7.4 Asymmetrical Warfare
Essential Question(s) How is the Global War on Terror a feature of the modern world? What are the costs of in terms of freedom? What are the benefits to the citizens of the United States.
The modern world has presented military thinkers and planners with many new challenges and tasks. As the types of transportation, communication, and computer technologies have changed the size and setting of warfare environments has been transformed. For most Americans, the concept of terror was remote until the September 11th attacks. While domestic terrorism had been a featured in attacks such as the Oklahoma City bombing, it was treated mostly as an extension of crimes committed by hate groups. The destruction of the Twin Towers and attacks on the Pentagon demonstrated that terrorism could be effective to strike against stronger targets. More recently their have been several attacks in cities such as Mumbai and Nairobi that have involved soft targets and suicidal attackers. We will consider how these new challenges are being addressed and also some of key ways these new attacks can be mitigated.First we will examine the roots of the 9/11 attacks and consider that organization that carried out these spectacular attacks. Then we will take a look at the present terror threat to the Middle East and the world, the Islamic State.
Timeline of Events:
Sept. 11, 2001 – Hijackers crash two airplanes into the world trade center in new york. A third strikes the Pentagon and a fourth in a field in rural Pennsylvania. More than
3,000 people are killed in the terror attacks. Sept. 13, 2001 – The White House announces that there is “overwhelming evidence” that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is behind the attacks.
Sept. 18, 2001 – The Justice Department publishes an interim regulation allowing non-citizens suspected of terrorism to be detained without charge for 48 hours or “an additional reasonable period of time” in the event of an “emergency or other extraordinary circumstance.”
President Bush declares, “Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”
Oct. 2, 2001 – The USA Patriot Act is introduced in Congress.
Oct. 7, 2001 – The U.S., U.K., Australia and Afghan United Front launch Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan to dismantle al-Qaeda and remove the country’s Taliban regime to establish a democracy.
Oct. 26, 2001 – President Bush signs the USA Patriot Act into law.
Dec. 11, 2001 – In the first criminal indictments stemming from the 9/11 attacks, Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, is charged with conspiring with Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda to “murder thousands of people” in New York, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania.
Dec. 17, 2001 – The Northern Alliance defeats Taliban forces in the battle of Tora Bora, eliminating the last major pocket of Taliban resistance and effectively ending the Afghan war.
May 20-24, 2002 – The Bush administration issues an unprecedented series of terror warnings. Vice President Cheney warns it is “not a matter of if, but when” al Qaeda will next attack the U.S.
March 19, 2003 – The U.S. invades Iraq
April 9, 2003 – Statue of Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s president for nearly 24 years, is toppled.
July 22, 2003 – Saddam’s sons, Uday and Qusay, are killed in a U.S. raid in Mosul, Iraq.
Oct. 7, 2004 – An investigation called the “Duelfer Report” reveals that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction at the time of the U.S. invasion in March 2003 and had not begun any program to produce them, as previously alleged by the Bush administration.
Nov. 5, 2006 – Iraq’s High Tribunal on Sunday finds Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentences him to hang for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail.
Aug. 31, 2010 – The seven-year war in Iraq comes to an end, at the order of President Obama. The president said that the U.S. needed to focus on issues on the homefront, explaining it had already fulfilled its obligation to Iraq.
Dec. 21, 2010 – After nine months of political infighting, Iraq’s Parliament approves its new government. The move averted throwing the nation into a constitutional crisis.
Source: Think Progress
Unit 7-Assymetrical Warfare
One way to better understand the features of Asymmetrical warfare is to investigate how an organization or "cell" carries out a campaign or attack. Your assignment for the Unit 7 website post is to choose a terror attack and explain how it happened. The choice of when, where, and who is yours. Please follow the criteria listed below to receive full credit on your post. Use this list of terror attacks to find one that interests you. Be sure to ask me if you have any questions about the group, the attack, or other related issues.
Grade Form
In this unit we have been studying how terrorism and instability have created national security threats for peoples throughout the world. Your post should reflect research into one particular conflict that features the asymmetrical factors that find a weaker foe using techniques to harm a stronger one.
500-700 Summary of the war, attack, or campaign that highlights the underlying causes, responses and ultimate outcomes of the conflict. This must be proofread and free of grammatical errors.
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4-7 Pictures that show an array of images related to the topic.
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1-2 Maps and/or Graphs that show the locations and relevant information for the post.
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All sources and research locations must be cited and included at the bottom of the page
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Please visit this link to read about the future of the battlefield. Consider the challenges of stopping these attacks and the changes in the world that make them possible.
Film Review
This important and challenging documentary follows the struggles of an American military unit as they occupy a very dangerous part of the country. Please read this review before we watch the film.