Category: Warfare

Introduction

The Battle of Ia Drang was the first large military engagement in the Vietnam War between the forces of the United States Army and the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN). Conducted as part of the Pleiku Campaign, the Battle of Ia Drang occurred in the Ia Drang valley in two stages on November 14-19, 1965 (Galloway, 2010). The battle, known for its first large-scale helicopter assault and consistent air support, established the model of further military engagements by American forces and their tactics in the Vietnam War. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the historical event of the Battle of Ia Drang from the perspective of the operational art and design concept, Joint Planning, and other appropriate joint doctrinal publications.

Historical Data

On the morning of November 14, the troops of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, initiated a heliborne assault into Landing Zone X-Ray with the purpose of preventing an attack on the Plei Me camp discovered by intelligence earlier. Towards the end of the second day, after successfully holding positions, the U.S. ordered the first use of B-52 carpet bombings, striking key positions of PAVN forces. Accurate artillery strikes throughout the battle also served as critical support for the troops, holding back PAVN forces that significantly outnumbered the Americans. On the third day, PAVN continued desperate attacks on the U.S. positions until, eventually, L.Z. X-Ray was secured. The U.S. forces lost 79 soldiers and had 121 wounded, while 634 PAVN soldiers were confirmed dead, with an estimated another 1215 dead from long-distance artillery and airstrikes (Cash, 2001).

As L.Z. X-Ray was secured, and units were dispersed to other locations. Under the command of Lt. Col. Robert McDade, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry began its path towards LZ Albany approximately 2 miles northeast. McDade’s troops encountered the remains of the PAVN 33rd and 66th regiments, resulting in an ambush that spread the U.S. troops into small groups as the initial group marched in a single-file column. The battle lasted for nearly 16 hours near LZ Albany. Eventually, air support was able to bomb areas of potential PAVN encampments at a safe distance from U.S. troops while reinforcements arrived from other L.Z.s. In the clash at LZ Albany, 155 US troops were killed or missing, with 124 wounded, while 403 PAVN soldiers were confirmed dead (Cash, 2001).

Operational Art and Design

Cognitive Approach

Operational art is the cognitive approach used by military leadership utilizing their capabilities and judgment to develop strategies and operations to utilize military forces through the integration of ends, ways, means, and risks based on available information. Operational design is a methodology planner which provides the structure to support the operation and methods to address the problem (Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2017). American operations in Vietnam began with Operation Rolling Thunder which consisted mostly of air bombardments and support for South Vietnamese forces. There was no clear consensus on the end to be achieved, the means that ground forces were to use, and the eventual cost. Pres. Johnson initially sought to pursue a limited war theory approach and minimize involvement (Rosen, 1982). The American commander in Vietnam, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, saw America’s commitment to military victory, and the initial troops of two battalions were present to protect U.S. airports.

Design Methodology

Operational design in joint doctrine consists of three components understanding the environment, defining the problem, and developing an operational approach. There was a need for large numbers of U.S. troop presence, especially with a division with offensive capabilities in the Central Highlands, which included the Ia Drang Valley. The primary concern of the MACV commander was that the North Vietnamese conventional units amassing in the region were preparing an offensive. This attack would have had the purpose of either destroying the South Vietnamese government, splitting apart their forces along Highway 19, or carving out an autonomous district and establishing a Communist presence in South Vietnam (Schifferle, 1994).

The three stages of the American campaign were designed to secure bases and L.Z.s for the deployment of forces, conduct deep patrolling in the vicinity of base areas, and conduct long-range search-and-destroy operations against enemy forces. All of this was meant to occur in four phases (Schifferle, 1994). Westmoreland understood the situation well that U.S. forces faced not only the threat from PAVN conventional forces but also massive guerilla warfare from the Vietcong, as well as insurgency among many rural populations, including that in South Vietnam. Operation Rolling Thunder also created the strategic requirement to guard and logistically sustain the bombing campaign. Westmoreland and other commanders believed in pursuing the ‘big-unit strategy’ with the aim of achieving the destruction of NVA main force units in Central Highlands, despite the high costs of casualties and funding it brought (Schifferle, 1994).

Finally, the operational environment (O.E.) is a key consideration for operational design. As highlighted in Joint Public 3.0, an O.E. is the combination of conditions, circumstances, and influences that impact the employment of military capabilities and the decision-making of command. This includes the physical space (land, water, air), information environment, and other factors such as social, political, infrastructure, political, and economic (Incorporating Change 1, 2018). The operational environment was hostile and challenging, with little information available; thus, the informational space was lacking. The U.S. troops had a basic understanding of the local geography but had little knowledge of the presence of PAVN forces until those chose to reveal themselves. The physical environment on land was in favor of the adversary, given the U.S. had not previously fought in jungle terrains, and most of the military preparations stemmed from the urban and open space warfare of WWII. However, the U.S. had the advantage of uncontested air space, which it could use to its advantage for surveillance, aerial bombardment, and heliborne assaults.

Operational Ends

End States

End states are the set of required conditions that must be met to achieve the strategic objective. Some of the end states for the engagement were a full defeat and pushback of PAVN forces in the Ia Drang Valley to prevent any further potential or planned assaults on U.S. camps and airports. Another end state was to conduct a successful heliborne assault of ground troops deep into enemy-controlled territory with the support of airborne strikes and artillery fire, being the first time the strategy was implemented into practice in this manner in Vietnam. Finally, the battle was meant to be the first primary engagement of U.S. troops with the NVA forces, marking a major escalation in the Vietnam War given that previously the U.S. engaged solely through bombardments or South Vietnam proxy forces (Warren, 2017).

Objectives

Objectives are objects that, by nature, location, purpose, and use, provide an effective contribution to military action. The objectives for the forces participating in the Ia Drang assault included securing key points such as landing zones in the area. The secondary mission was to locate and eliminate enemy forces, clearing the area for the potential further progression of U.S. forces and setting up camps for later assaults (Galloway, 2020).

Operational Means

Operational Reach

Operational reach is the distance and duration that a force can competently employ military capabilities. The U.S. forces were based in the Plei Me Camp, southwest of Pleiku. Gen. Westmoreland had secured the commitment of 300,000 troops; the build-up forces occurred in the summer of 1965. The U.S. forces were generally well-supplied as well as supported by South Vietnam battalions. U.S. aerial forces had an extensive range of several thousand kilometers at which they could conduct flights and bombardments. At Ia Drang, forces could be deployed either by foot or heliborne assault. However, they had to be located within a relatively short distance of the base camp to ensure the availability of reinforcements, supply chains, and otherwise effectiveness. It was an approximately 34-mile round trip between L.Z. X-ray and Plei Me (Schifferle, 1994). As evident by the battle, the U.S. forces could hold out against PAVN even as a small force for nearly a day and longer once reinforcements arrived.

Culmination

Culmination refers to the point at which a military force is unable to perform its operations. It is difficult to gauge accurately what the culmination point would be in the Ia Drang offensive. However, the battle occurred near the Cambodian border with Vietnam, and regiments of NVA forces took sanctuary in the nearby country. L.Z. X-Ray was located within 10-15 miles of the border, with the assault going in that direction. It can be safe to assume that the culmination point was the border since supply chains were likely only set up in the radium of the heliborne assault.

Operational Ways

Center of Gravity (CoG)

The CoG refers to the sources of strength and balance from which the force derives its freedom of action and will to fight, the source of power on which everything depends. Therefore, both one’s own force and the adversary have a center of gravity. For the U.S. forces in Vietnam, the operational center of gravity was its airports and the points dislocation for the aerial forces, critical to the U.S. strategy in the country and vital support for any troops on the ground. These had to be protected in the long term. The CoG of the adversary was, ironically, time. From a military strategy perspective, time is a significant advantage to weaker forces, particularly in defending their own territory. As a stronger force, the U.S. fighting abroad faced a much higher chance of decisive victory, the shorter the duration of the conflict, both the Ia Drang assault and the war in Vietnam in general. Otherwise, the more prolonged the conflict becomes, the time favors the PAVN as they can wear down U.S. forces little by little by hitting at hurtful points in infrastructure and troop morale (Hughes et al., 2018)

Decisive Points

Operational ways focus on the ‘how’ objectives are achieved. The decisive point of an operation is a place, event, factor, or function when acted upon, allows commanders to gain a marked advantage over adversaries. For Gen. Westmoreland, the Ia Dragen assault was the first step to hit at the NVA CoG, which is time. The assault was meant to be rapid and to secure key areas for a deeper assault into enemy territory. In a manner of speaking, the blitzkrieg type of warfare would have benefited U.S. forces while simultaneously achieving all key objectives of pushing back the PAVN, protecting military bases, and establishing positions of control in enemy territory.

The Risk

Risk is absolutely critical and central to the planning and execution of operations at any level. Joint Risk Analysis defines the concept as the “probability and consequence of an event causing harm to something valued” (United States Army War College, 2020). Using the model of ends, ways, means, and risks examined in this paper, it is necessary that all are balanced, meaning that leaders must weigh options to achieve desired objectives with the likelihood of adverse outcomes.

The Ia Drang campaign was, from the start, a high-risk endeavor. The heliborne assaults were the first of their kind in the Vietnam War, carrying a wide range of risk factors from technical to operational. Second, the forces were being helicoptered into L.Z.s located essentially in the enemy controlled territory, often just a few hundred meters from the PAVN. The troops being airlifted were far outnumbered, especially initially before reinforcements arrived; the risk of being overrun was high even if the Americans were better armed. The environment was largely unfamiliar to the forces and was utilized to the advantage of the PAVN, who was masterful at tactical guerilla-type warfare in the brushes and jungle. They used it for various tactics in the attempt to split or surround U.S. forces, which was seen both at the skirmishes at L.Z. X-Ray and later LZ Albany. The risk of the ambush was high in the context of the operational environment as well, which occurred at LZ Albany, resulting in heavy U.S. casualties (Galloway, 2020).

Despite the high level of risk, it can be argued that the campaign was justified and planned to the best ability of the available information. The assault was critical to secure landing zones needed to make further attacks against the PAVN in Central Highlands. Therefore, the strategic risk was weighed, that either the operation continue or the U.S. would be defeated before the war fully began with attacks on South Vietnam. The operation had the tactical support of aviation and artillery, which were crucial to the U.S. victory and the elimination of significant numbers of enemy soldiers. Undoubtedly, the military risk, particularly risk-to-force, was significant. If U.S. troops were killed or captured, it would create a significant military setback, as well as political and social backlash. In fact, the ambush at LZ Albany was hidden from the public initially so as not to generate negative press (Galloway, 2020). The campaign provided a clear indication to Defense Secretary McNamara that success in Vietnam would be unlikely due to the heavy casualties to U.S. forces (proportionally) based on the type of operation, but despite his recommendation, Pres. Johnson’s council, the White House, decided to further escalate U.S. involvement in the war.

Conclusion

The purpose of the paper is to analyze the historical Battle of Ia Drang from the perspective of joint operations and the concept of operational means, ends, ways, and risks. The Battle of Ia Drang was a strategically complex and planned battle scenario that involved sophisticated planning and in-battle decisions that ultimately turned the outcome in favor of American forces. This battle demonstrates the key importance of operational planning and execution, particularly in cases of unknown environments and rapidly changing dynamics of military encounters. The elements of operational design end, ways, and means were all present and closely interconnected in this battle to emphasize the vital use of the concepts and military doctrines in warfare.

References

Cash, J. (2001). Fight at Ia Drang. Web.

Galloway, J. (2010). Ia Drang – The battle that convinced Ho Chi Minh he could win. HistoryNet. Web.

Incorporating Change 1 (2018). Joint publication 3-0. Web.

Joint Chiefs of Staff. (2017). Joint planning (J.P. 5-0). Web.

Rosen, S.P. (1982). Vietnam and the American theory of limited war. International Security 7(2), 83-113. Web.

Schifferle, P. J. (1994). The Ia Drang Campaign 1965: A successful operational campaign or mere tactical failure. Web.

United States Army War College. (2020). Campaign planning handbook. Web.

Hughes, J., Gerson, J., McAvoy, T., & Grebos, T. (2018). Six months or forever: Doctrine to defeat an enemy whose center of gravity is time. Small Wars Journal. Web.

Warren, J.A. (2017). How the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley changed the course of the Vietnam War. The Daily Beast. Web.

Zheng He was a Muslim Chinese explorer, court eunuch, and fleet admiral. He commanded ambitious voyages to various countries between 1405 and 1433. Serving as a court eunuch in the Chinese capital, Zheng He helped Zhu Yuanzhang conquer the Yuan Dynasty. Similarly, during a coup, Zheng He assisted Zhu Di, son of Zhu Yuanzhang, gain the throne.

In reward, he received dominion over the Chinese Navy. Zheng He led a huge fleet to Southeast Asia, which carried soldiers and huge quantity of goods. The fleet arrived at countries of East Africa, Arabia, and Southeast Asia, initiating an achievement in navigation history, which was considered an exceptional great historical epoch in Chinese account of cultural exchanges and trade.

Zaibatsu refers to the special finance capital within Japanese capitalism for the epoch preceding World War II. They comprised of large financial and industrial conglomerates within Japan. They remain significant as the core of industrial and economic activity in the Japanese Empire.

The zaibatsu emerged from the policies of entrepreneurism of the Meiji government, which typified modernization of economy during the period. The private enterprises came together into large complexes directed by government bureaucrats into sectors of development essential for Japan’s reform.

The Tonghak Rebellion was an anti-feudal and anti-government uprising in Southern Korea in 1894. The peasant class was protesting against the corrupt government manifest in Korea during the era. The Tonghak Rebellion remains significant owing to its ability to attract a huge population of Koreans to make demands and force change. It was the catalyst of the Sino-Japanese war occurring between 1894 and 1895. Equally, it is significant as the largest renowned uprising in the Korean history that presaged the Righteous Army Movement.

China in decline

The Qing dynasty experienced revitalization before suffering a systemic crisis. It enjoyed more than a century of prosperity. During the eighteenth century, China was a strong nation with the leading gross domestic product in the universe. By the end of the eighteenth century, China’s agriculture had vastly developed, and its foreign trade was huge.

Similarly, owing to a long phase of peaceful development, the Chinese society became prosperous, improving people’s lives significantly. However, the early Qing dynasty marked a period of prosperity that would not go on for long. The mighty empire collapsed in 1911 owing to interplay between external and internal factors (Liu 3).

External factors

Between 1840 and 1911, China experienced dramatic changes, losing its superiority to the industrialized western nations (Wang 36). At the time when China was struggling with major problems, industrialization was enhancing the development of western powers.

On reaching China, the rapidly developing western powers took advantage of China, thus weakening it. The weakness of the Chinese society became fatal after the hostile and expanding western powers challenged it. Traditional China’s agricultural economy proved incompetent to compete with the industrial economy.

The traditional Chinese society’s stable social order appeared quite vulnerable when the imperialist aggressions invaded it. Consequently, the conventional Chinese culture became powerless owing to the challenges emerging from the hostile greedy capitalist cultures.

Most external challenges to China’s security emerged from the nomadic populations of the north. In 1839, the British Navy caught the Qing rulers by surprise attacking China’s southern coast. The most shocking and severe foreign challenge emerged from the Japanese military during the Sino-Japanese War. Japan defeated the Qing Empire because it was newly modernized, better equipped, and better organized.

Internal factors

Among the internal factors are the political aspects, such as inefficient emperors, administrative inefficiency within the government, and lack of a capable Manchu leadership. By the nineteenth century, the Qing government had deteriorated significantly in terms of control and power.

During the leadership of the Ch’ing emperor, governance within Peking was effectual only if the leader was a capable man. However, during the nineteenth century, there did not emerge a great Ch’ing royal leader. The leaders who rose to power encouraged serious corruption. The high government officials received tokens from the low officials. Instead of using this money for government projects, the high officials pocketed it.

Accordingly, the Chinese citizens were obliged to pay huge taxes, thus suffering economically. Because of lack of a capable leader to supervise government officials, the officials became incompetent. In this context, the political structure was accountable for demoralizing energetic action within the administration. Consequently, the incompetent high government officials elected ineffectual low officials. Thus, the detrimental effects of incompetence spread downward.

For more than a century, China enjoyed great prosperity, which led to an immense population growth. The lengthy period of peace contributed to a rapid increase in China’s populace. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, the Chinese agrarian economy could not support the exploding population. Equally, cultivable land was scarce, and it remained concentrated to the powerful landowners. Regardless of the dearth in land, the law forbade people to shift to Manchuna as well as to other sectors outside China.

In this perspective, citizens did not merely suffer from land scarcity but also from job scarcity. China did not have great industrial development to take in the rising workforce, and to augment the citizen’s standard of living. Hence, the food supply and the utilization of natural resources seemed to reach its limits. Accordingly, overpopulation led to poverty, which in turn resulted into social suffering and rebellions.

Between 1851 and 1864, China faced a peasant rebellion that led to establishment of the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace. The confrontation between the peasant rebels and the Qing army resulted in massive loss of life as well as vast material destruction. Consequently, the resources, and legitimacy of the Qing leadership encountered severe strain.

The Korean War

Nature of the war

The conflict leading to the Korean War had its genesis during the Cold War. The conflict affected the relations between the democratic and the communist nations. Hence, the Korean War signified the conflict between the communists and the non-communists in Korea between 1950 and 12953.

As the Second World War ended, Korea was split into two zones, namely South Korea and North Korea, at the 38th parallel. In 1948, these two sectors established rival governments. The South proclaimed the Republic of Korea while the North proclaimed People’s Democratic Republic of Korea.

Relations between the two forces increasingly strained with North Korea invading South Korea in 1950. Numerous soldiers from North Korean Army flowed across the boundary, which divided South Korea and North Korea. The United Nations censured the invasion and demanded removal of North Koreans from the south. Accordingly, the United Nations urged its members to offer support to South Korea.

While American troops joined the war in aid of South Korea, Chinese forces joined the war to support North Korea. Consequently, heavy fighting continued up to 1952. The greatest fear was of a wider war with China and Russia, or even Third World War. Nevertheless, in 1953, the Korean War ended. The aftermath is evident up to today as the Korean peninsula remains divided to date.

Causes of the war

The augmenting concern of communism as well as the anticipated amalgamation of South Korea and North Korea triggered the Korean War. Previously, only Korea had occupied the Korean peninsula. However, various diverse dynasties, as well as the Chinese and the Japanese ruled it. As the Second World War neared its end, the Soviet Union stated war on Japan, thereafter occupying the north of Korean peninsula.

By the time the war was ending, Korea was split into southern and northern divisions. The Soviet Union took control over the northern division while the United States administered the southern division. The partition formed the basis for conflicts because the northern division followed the Soviet Union and became communist, and the south opposed communism, thus forming an anti-communist government.

The communist side, comprising of China, North Korea, and the Soviet Union, wanted to seize the Korean Peninsula and assimilate it in the communist bloc. While the Soviet set upon expanding communism, the United States endeavored at eradicating it. There arose conflict between the supporters and the non-supporters of communism. Consequently, with China and the Soviet Union supporting North Korea, fighting between southern and northern Korea became common and eventually the Korean War emerged.

Since 1904, Japan had occupied Korea. Hence, the great allies, the United States and the Soviet Union, declared that Korea would be free and independent. They agreed that the United States take up southern Korea while the Soviet Union takes up northern Korea with the aim of disarming the Japanese. This resulted into a divided Korea, which laid foundation for conflict between South and North Korea.

Politically, the Soviet Union deemed the Korean peninsula as a springboard to invade Russia, and declared that the Korean government should remain loyal to the Soviet Union. Owing to this policy as well as strategic position, the Soviet military administration in northern Korea declined any initiative of establishing a single Korean government.

The leader of North Korea, Kim I1-sung, took advantage of this and asked for the Soviet support in North Korean forces. With Soviet Union’s full support, Kim I1-sung enjoyed better-equipped, better-armed, and well-prepared forces. Hence, he used them to attack South Korea.

Effects of the war

The Korean War had economic effects in both North and South Korea. North Korea has since endured chronic economic crisis and thus suffers intense poverty. The Stalinist administration in the north is on the verge of moving outside its hermit state. In South Korea, however, the war brought great economic transformation. South Korea has grown into a high-tech economy.

The war resulted in numerous casualties. Many people, ranging from military to civilians, were killed and wounded. About 40,000 of the American service members lost their lives in the battle. Although the definite figures of the North Korea, South Korea, and Chinese casualties are unknown, an estimate of 100,000 South Korean soldiers was wounded and 46,000 was killed. The Chinese lost an estimate of 400,000 soldiers, and North Korea lost approximately 215,000 soldiers.

Works Cited

Liu, Guoli. Politics and government in China. California: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print.

Wang, Gabe. China and the Taiwan issue: incoming war at Taiwan Strait. Oxford: University Press of America, 2006. Print.

Film/Cinema, in the context of movies and documentaries, is a modern visual art form that has had intense impact on our daily life for humanity has profoundly been affected by what it sees and hears via film or the motion picture experience. It utilizes the concept of simple story telling via a mesmerizing technical medium and its ability to influence is rooted in the utilization of images/impressions and imagery. Cinema has a social as well artistic function.

Although the demand for imaginative entertainment is at an all time high, interest in the realities of the world is also on the rise. Documentaries address this interest because they are comprised of real people, world events, places, and social conditions – documenting history, reality. British film maker, John Grierson first coined the term in 1926. Prior to 1926, such films were referred to as “actuality” films and came on the scene at the turn of the 20^th century as well.

Like American director, D.W. Griffith’s film The Birth of a Nation/The Clansman (1915), German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will (1934) was considered masterful/innovative and ground-breaking for documentary filmmaking at that time. Triumph garnered her the accolade as one of the greatest female filmmakers of all time but most infamous.

Chronicling the Nazi Party Congress held in Nuremberg (1934), Triumph of the Will (1935) catapulted the documentary as mode of propaganda designed to specifically argue a point and influence public opinion.

“Documentary cinema is intimately tied to historical memory. Not only does it seek to reconstruct historical narrative, but it often functions as an historical document itself. Moreover, the connection between the rhetoric of documentary film and historical truth pushes the documentary into overtly political alignments which influence its audience (1993Rabinowitw).”

Triumph of the Will lionized Germany as a recurring superpower with Hitler at the helm as the authentic leader/savoir. This fundamental thematic message can be found in opening prologue – “20 years after the outbreak of the World War, 16 years after the beginning of German suffering, 19 months after the beginning of the German renaissance, Adolf Hitler flew again to Nuremberg to review the columns of his faithful followers (Triumph).” The opening scene further substantiates the message with an aerial view of Hitler’s plane flying through the majestic clouds and over various parts of Germany.

He finally arrives in Nuremberg greeted by ecstatic supporters. The consequence of war is a people spiritually, mentally, and physically downtrodden and inept. Riefenstahl’s revolutionary use of cinematography (telephoto lenses, aerial photography, moving cameras, etc.) and music (German composer, Richard Wagner) epitomizes this escalating German Renaissance which has freed the German people from such a plight. It explains their fanaticism with Hitler.

Throughout the documentary German militaristic power, political religion, unity, and pride are highlighted. With these four elements as an integral force, one cannot ascertain a distinction between the German people, the state, and the Nazi Party.

Riefenstahl vehemently denied the film served as a propaganda tool for the Nazi Party but rather was an historical film told through an aesthetic lens. Many critics purport differently.

Just as Birth of a Nation reeked of racist negative/stereotypical portrayal of African- Americans and shaped the America’s public’s attitude/image about race, Triumph contributed to heightened negative perceptions of European Jewry and anti-Semitism. Hitler’s conquest for German purity emanates from his speeches as well those of his featured compatriots – Goring, Goebbels, etc.

Could Riefenstahl have been that naïve and blind to Hitler’s maniacal plans that lay ahead? Objectivity has meaning but in reality it is greatly influenced by the filmmaker’s point of view via perceptions, emotions, etc. thereby determining the extent they can be biased or slant their point of view. Suffice to say, Triumph of the Will authenticated that film has the ability to influence as well as alter how people perceive themselves, aspects of their society/culture as well as other peoples and their culture.

Work Cited

Rabinowitz, Paula. “Wreckage upon Wreckage: History, Documentary and the Ruins of Memory.” History and Theory, Vol. 32, No. 2. (May, 1993), pp. 119-137. Triumph of the Will (Video). Web.

Terrorism might have many different motives and goals, which usually cause negative outcomes but allow them to fight for their rights. In the case of Far-right terrorism, the terrorism is usually represented as shooting and aimed at coping with the problems of racism and fascism (Klein et al., 2017). The grievances of discriminated people build objectives and goals that can be achieved only through terroristic acts.

Ethno-nationalist terrorism is a common type of illegal activity which are similar to the Far-right movement. However, according to Bonikowski (2017), this form of terrorism is based on conflicts made of problems in recognition of natural human rights and national regulations. The most common examples of terroristic acts raised from the social changes are Brexit and Trump’s campaign. Schertzer & Woods (2021) stated that in Trump’s campaign, races were discriminated, and wealthy white citizens could get more rights from the nation. People’s grievances have increased, and more terroristic actions have occurred in the United States.

Every religion states specific rules which might diverge from the national regulations, and based on differences, and religious terrorism stays spread around the world. Killing and pursuit are the most common acts of this terrorism (Dawson, 2018). Yonah (2021) has shown religious terrorism in Palestine when a different wearing of hijab can provoke the shooting. The harshness of rules depends on the country, and the type of religion and citizens’ grievances are rarely considered.

All these terrorists go against civilians’ will, and their opinions and complaints cannot decrease the effect of the problem. I build my understanding of terrorism by learning about different types of violence and evaluating the most common causes. In general, I believe that terrorism is violence that is not supported by laws but cannot be easily decreased by authorities due to strong protests from citizens.

References

Bonikowski, B. (2017). Ethno-nationalist populism and the mobilization of collective resentment. The British Journal of Sociology, 68(S1), S181-S213. Web.

Dawson, L. L. (2018). Challenging the curious erasure of religion from the study of religious terrorism. Numen. Web.

Klein, B. R., Gruenewald, J., & Smith, B. L. (2017). Opportunity, group structure, temporal patterns, and successful outcomes of Far-right terrorism incidents in the United States. Crime & Delinquency, 63(10). Web.

Schertzer, R., & Woods, E. (2021). Nationalism: The ethno-nationalist populism of Donald Trump’s Twitter communication. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(7). 1154-1173. Web.

Yonah, A. (2021). Palestinian religious terrorism: Hamas and Islamic jihad. Brill.

Introduction

Terrorism is a global phenomenon that has affected many countries over the past years. Terrorism dates back to the first century where in order to attain certain political ambitions, a Jewish group would maim and kill its enemies with the aim of ousting the Roman rulers from Judea. Up to date, the majority of terrorist attacks and the willingness to use extreme violence hinges on certain political grievances.

Terrorist attacks in most cases come as a surprise attack and both the developed and developing countries have been targets of such attacks. The most recent surprise terrorist attack happened on Saturday 21 September 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya, where terrorists held hostages in a shopping mall before killing and maiming them. The siege lasted for three days. This attack shows that terrorism has metamorphosed to target both developing and developed countries.

Technological innovation is one of the main contributors to the advancement of terrorism in this modern era as there is overwhelming information available over the Internet, which allows terrorist to modify their tactics, obtain information on their potential targets, and improve on their weaknesses. In addition, the Internet facilitates easy and effective communication amongst terrorists when they are planning on their targets and the kind of weaponry they are going to use for their heinous acts against humanity.

The fact that the United States is a superpower and it has the most advanced military around the world does not mean that it has not been affected by acts of terrorism. Being a superpower the United States in the past has waged war on terrorism with an aim of making the world a better place where people can enjoy peace.

Unfortunately, this decision has come at a cost, as the country is now a target for terrorists especially from extremist Islamic Jihadists who believe that the western civilization is leading to the decadence on traditional Eastern societies. The American involvement in the Middle East politics has angered radical groups like the al-Qaeda, which was supported by the Taliban government (Wright, 2006).

This government operated under the leadership of a Sunni extremist Islamic group in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 before the invasion by US. In the year 2001, the al-Qaida terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden carried out one of the most deadly terrorist attacks in contemporary times, which is commonly known the 9/11 in the United States. This paper analyzes why the US intelligence failed to stop the 9/11 attack.

Al-Qaeda and the chronology of events leading to the 9/11 attack on United States

According to Wright (2006), al-Qaeda is a terrorism group that was founded by Osama bin Laden in the 1980s in a place called Peshawar in Pakistan. The leader was the son of a billionaire Saudi Arabian and he formed the group to fight any country that he perceived as a threat to Islam across the world. The first aim of the group was to aid Muslims in the fight against the Soviet Union, which had invaded Afghanistan in 1979 by facilitating the transportation, financing, and recruitment of thousands of Muslims around the globe.

Osama felt that he had a role to play in the ending of the advancement of soviet communism that would corrupt Islamic lands. Even the United States government under President Ronald Reagan, Saudi Arabia, and Egyptian regimes supported the involvement of Muslims in the fight against the Soviets. However after the defeat of the soviets in 1989, the involved Islamic groups were not dissolved; instead, they reorganized and started fighting what they believed to be corrupt Islamic governments and foreign invasion on their land.

According to Wright (2006), the decision by the aforementioned three governments to let Muslims participate in the Soviet war is one of the contributive factors to the formation and convergence of a powerful al-Qaeda as an extremist Islamic group. For instance, due to this war, different organizations met, which even led to one of the organizations under the leadership of Ayman al-Zawahiri who was an expert and intelligent militia from Egypt to merge with the al-Qaeda organization led by Osama (Wright, 2006).

Osama’s abhorrence towards the US grew as his zeal to overthrow non-Islamic governments and establish genuine Islamic governments was fuelled by the influence of the United States and other European governments.

In a bid to handle this situation, the terror organization led by its leader came up with plans on how they would relish terror on any nation that was opposing their plans. According to Wright (2006), the September 9/11 attack in the US, which made Osama a global figure as a terrorist, was the climax of the list of events that had occurred in the previous years.

After the end of war against the Soviets, the terror group established training grounds in Afghanistan with a redefined aim of waging war on the United States for its invasion and continued presence in the Middle East. Osama’s move to Sudan in 1991 up to 1996 also aimed at establishing more training and recruitment of insurgents as well as linking with other terror organizations, thus making the al-Qaeda an international group.

During this period, the al-Qaeda group animosity towards the Americans was manifested by the attacks in two hotels in Aden, Yemen, targeting American troops on their way to Somali for a peacekeeping mission.

This attack shows that the group was completely in opposition of the involvement of the US government in Islamic nations’ affairs worldwide even in developing and war torn countries like Somali. The difference in opinion in solving humanitarian crisis between the American government and the al-Qaeda group led to the eventual withdrawal of the US troops from Somali in 1994.

The al-Qaeda was sponsoring the Somali Islamic militia group, which was fighting the US troops and this aspect led to the onslaught of 18 US soldiers after their helicopter was shot down. Osama’s hatred towards the Americans was also exhibited by the terror attack on the US military attack on Saudi Arabia and the 1998 bombing of two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

In the same year, the al-Qaeda leaders ordered Muslims around the world to kill Americans and all those associated with them, as they believed that they were send by the devil to destroy the Muslim community. All these terrorist attacks mainly aimed at putting an end to the American’s invasion to Islamic nations and it seemed like all the American citizens located anywhere across the world were vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

In addition, some Islamic nations like Egypt, which were seen by the al-Qaeda as allies of the American government, were not spared as justified by the suicide bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan in 1995. Zawahiri believed that the Egyptian government had become non-Islamic by supporting the Americans and the bombings would serve as a warning for the government to change its wayward governance style.

The political ambition of Zawahiri made him believe that all the Egyptians working in the embassy were government workers and they deserved to die without even considering that other innocent Muslims would be vulnerable to the attack. He also intensified his campaign by maiming and killing 62 tourists most of them from Switzerland, who had visited the country.

This move shows that the al-Qaeda had waged war against not only on the United States, but also on all non-Islamic nations around the globe as they were thought to contribute to the moral degeneration of the Islamic community and some of the Muslims were being converted to Christianity, thus abandoning their old religion. Hence, the group wanted to establish an Islamist state governed by the by sharia law and without the influence of modern ideologies and politics.

However, the US being the sole superpower, was not deterred by these terrorist attacks on its citizen as it was determined to root out the problem of terrorism from the society. The US relentless effort to fight terrorism led to the attack on al-Qaeda insurgents in Afghanistan and Sudan with the aim of neutralizing the terror threat by killing and destroying their training areas.

Apparently, this move perhaps gave the wrong message to the terrorists that perhaps the United States was not getting their message of non-indulgence on Muslim affairs and Islamic nations. Therefore, they planned to have one catastrophic attack that would drive the message home to the Americans and other nations across the world. Ultimately, the group achieved this goal through the coordinated terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011.

The 9/11 attacks and how United States failed to stop them

Despite having the most advanced technology to gather intelligence on any terrorist threat to the country, the United States goes down in history as one of the countries that were worst hit by terrorist attacks after the 9/11 fateful attacks, which led to the death of approximately 3000 innocent lives. The insurgents had planned the terrorist operation very well as they hijacked four commuter planes, which were then flown directly to the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and one of the commuter jets crashed in a field at Pennsylvania.

The al-Qaeda managed to make a mockery of the elite intelligence units in the US, as some of the insurgents had stayed in the country for about a year. The terrorists even took flight lessons in America’s known flight schools to perfect their fighting skills without being detected by the intelligent units. The other suicide terrorist managed to slip in the country some few months before the actual date of the planned attacks.

One of the intelligence units that failed in averting the 9/11 catastrophe was the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which failed to communicate and share crucial information with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The FBI was established in 1908 and it can be labeled as the broadest of all federal agencies in the United States, where it is tasked with gathering information to help in coming with solutions to prevent any terror threats to the country. The majority of the agents who have been privileged to work for this organization are very intelligent.

One such person was the then senior FBI agent John O’Neill. O’Neill had a master’s degree in forensics, which implies that he was highly informed in his duties, as he was informative, very skillful, and had admirable expertise in gathering classified information that would help in combating any terrorism threat to the country. Being a senior agent at the FBI, John was tasked with the responsibility of leading other agents in the investigations of the East African bombing on the US embassies as well as the USS Cole attack in Yemen.

As the al-Qaeda terror group carried out these attacks, it gave O’Neill the opportunity to gather highly classified information concerning the leader of the group and the imminent threat that he posed to the United States. O’Neill was among the first people to know about the existence of Osama and gather intelligence that was linked to the 9/11 attack.

O’Neill’s brilliance and determination to secure the United States from any terrorist attacks led him to capture one of the plotters of the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 known as Ramzi Ahmed Youssef. This terrorist was apparently brilliant as he had evaded arrest since 1993, and thus only an intelligent man like O’Neill was in a position to arrest him.

The arrest of this terror suspect was very important in the investigation of al-Qaeda as it introduced O’Neill to a new complicated and sophisticated world of terrorism that was mainly targeting Americans. In addition, the arrest helped in averting thousands of deaths and destruction of property as the suspect was already planning to bomb a couple of jets. After the Ramzi’s arrest, O’Neill became obsessed with the case, and thus he looked for any kind of information that he could get with the aim of tracking Osama and the al-Qaeda group.

Thorough investigations carried out by O’Neill and other members of the Counter Terrorism Security Group proved beyond reasonable doubts that al-Qaeda was planning to attack the United States. O’Neill established that Osama had cycles of his attacks over the years, thus unearthing intelligence that nobody in the bureau could ever come up with, as he gathered intelligence not only from the US intelligent community, but also from other areas such as Britain and Egypt.

Unfortunately, the gathered information was not useful due to lack of cooperation between the intelligence communities. Some of the senior members did not even consider the international terror group as a threat to the Americans despite the fact that in the past few years they had waged war on Americans due to failure to remove US troops from some Islamic nations. Therefore, the 9/11 attacks came as a surprise as other intelligence bodies had not seen the gravity of the situation from O’Neill‘s perspective.

Wright’s chronicles show that there was lack of coordination amongst the intelligence communities. For instance, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had information on a meeting by al-Qaeda members that had taken place in Malaysia in 2000 (Wright, 2006). This meeting was mainly to plan the 9/11 attacks, but unfortunately the CIA heads kept all the details to themselves and saw no need to inform the FBI.

The FBI did not even know that the two Qaeda members, who entered the US after the meeting would later be involved in the deadly terror attack the following year despite the fact that CIA had photographs of some of the terrorists. The CIA’s failure to give crucial information to FBI agents who had been trailing the activities of the al-Qaeda gives the impression that they were involved in a competition to determine which of the two agencies was effective in gathering intelligence and countering terrorist activities.

This aspect thwarted the ambitions that the FBI had in averting terrorism activities by al-Qaeda as they had solved a similar issue in the past by arresting Ramzi who had planned to kill many innocent Americans. The result of this error was the catastrophic 9/11 terror attack that left many productive Americans dead or injured.

How the US intelligence should avoid terrorist attack in future

In the recent years, the al-Qaeda threats have reduced courtesy of the United States’ campaign against terrorism. However, aspect this does not mean that the extremist Islamic group does not pose a threat to the country, and thus a recurrence of the 9/11 attacks in the future can still happen, if proper measures are not put in place.

The country’s role in making the world a better place still makes it a target for terrorist groups that are politically or religiously motivated and hence new measures should be put in place to thwart such attacks. However, this goal is only achievable if there is no existing gap amongst the established intelligence agencies. Issues of members of being accused of hiding crucial information like the case of CIA should not recur in the future.

The agencies should be in a position to hold meetings, discuss security issues, and share whatever information they have as they were established to counter terrorism and any other threat to the country and not to compete with one another. This move will not only aid in saving innocent people from imminent danger, but also it will be critical in protecting property that is essential in the development of the country.

Being a superpower, the United States should serve as a leading example to other countries in its effort to counter any terrorist attacks against its citizens by using all avenues to collect intelligence on any terror plot. The US intelligence groups, viz. the NSA, the CIA, and the FBI should work closely and share information in time in a bid to be a step ahead of the terror groups as such a move will avoid situations where the terrorists can execute their plans in the country.

Conclusion

Terrorism mainly carried out by al-Qaeda has caused many deaths around the globe and it can be said to be one of the most serious threat in the 21 century. The fight against terrorism is not easy, but it can be controlled if there is intelligence, which stands out as the first line of defense against terrorism. The history of al-Qaeda runs deep into the past when radical Islamists regrouped after the Soviet War to defend Islam nations from western interference.

Wright’s book, The Looming Tower, shows that the United State’s intelligence agencies had information on the 9/11 attacks but they failed to counter the same due to a cold rivalry between FBI and CIA. Therefore, inter-agency sharing of intelligence in the future will help to uncover any hidden agenda by terrorist organizations across the world and thwart attacks, thus saving lives and property from the heinous acts of terrorists.

Reference

Wright, L. (2006). The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Introduction

Approximately 200.000 women were tortured, raped, and held in brothels for Japanese soldiers and troops during World War II. These women are also known in history and research documents as ‘comfort women’; although the word ‘women’ implies that they were adults, teenagers or even preteens were frequently seen among those comfort women (Coetzee & Coetzee 413). Controversies arise around this part of Japanese history because Japanese authorities do not always acknowledge the crimes committed by the military of the state against these women. Although no official apology has followed, various documents and researches prove that sexual offenses and forced prostitution existed in the colonies and were supported by the Japanese government.

Victim’s Account

The women and teenagers who became sex slaves during the war were not only Japanese, but also Filipino, Dutch, Chinese, Korean, and others (Coetzee & Coetzee 413). In the document provided by the authors, the victim of slavery Yi Okpun recalls how she was captured and held as a sex slave by the Japanese soldiers when she was twelve years old. The ‘Commando Unit Comfort Station’ was established in a Taiwan elementary school with 17 classrooms that were divided into separate rooms with approximately 40 women in each section. The soldiers visited the school on weekends and stayed there from 9 a.m. until midnight (Coetzee & Coetzee 413).

The officers also took part in the crimes, but they arrived early in the morning (5 a.m.); the women had to serve them too even if they had already served to twenty or thirty soldiers during the day (Coetzee & Coetzee 413). The slaves were not allowed to be unsatisfied with the process; otherwise, they were taken into a confinement room (Coetzee & Coetzee 413). The women who were too weak to work were taken to the mountains – they never returned; women who died during the work were also taken there, their bodies were left on the ground without any interment.

The food given to the sex slaves was not nourishing; they were also not allowed to share their food with others, or guards would beat them (Coetzee & Coetzee 413). The breakfast began at 9 a.m.; supper was at 6 p.m.

All soldiers used condoms; the girls were medically examined, and if any venereal diseases were detected, the surgeon gave them an extremely painful injection. On weekdays, the victims were forced to dance, sing, and play various instruments to entertain the soldiers (Coetzee & Coetzee 414). The players were beaten if the soldiers found their skills too weak. As the bombings began, soldiers did not come to the schools to rape the women; instead, they “abuse[d] us in the caves” where they hid from the bombings (Coetzee & Coetzee 414).

The victim stated that she had frequently thought about suicide as the only way to escape torturing; she had also wished to kill the soldiers and “wipe out [their] descendants” (Coetzee & Coetzee 414). Yi Okpun tried to commit suicide once but did not find the courage to throw herself into the sea, as she stated.

Comfort Women as a Part of the Japanese Policy of Colonialism

The document provided in the book supports the accusations of the Japanese military of the rape and sexual crimes committed against adult women and minors. Other reports state that the sex slaves had to take Japanese names as they or the soldiers arrived at the Comfort Stations (Lu 265). Yi Okpun remembered that she “was called both Haruko and Kohana” (Coetzee & Coetzee 414). Sex slavery was a direct consequence of the Japanese colonialism in the XX century (Lu 263).

Moreover, it was not encouraged to force Japanese women to become sex slaves (although they were victims too), but no such statements were made about Korean or Taiwanese women (Lu 269). Japanese colonialism had an extremely negative impact on the economy of Korea, so young women from rural areas who had to face poverty were targets for Korean recruiters. They offered Korean women a profitable job in Japan that eventually turned out to be sex slavery (Lu 271). However, Malays, Thais, Burmese, Vietnamese, Indians, Eurasians, Timorese, and possibly Laotians and Cambodians were also exploited as comfort women (Hirofumi 3).

There were two types of comfort stations in the occupied areas: Type-1 comfort stations were established in urban areas; there, the rape of women was checked by the police to win the support of the locals (Hirofumi 3). Type-2 comfort stations were located in the rural areas; there, the rape rates were unchecked, women were beaten and mistreated, sometimes murdered (Hirofumi 3). Women were usually abducted by the Japanese military and brought to the stations – the majority of these women were Chinese.

Although the involvement of the state is denied by the official authorities of Japan, there is historical evidence that it was directly involved in the recruitment of the comfort women. A staff officer of the 21st Army was sent on a mission to recruit women; he gained support from the Police Bureau that “ordered prefectural governors to select appropriate officials to handle the recruitment process” (Hirofumi 5). Prefectures selected officials who recruited women; the documents and IDs for women were made by the Police Bureau. Thus, administrative authorities also took part in recruitment and establishing of the comfort stations.

The comfort stations on Hainan Island (China) were under the Navy’s control; a request was sent to Taiwan Colonization Company to establish comfort stations. However, the company decided to fund the establishing via a subsidiary company. Nevertheless, not only the War and Navy Ministries but also the Foreign Ministry and the Government-General of Taiwan were directly linked to the recruitment of comfort women for soldiers and officers.

It is important to mention the relation between entertainment and sex slavery in the system established by the Japanese military. The sex-and-entertainment system was hierarchical: while Japanese officers could have a personal geisha or another professional female entertainer, soldiers and officers watched comfort women sing and dance in special clubs designed for such entertainments (Pilzer 10). Moreover, these entertainment evenings could be transformed into an exotic performance of women who arrived from the colonies. One of the comfort women was asked to sing a Korean folk song ‘Arirang’ that was popular in Japan in the 1930s (Pilzer 11).

The existence of the sex-and-entertainment system is supported by Yi Okpun’s memories. Pilzer believes that such songs could help Japanese soldiers imagine Korea as a feminine exotic that was subjugated by (male) Japan (12). The comfort women were forced to sing other songs. Sometimes they sang exotic songs to the Japanese soldiers; sometimes they were asked to sing Japanese songs that were popular in the 1920s. Old lullabies or songs for children were also popular. Such an approach to entertainment and sexual violence was used by the soldiers “to naturalize sexual violence and war” (Pilzer 15). Thus, singing and dancing, although not sexual crimes per se, were also forms of violence at Japanese comfort stations.

Works Cited

Coetzee, Frans, and Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee. The World in Flames: A World War II Sourcebook, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.

Hirofumi, Hayashi. “Government, the Military and Business in Japan’s Wartime Comfort Woman System.” The Asia-Pacific Journal 5.1 (2008): 1-10. Print.

Lu, Catherine. “Colonialism as Structural Injustice: Historical Responsibility and Contemporary Redress.” Journal of Political Philosophy 19.3 (2011): 261-281. Print.

Pilzer, Joshua D. “Music and Dance in the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” System: A Case Study in the Performing Arts, War, and Sexual Violence.” Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture 18.1 (2014): 1-23. Print.

Introduction

The first tanks were introduced into battle in the year 1916. Before the introduction of tanks, armored cars were being used everywhere that did not have any of the capabilities of tanks. The first British tanks were put to use on the 15th of September, 1916 in battle (The WWI Tanks, p.1).

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strengths and weaknesses of British tanks in World War I go side by side. The first and most basic strength of the tanks was that their existence scared the Germans, and they had not been put out of action without more ado, and the first most successful use of tanks was in the Battle of Cambrai, in which “Certain of the tanks were equipped with massive wood fascines to aid trench crossing or special ‘grapnels’ to aid wire removal” (Battle of Cambrai: 1917, p.1). Mass tank attacks proved to be very helpful for the British and the advantages of such attacks were known by the British. In the Battle of Arras, a number of tanks were used so as to break the heavy barbed wires. This battle basically began with a mass attack of British tanks (Battle of Arras, p.1). On the other hand, the tanks had their weaknesses as well. First of all the view slits were so thin that it was nearly impossible to see much during movement and they became targets of the gunshots of enemies. Moreover, the exhaust made too much noise and the heat caused by it could have set alight the fuel tank. Another issue raised was the amount of mud that got into the treads and blocked them up” (The WWI Tanks, p.1). Because of these weaknesses, the British faced many problems in the Battle of Somme.

Conclusion

In the light of the above discussion, we can hereby culminate that the British tanks in World War I had their specific weaknesses and strengths that lead them to success as well as disappointment in certain battles.

Works Cited

Battle of Arras. Web.

Battle of Cambrai: 1917. Web.

The WWI Tanks. Web.

Introduction

In recent history, the Kashmir region in South West Asia has been a subject of confrontations and wars between the nations of India and Pakistan. The two states claim the territory as theirs; a disagreement that has disintegrated in a war about three times. At the onset of India’s independence from Britain in 1947, the country had a large Hindu population, while the newly created dominion of Pakistan had a majority of Muslim population.

As a semi-autonomous region, Kashmir citizens had the choice to join either of the two nations – India or Pakistan. The dilemma, however, arose from the fact that, although the leader of Kashmir was a Hindu, the general populace was mostly Muslim. Pakistan favored governing the territory because the population was largely Muslim such as that found within Pakistan (a Muslim state), while India desired to govern the territory Kashmir because the rulers were Hindu.

The Kashmir Region

The Kashmir region is geographically made up of beautiful valleys and green forests. Even in the midst of the conflict that has seen the two nations lay claim to its ownership, it has sufficed as a prime tourist destination. According to Taylor, despite the widely held belief that the Kashmir conflict is primarily a geo-political one, the undercurrents that spur the conflict are purely ethno-cultural (1991, p.305).

As stated earlier, Pakistan is largely a Muslim nation while India is mainly composed of Hindu populace. The ethno-religious views prevalent in both countries dictate that, to cede ground to the other would be tantamount to giving up on the particular religion.

For instance, Pakistan was granted the status of a dominion, separate from India, because its population was largely Muslim, distinct from the Hindu populace of India. Subsequently, for many Pakistanis, claiming Kashmir for their nation’s territory mirrors the very factor that granted them independence from India – religion. Therefore, to give up the claim for Kashmir would be tantamount to giving up Pakistan’s very own claim for independence.

As aforementioned, the two nations have fought about three wars over Kashmir – in 1947, 1965, and 1971, and in all these instances, Pakistan was decisively beaten. An insurgency covertly supported by Pakistan, in 1989, destabilized the region; nevertheless, there is still no definitive solution to the fate of the Kashmir region between the two states to this very day.

Conformity and the Kashmir Crisis

Conformity is the practice of changing one’s attitudes, beliefs, and practices in order to align with the prevailing attitudes, beliefs, and practices of one’s society. In India, the prevalent religion is Hindu, and the majority of the representatives in the Congress and the executive profess the Hindu faith.

All the prime ministers of India have been of Hindu faith. Conversely, Pakistan, as a Muslim nation, has had only Muslim Prime Ministers throughout its history. Therefore, unlike other western democracies which strive to separate the state from religion, in these two Asian democracies, state and religion, freely mix. Many political and economic decisions in both countries more often have religious origins.

As a result, the need for politicians to conform to the prevailing ethno-religious attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs in these two countries has played a role in escalating the Kashmir conflict. According to Tavares, the militants in Kashmir wage a battle against India in an effort to build a theocratic state in Kashmir (2008, p.280).

Despite the belief that the people of Kashmir should have a right to self determine, both India and Pakistan are unwilling to cede any ground, and the stubborn nature of all leaders involved indicates a proclivity towards societal conformity in the leaders, leading to a stalemate.

In India, a Prime Minister, for instance, willing to allow Kashmir to join Pakistan because the majority of the citizens in the region are Muslim would immediately lose influence, power, and political power. A loss in a subsequent election would not be surprising.

Therefore, as much as an Indian leader may want to solve the Kashmir conflict by ceding ground because Kashmir should rightly come under the Pakistani sovereignty, the need to conform to the prevailing national attitude would constrain him or her. Similarly, any Pakistani leader willing to let go of the Kashmir region perhaps because India, being the more powerful nation, should govern the Kashmir would easily fallout of favor with the electorate.

Therefore, the Kashmir conflict has continued, not that a solution to the conflict is unattainable, but because the political leaders of the two countries have to continuously conform to the prevailing politico-societal beliefs (Kumar 2002, p.11). As stated earlier, the undercurrents that fan the flame of the conflict are largely ethno-religious.

Social Perception and the Kashmir Conflict

Social perception is the gradual process through which people acquire beliefs and attitudes from the unique cultural experiences that prevail around them. The socialization experiences that encompass an individual create the basis on which the individual views the world.

In India, many of the citizens confess and stand by to the Hindu faith. With the exception of the northern province of Punjab, where the majority practices the Sikh faith, much of Indians professes the Hindu faith. Therefore, the social perception of the average Indian man is heavily influenced by the cultural dictates of the Hindu faith.

As such, the social perception of Indians relies heavily on the dictates of the Hindu faith. Because many religions teach the uniqueness and superiority of the particular religion over all others, the social perception of Indians encourages a non-compromising stand on conflicts such as the Kashmir conflict.

The non-compromising stand stems from the fact that in dealing with Pakistanis and the majority of the people living in Kashmir, the Indians deal with persons of another faith – Islam. Since the social perception of an Indian includes the belief in the supreme nature of the Hindu religion compared to other faiths, to compromise would mean accepting the superiority of another religion, which would go against the average Indian’s social perception.

On the other hand, the social perception of the majority of Pakistanis and people living in Kashmir is heavily influenced by the Islamic faith. Similarly, the belief in Islam and the huge role it plays in the social perception of Pakistanis precludes the possibility of a conclusive peaceful solution to the Kashmir crisis; because, the Islamic faith that influences a Pakistani’s social perception also announces its superiority over other religions.

Therefore, as much as this fact may not be acknowledged, the Kashmir conflict is primarily a religious conflict influenced by the social perceptions of the citizens of these two countries (India and Pakistan), these social perceptions being based on religion. The interest that the Muslim terrorist group Al-Qaeda has on the conflict gives credence to this religious angle to the conflict.

The late Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, in 2002, warned the USA against supporting India in the Kashmir conflict. The interest that Al-Qaeda has on Kashmir stems from the terrorist organization’s belief in the creation of Islam based states – theocracies.

Social Cognition and the Kashmir Conflict

Social cognition is the process through which an individual processes information about the society around him or her and then uses this information in interacting with others and in individual decision-making.

In relation to the Kashmir conflict, social cognition determines the approach that the various leaders of the two nations use to try to resolve the conflict. In India, the successive Prime Ministers view the conflict from a Hindu religious angle, while the Pakistani leaders view it from a Muslim religious angle. All parties, therefore, view their own specific religions as the best, and endeavor to influence the other party to subscribe to their view – leading to a stalemate and thus a continuation of the crisis.

Change of Social Perceptions that may lead to Conflict Resolution in Kashmir

As stated earlier in this paper, the major factor that has led to a lack of resolution to the Kashmir conflict has been the social perception of the citizens and leaders of the nations of India and Pakistan.

Given that the social perceptions of the citizens and leaders of the two countries are steeped in religious dogma, the first social perception that will need to be addressed in order to resolve the Kashmir crisis is the social perception based on religion. Because both nations are democracies, the fate of the citizens of Kashmir should be determined by a referendum whose results should be accepted by all parties (Ganguly & Bajpai, 1994, p.401).

Since the social perceptions of leaders in both countries are biased, a free and fair democratic process offers the best possibility for a resolution to the conflict. The citizens of Kashmir will thus be allowed to vote, and determine whether they desire to enjoin India or Pakistan; with a third option of self-governance, such as the one granted to Bangladesh.

The second social perception that needs to be removed out of the equation in order to achieve a solution to the Kashmir conflict is the belief that ‘might is right’.

The leaders in both India and Pakistan perceive military might as the surest way of conquering the opponent. Ever since the conflict began at independence, both India and Pakistan have endeavored to create and maintain large armies and weaponry in order to be at an advantage incase of war. Currently, both countries are nuclear powers (Ganguly, 1990, p.60). The rush to store up arms incase of war or for defensive purposes only serves to heighten tensions between the two states.

Conclusion

In conclusion, even though the crisis over the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan has carried on for decades, it is not necessarily difficult to solve. As discussed in the paper, the crisis is primarily fuelled by biased social perceptions, social cognitions, and the unnecessary need to conform by the leaders and citizens of these two countries. Through elimination of the social perceptions that hinder peace, a solution to the Kashmir conflict is possible.

References

Ganguly, S. (1990). Avoiding war in Kashmir. Foreign Affairs, 69(5), 57-73.

Ganguly, S., & Bajpai, K. (1994). India and the crisis on Kashmir. Asian Survey, 34(5)

401-408.

Kumar, R. (2002). Untying the Kashmir Knot. World Policy Journal, 19(1), 11-14.

Tavares, R. (2008). Resolving the Kashmir Conflict: Pakistan, India, Kashmiris, and Religious Militants. Asian Journal of Political Science, 16(3), 276-302.

Taylor, D. (1991). The Kashmir crisis. Asian Affairs, 22(3), 303-307.

The Battle of Carentan, an important battle during World War II, was fought between the Allied forces and Germany as part of Operation Overlord. This occurred between July 6 and 13, 1944 (Blades, 2019). In Carentan, US ground forces attacked German positions, and paratroopers landed behind enemy lines to take up fire positions. The Allied forces were able to defeat the weaker German defenders after the USAF bombarded the German positions. The combat concluded in American success, and the Americans acquired a footing in Normandy.

Carentan, a port city in Normandy, France, is surrounded by wetlands and was recognized as the sole point of entry for the boundary, as well as a crucial strategic area that needed to be captured rapidly in order to move into Normandy territory. The first explosions occurred above the city on June 6th morning (Blades, 2019). It required six days of fierce combat to liberate the city and establish a link between the Utah Beach and Omaha Beach beachheads (temporary zones formed when a military unit arrives at the landing beach by water and begins defending the territory until further reinforcements arrive) (Burney, 2021). The landing site was chosen for a variety of reasons, including the strength of the enemy’s coastal defenses, the distance from British ports, and the radius of action of Allied aircraft since the Allied fleet and landing force required aircraft cover.

The plan included destroying the railway line as well as all bridges, but positions were tough to maintain. Several structures that had been evacuated were damaged by naval artillery fire, and both teams suffered significant defeats (Olinski, 2021). Soldiers from the United States and Germany were stationed close enough so that they could hear each other’s conversations and employ edged weapons in battle (Yockelson, 2020). The conflict was ended when American artillery was activated on June 11, 1944, and a vast Allied force moved into Carentan at daybreak on June 12, 1944, while the Germans retreated at night (Yockelson, 2020). During the conflict, inhabitants were left without running water or power, as well as decaying rubbish and dead animals, which filled the air with a horrible odor (Yockelson, 2020). The route to Normandy was cleared after numerous severe fights, and it became one of the essential components of the Allies’ continued progress.

This assault, which began in 1944 and was part of Operation Overlord, was one of the pivotal engagements of the Second Front. The military invasion plan known as Operation Overlord was carried out in June and July 1944 in Northwest France by forces from the United States, the United Kingdom, and its allies (Olinski, 2021). The US and British authorities moved forward with preparations for the opening of the second front in Europe after the resolutions of the Tehran Conference of 1943. Beginning in early 1944, United British American headquarters devised a plan to transport British-American forces across the strait by ship. Seize a bridgehead in Normandy and reach the line of the Seine and Loire rivers (Operation Neptune) (Blades, 2019).

The city of Carentan was the final major goal and one of the most crucial at the outset of the Normandy campaign. The aim of Operation Neptune, the assault phase of Overlord, was to block the approaches to Utah Beach and capture the beach ramps in order to facilitate the landings of the US 4th Infantry Division (Yockelson, 2020). To bolster the beachheads in Omaha and Utah, Allied forces needed to conquer the city. Carentan was the largest settlement in the region, despite being a tiny town with only roughly 4,000 residents (Yockelson, 2020). The city was strategically essential for German communications since the double-track railroad from Paris to Cherbourg went through its heart. The city served as a conduit for Germany’s forces to be sent to amphibious assaults as they fought the seas and tried to gain a weak footing on the landing beaches.

The only dependable route to Carentan was downhill from the three-mile-away settlement of Saint-Com-du-Mont and across the open causeway that supported the main road (Yockelson, 2020). As the fatalities mounted, Taylor directed his ground officers to negotiate a cease-fire at midday to gather the dead and injured (Yockelson, 2020). Taylor used the opportunity to send a message to Major Friedrich von der Heidte, the German commander, offering him the option to surrender (Olinski, 2021). Heidte could not even accept Taylor’s proposition because of Hitler’s stern demands to hold Carentan at all costs (Yockelson, 2020). The German forces had run out of weapon supplies by June 12, so von der Heidte ordered his forces to flee Carentan under cover of darkness and fire (Olinski, 2021).

The regaining of Carentan would be the first step for the Germans in putting a breach between the two US landing coastal zones, greatly hampering and maybe ruining the Allied invasion. On June 13, at daybreak, the reinforced troops launched a counter-offensive on Carentan in the northeast. Under heavy German fire, the outmanned and outgunned Allied soldiers were forced almost to the city’s periphery (Yockelson, 2020). The tanks counterattacked southwest of Carentan, escorted by infantry, inflicting huge losses on the Germans and forcing them to flee at this vital stage (Burney, 2021). Following the American triumph, soldiers from Utah and Omaha beaches were combined to form a secure staging location for future American operations.

The Normandy Amphibious Operation, another name for Operation Overlord, became the largest amphibious operation of the 2nd World War and opened a second front in Europe, which became an essential factor in the successful conduct of warfare actions by the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition at the final stage of the war against Germany. At the outset of the war, Allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill believed that a major invasion of continental Europe would be necessary to relieve pressure from the Soviet army fighting the Nazis in the east (Blades, 2019). Roosevelt and Churchill intended to assault Europe through Italy after invading North Africa. The Normandy campaign became the most ambitious military strategy ever devised.

The Allied assault in Normandy in August 1944 brought the whole German Western Front to a halt, and German soldiers were only able to re-establish a new front line on Germany’s western border in September 1944, known as the “Siegfried Line” (Blades, 2019). The Allies approached Germany’s western border over its entire length in the fall of 1944 and, in some areas, even crossed it. In November 1944, American and French soldiers began an attack across the Vosges Mountains in north-eastern France, liberating much of Alsace and Lorraine and reaching the Upper Rhine in Alsace (Blades, 2019). As a result, Germany has lost nearly all of its Western European positions.

Hundreds of thousands of American, Canadian, and European troops fought at the Battle of Carentan as part of the biggest invading force in history. The invasion of Europe from the north of France in 1944 was the Western Allies’ greatest major success in World War II. After a long and expensive fight to secure their victories on the Normandy beaches, American, British, and Canadian forces stormed into the interior of France and began a quick onslaught (Blades, 2019). Despite heavy German opposition, particularly on Omaha Beach, the Americans, British, and Canadians held the defense and provided a crucial springboard for the liberation struggle.

In terms of strategy, Germany was on the verge of defeat at this point in the conflict. The Wehrmacht was beaten in the east and forced to retire, having been overwhelmed by Russian forces and the weather; German towns were decimated by incessant Allied bombing, and the Luftwaffe was reduced to a few small pockets of resistance (Blades, 2019). In France, what little German military force left was significant but not enough to prevent defeat for long. Normandy, on the other hand, was not a sideshow. Regardless, the Allies’ successful landing signaled America’s emergence as the world’s preeminent force.

The Allies might regroup and try again if the D-Day landings failed. The continental United States was mostly unaffected by the war’s effects. However, a second effort at D-Day, which failed in 1944, may have resulted in the employment of nuclear weapons (Blades, 2019). Meanwhile, Eurasia has arguably come under the rule of another great authoritarian power, the Iron Curtain, which has drawn considerably closer to the English Channel than Germany’s internal boundary.

The days of German resistance were numbered after the success of Operation Overlord. As the Allies made their way east, Paris was secured in August 1944 (Blades, 2019). In the meantime, the Soviet Union was encroaching on German territory. The Normandy campaign, particularly the Battle of Carentan, was a grueling battle. On the eastern side of the front, British forces took the main weight of German resistance, allowing American soldiers to achieve a breakthrough in the west (Blades, 2021). The infantry, in particular, suffered a lot of casualties (Blades, 2019). Because the Allied drive towards the German border could not be sustained, the Germans were able to reorganize. Moreover, the campaign came to a standstill as winter approached.

In December, Hitler’s final desperate counter-offensive in the Ardennes failed to avoid defeat. The unexpected counter-offensive had considerable success at first but was quickly quelled by American forces. As the weather improved, Allied air strikes finished the job of destroying the German forces. The Allies began their offensive in March 1945, crossing the Rhine, Germany’s final major impediment, where the final crucial battle of the war happened on March 23, 1945 (Blades, 2019). Although there were many casualties, American forces had already crossed the river in several locations to the south, where, on the Elbe in April, British and American forces joined the Russians (Olinski, 2021). On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered, bringing the war in Europe to a close.

Despite the heavy losses suffered by the Allied forces, the battle of Carentan was beneficial in terms of securing the base for the next advances of the army into the continent. It was the battle of Carentan that significantly impacted the whole Normandy campaign. Perhaps, if this battle would not have been won, the Allied forces would never make it into Europe, thus completely altering the course of the war.

References

Burney, R. E. (2021). D-Day to December 1944: The odyssey of the third auxiliary surgical group in World War II. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 91(2), S9-S18.

Blades, B. S. (2019). The Americans on D-Day & in Normandy. Pen and Sword.

Olinski, T. (2021). Timothy Heck, and BA Friedman (eds.), On Contested Shores: The Evolving Role of Amphibious Operations in the History of Warfare. Quantico: Marine Corps University Press, 2020. Journal of Military and Strategic Studies, 21(1).

Yockelson, M. (2020). Forgotten Fights: The 101st Airborne at Carentan. The National WWII Museum. Web.

Throughout history, several injustices have been committed by various people and groups. History scholars often evaluate the perpetrators of such injustices. Perpetrators are often thought to be brutal sadists without any conscience or morals but they are never thought to be ordinary human beings.

The reasons why most people often avoid looking at perpetrators from this angle is because they fear that they might recognize some similarities between the perpetrators and themselves. “Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland” is a book that tells the story about ordinary people who become fierce genocide perpetrators.

The author of this book is Christopher Browning a renowned holocaust scholar. The author’s main argument in this book is that everyone obeys the government and authority figures and people always comply with these rules to avoid being alienated.

The author of this book traces the activities of a German police squad named ‘Reserve Police Battalion (RPB) 101’. The RPB 101 is a police unit that has members who are recruited from ordinary citizens. The unit goes from being an amateur police unit to being a formidable killer force.

Holocaust scholars are always divided in terms of their opinions about what triggered and sustained the holocaust. Browning’s opinions are always considered to be ‘moderately functionalist’. According to him, the order to eliminate the Jewish people came after a big number of Jewish people had already been eliminated.

The author’s expertise on the subject has seen him contribute to the Holocaust museum and act as an expert witness in Nazi trials. Browning’s other works have dealt with Holocaust recollections and war trials. Nevertheless, “Ordinary Men” is one of the author’s most significant works. The book also serves as a source of micro-history for Holocaust scholars.

“Ordinary Men” starts by giving statistics about the extent of the Holocaust by 1942. According to the author, in March of 1942 over seventy-five per cent of all holocaust victims were still alive. However, a year later over seventy-five percent of the Holocaust victims were dead. The author points out that between March 1942 and February 1943, there were a lot of mass murders that were going on.

In addition, the author pinpoints Poland as the epicenter of the Holocaust. This means that there had to be several German operatives on the ground during the height of the Holocaust. However, the author points out that during this time the German army was pre-occupied in the battle of Stalingrad. This means that the German administration had to source manpower from elsewhere.

The author set out to Germany to investigate the suspicious circumstances surrounding the success of the Holocaust. When perusing through records in the State Administration for Justice’s office, Browning came across the RPB 101’s records. The author then acknowledges the people who helped him in the course of his research.

The book’s first chapter starts with the leader of the RPB 101 briefing his soldiers. Major Wilhelm Trapp lets his soldiers know about the task that lay ahead. According to Trapp, the soldiers were to “round up Jews in the village of Józefów, separate those who were of working age (who were to be sent to concentration camps) from women, children, and the elderly, and then shoot the rest.”

In a surprising turn of events in this first chapter, Major Trapp offers the soldiers a chance to abstain from the task if they felt like they were not up to it. However, the author does not reveal whether any of the soldiers take this chance at this point but he instead continues with the next chapter. The main reason why the author chose to start the book with a cliffhanger is to capture the reader’s attention.

In the next chapter, the author does not continue with the subject matter of the first chapter. Instead, the author begins tracing the RPB’s origin. According to Browning, RPB 101 was part of the Order Police an organization that was created by Nazi. The order police operated like the army police and they had basic military training and equipment.

In the subsequent chapters, the author delves into the activities of the Order Police around 1940. The Order Police mostly took part in the slaughter of Jews in the Soviet Union. Browning details how the Holocaust began with public beatings and humiliations. Eventually, the humiliated people would be dragged to the woods where they were shot. The Order Police was also charged with transporting people to concentration camps.

The fifth chapter addresses the main activities of the RPB 101. For instance, the RPB’s activities in the 1940 included resettling the Jews who were living in Nazi territory in a bid to achieve “racial purity.” The book also has a detailed analysis of the members of the RPB 101. According to the author, the members consisted mostly of middle-aged working class men.

The author does a good job of giving a historical background of the Order Police and RPB 101. This helps casual readers understand most of the events surrounding the Holocaust. The background information offered by the author also helps supplement his primary sources, which in this case are the RPB 101’s records.

Browning informs readers that the men in Battalion 101 were not necessarily hardcore Nazi adherents. The group was consisted of people who had preexisting political and moral standards even before joining Nazi. The author notes that even the Nazi leaders had little faith in the group. The author then revisits the cliffhanger in the first chapter by continuing narrating about the RPB 101’s first experience in Józefów.

According to the book, only thirteen men out of a group of around 500 men chose to take Major Trapp’s offer and abstain from the mass killings. The author then continues to explore the circumstances surrounding RPB 101’s massacre. The book ends with the members of the RPB 101 retreating to Germany. The book also offers a few details about the trials that resulted from RPB 101’s atrocities.

According to the author, only three members of this battalion were convicted. Moreover, none of their sentences exceeded four years. The author’s protests against the aftermath of the Holocaust are apparent. The author then recaps the process through which ordinary people became killing machines.

One of the author’s main influences is Paul Hilberg. This explains why this book has some similarities with Hilberg’s earlier book “Perpetrators, Victims, and Bystanders”. Like Hilberg, Browning addresses the issue of studying perpetrators with the view of empathizing with them.

This approach is not common among historians. Most historians usually study perpetrators with the view of castigating them. Browning opts for simplicity when writing this book. The author does not use any complicated grammar or writing style. Instead, the author uses simple sentences that are devoid of any pretentious synonyms. This style increases the scope of the book’s intended audience.

The author’s simple style of writing saw the book being embraced even by the mainstream audience. The book’s first chapter is very short and it shocks the readers to some extent. The events that transpire in the beginning of the book almost seem fictional. The author’s specific details about what happened the first time the RPB 101 arrived in Poland are shocking. However, the readers often doubt the accuracy of these details.

For instance, it is hard for the reader to believe that the RPB’s leader spoke “with a choking voice and tears in his eyes.” The only way to ascertain the accuracy of these details is by accessing the author’s primary sources and this is not easy to accomplish. Nevertheless, it is through these candid details that the author is able to connect the audience with the RPB 101 members in a more humane level.

The author’s choice of language is very important to the book’s overall outlook. For example, the author uses language that helps unearth the perpetrator’s inner characters. In one instance, the author claims that the perpetrators “committed several more massacres to mirror their desensitization.” The author also portrays the men’s ‘fun side’ using casual language in their dialogue including the use of nicknames.

This choice is in line with the author’s aim of investigating the perpetrators with a view of emphasizing with them. Another strong point of this book is the author’s sources. The author mostly relies on Nazi reports and diaries as his primary sources. This makes “Ordinary Men” a useful secondary source as far as the history of the Holocaust is concerned.

The author’s main sources are the ones concerning RPB 101 and they are the book’s most valued asset. Moreover, the author manages to use visual sources in his book. The visual sources include photographs and maps. However, the author chose to put all his visual sources in one page as opposed to spreading them around the book. The latter would have been more beneficial.

The book was well received in both academic and non-academic circles. The book’s new method of exploring perpetrators was very popular with critics. However, shortly after “Ordinary Men” was published another book titled “Hitler’s Willing Executioners” by Daniel Goldhagen sought to discredit Browning’s work. Among Goldhagen’s major protests is that the men in the RPB 101 were ordinary human beings.

On the other hand, Browning accuses Goldhagen of providing ‘populist’ conclusions in his book. Nonetheless, Goldhagen is able to point out some valid inconsistencies in Browning’s book. For instance, Browning misrepresents the dates when the massacres supposedly started.

Overall, “Ordinary Men” is an insightful book that deserves recognition for its original historical account on the Holocaust. Browning is able to balance between providing a well-researched historical account and a well-analyzed conclusion concerning the activities of RPB 101.

However, the author seems determined to seek empathy for the RPB 101 members and therefore ignores some inconsistencies in his story. Nevertheless, the author is able to persuade the readers to empathize with the members of the 101 battalion. This book could be beneficial to all readers who might be interested in history especially that of the Holocaust.

Bibliography

Browning, Christopher. Ordinary Men. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993.

Goldhagen, Daniel. Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. New York: Basic Books, 2007.

Hilberg, Raul. Perpetrators Victims Bystanders: Jewish Catastrophe 1933-1945. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.

Sivan, Edward. War and Remembrance in the 20th century. New York: Cambridge, 1999.