[News] America’s Longest War - A Brief Timeline of US Military Campaigns in the Middle East

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America’s Longest War - A Brief Timeline of US Military Campaigns in the
Middle EastJanuary 12, 2024
------------------------------
America's longest war in the Middle East. (Image: Palestine Chronicle)

*By Palestine Chronicle Editors
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-editors>*

Historically, the US policies in the Middle East have been predicated on
firepower, as a fundamental way of influencing geopolitics. Here are a few
examples.

The United States and Britain carried out strikes against Yemen in the
early hours of Friday local time.

Massive explosions occurred in Sanaa, Hodeidah, and other cities, the Yemen
Ansarallah movement and eyewitnesses said, leading to the death of five
people and the wounding of six others.

The action comes after Washington and London vowed to retaliate against
Ansarallah’s prevention of Israel-bound ships from traveling in the Bab
Al-Mandab Strait, in the Red Sea.

Following the attack, Ansarallah said that they will continue to target
ships going to or returning from Israeli ports until Tel Aviv ends its
genocidal war on Gaza and allows for critical aid to reach the starving
population of the Strip.

Refusing to apply any pressure on Israel, Washington opted to attack
Ansarallah targets in Yemen.

US officials – including the Coordinator for Strategic Communications at
the National Security Council in the White House John Kirby – have said
that Washington hopes that the Yemeni group has “received the message”.

An Ansarallah spokesperson told the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen channel on Friday
morning, however, that his group’s message is, in fact, directed to the
Palestinians themselves, particularly those in Gaza, that Ansarallah will
continue to stand by their side against Israeli crimes.
*History of War *

Historically, the US policies in the Middle East have been predicated on
firepower, as a fundamental way of influencing geopolitics and resolving
issues that it could not achieve through other means.

Here is a short timeline of some of these wars and military interventions.
*1982–1983: War on Lebanon*

In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. It was not the first time that Tel
Aviv carried out a major military aggression against its small Arab
neighbor.

As Israel was trying to eliminate Palestinian, Lebanese and other Arab
Resistance in the country, Washington came to the rescue.

In September 1982, the US dispatched the battleships USS John Rodgers and
nuclear cruiser USS Virginia to the Lebanese shores in a military operation
justified on the basis of the so-called “aggressive self-defense”.

American gunboats engaged in the bombing of several targets, including the
town of Suk Al-Gharb.
*1986 – War on Libya*

In March 1986, the Reagan Administration authorized a massive military
strike on Libyan military targets focused mostly on Tripoli, Benghazi,
Mitiga International Airport, and Benina International Airport.

In the following month, US air and naval forces carried out a series of
naval strikes on the Libyan capital of Tripoli, resulting in the death of
at least 40 Libyans, including the adoptive daughter of Libyan leader Col.
Muammar Gaddafi.
*1991 – The First War on Iraq*

Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, a post-Cold War
triumphant US galvanized a 42-country coalition, carrying out a major war
against Iraq.

The American war, which resulted in the death of tens of thousands, came in
two phases: the so-called Operation Desert Shield, which lasted from August
1990 to January 1991, and Operation Desert Storm, which began with a
massive bombardment campaign against Iraq in January 1991.

The war resulted in the establishment of many US military bases in the Gulf
region, and sowed the seeds of many other military interventions and
conflicts, which continue to be felt throughout the region until this day.
*1991 – 2003 – Also Iraq*

Following the war in Iraq, the US and its allies have demarcated geographic
areas in the northern and southern parts of the country as no-fly zones, in
which the Iraqi military was not allowed to operate.

Habitually, the US bombed numerous Iraqi targets, leading up to so-called
Operation Desert Fox in 1998, and ultimately to another major war on Iraq
in 2003.
*1998 – Afghanistan and Sudan*

The Clinton Administration ordered a massive aerial attack on targets in
both Afghanistan and Sudan, under the guise of fighting terrorism.

The attack, however, especially in the case of Sudan, seemed to target
civilian infrastructure, particularly the country’s largest pharmaceutical
company, Al-Shifa, an event that proved disastrous for the coming months
and years.

But the so-called Operation Infinite Reach, of August 1998 seemed to be
motivated by something else entirely, a distraction from Clinton’s sexual
scandal
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/eafricabombing/stories/decision082198.htm>at
the White House, which ultimately resulted in his impeachment.
*1998 – Iraq again*

In that same year, also the Clinton administration carried out the
so-called Operation Desert Fox, a four-day bombing campaign against Iraq,
which lasted from December 16-19.

As is often the case, Washington was joined by London in its brief but
deadly war. Both countries claimed that Iraq was being punished for
interfering with the work of United Nations Special Commission inspectors
who were looking for weapons of mass destruction.

Later years proved that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Sporadic
attacks on Iraq continued for years.
*2001–2021 – War on Afghanistan*

Dubbed a ‘War on Terror’, Washington and its Western allies launched a
major war and invasion of Afghanistan in October 2021.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Afghanistan was subjected to 20
years of a relentless war, which resulted in the death and wounding –
whether directly or as a result of war-related famine and conflicts – of
hundreds of thousands of Afghans.
*2003 – 2011 – The Second War on Iraq*

The second US-led Western war on Iraq was also conducted under the guise of
fighting terrorism, though Iraq had no proven links to the September 11
2001 attacks, nor were WMDs found in the country.

The official goal of the military operation, according to Washington, was
“to disarm Iraq in pursuit of peace, stability, and security both in the
Gulf region and in the United States.”

Aside from over one million dead Iraqis, the US-led war has destabilized
the Middle East until this day, resulting in the collapse of the Iraqi
state and the rise of regional militancy.
*2011 – War on Libya*

After misinterpreting UN Security Council Resolution 1973, the US and other
NATO members launched on March 19, a war against Libya, dubbed Operation
Odyssey Dawn.

Though the war ultimately led to the collapse of the Libyan state, it
resulted in an equally deadly civil war and the division of the country,
which remains in effect until this day.
*2018 – Attack on Syria*

The US and its allies carried out military strikes against the Syrian
cities of Damascus and Homs in April 2018, alleging that Syria had used
chemical weapons in an attack in the city of Douma.
*2021 – Syria again*

In February 2021, the US carried out airstrikes on a border region in
eastern Syria, claiming that the attack was in retaliation to a previous
attack against US and coalition forces in Iraq.
*2014 – to date*

In 2014, US and other NATO members, but also regional militaries, began to
strike positions belonging to a movement calling itself the Islamic State,
or ISIS.

The ‘War against ISIS’ also included other groups, such as Al-Qaeda and
Al-Nusra Front. The attacks took place in regions across Iraq and Syria.

American attacks also took place in various parts of the Middle East and
Africa, according to a list of targets designated by the Pentagon and
approved by the White House.

This resulted in attacks that took place in Yemen, Somalia, and other parts
of the Middle East and East Africa.
*The Kill List *

The so-called Disposition Matrix, or, informally the kill list, is a
“database of information for tracking, capturing, rendering, or killing
suspected enemies of the United States.”

The kill list was developed by the Obama administration in 2010. Although
Obama had acquired a reputation of being a man of peace, his kill list
allowed him to reach targets anywhere in the world, and allowed the US
military and intelligence to conduct a covert war without an official
declaration of war or approval from Congress.
*2000 – 2023 – War on Yemen*

US attacks on Yemen have taken place under several US administrations,
Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden, resulting in the killing and wounding of
thousands.

US attacks often took place through the use of the US military drone
program, and were often justified as part of US ‘war on terror’,
particularly, Al Qaeda.

Most of the attacks took place during the administrations of Barack Obama
and Donald Trump.
*2023 – Operation Prosperity Guardian *

On December 18, 2023, the Biden administration launched so-called Operation
Prosperity Guardian, with the aim of protecting the safety of commercial
ships in the Red Sea.

On January 11, a US draft resolution was approved by the United Nations
Security Council, which condemned the Yemeni Ansarallah movement, but
without authorizing any military action against Yemen.

On January 12, at dawn, the US and the UK launched a major aerial strike
against Yemeni targets.

*(Note: Since many US military operations are carried out without
congressional approval, it is not easy to sum up all US military
interventions and attacks in the Middle East. The so-called Obama Kill List
is a case in point. For more information on US strikes on Yemen in
particular, click **here*
<https://www.newamerica.org/future-security/reports/americas-counterterrorism-wars/the-war-in-yemen/>
*.) *

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*
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