
  8. What was the Rumsfeld Doctrine? Describe and characterize Rumsfeld’s vision of war? On what assumptions was it built? Did it work? If not, why?
  9. What is Globalization? How is it influencing the world? How is it influencing war?
  10. Describe and characterize Afghan society? Was Afghanistan a nation, a state, or a nation- state? Why does it matter?
  11. Describe and characterize the geography and terrain of Afghanistan? What are the challenges the U.S. military faced in war in Afghanistan?
  12. The GWOT, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, cost the American people over 3 trillion dollars? War it worth it? It is estimated that the terrorist attacks on 9/11 cost Al Qaeda $500,000. Can we and should we respond to future terrorists attacks in the same way? What was the significance of the GWOT?

Identify and State the Significance of the following terms:

  • Axis of Evil
  • Condoleezza Rice
  • Donald Rumsfeld
  • Dick Cheney
  • Colin Powell
  • George Tenet
  • Paul Wolfowitz
  • AK 47
  • Enhanced Interrogation
  • Pashtun
  • NATO
  • Richard Meyers
  • Peter Pace
  • Taliban
  • Tommy Franks
  • George Casey
  • David Petraeus
  • Guantanamo Bay
  • Torture
  • Blowback
  • Pakistan
  • International Security Assistance Force—Afghanistan (ISAF)

Resources & Study Tools

World War II Korean War Cold War & Vietnam War Persian Gulf War &
Global War on Terrorism