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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">America’s Longest War - A Brief Timeline of US Military Campaigns in the Middle East</h1>January 12, 2024</div>
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America's longest war in the Middle East. (Image: Palestine Chronicle)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-editors" title="Display all articles for Palestine Chronicle Editors">Palestine Chronicle Editors</a></strong></p>
<blockquote>
<h3><span>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.</span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>The United States and Britain carried out strikes against Yemen in the early hours of Friday local time.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>Refusing to apply any pressure on Israel, Washington opted to attack Ansarallah targets in Yemen. </span></p>
<p><span>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”.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<h4><b>History of War </b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>Here is a short timeline of some of these wars and military interventions.</span></p>
<h4><b>1982–1983: War on Lebanon</b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>As Israel was trying to eliminate Palestinian, Lebanese and
other Arab Resistance in the country, Washington came to the rescue. </span></p>
<p><span>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”. </span></p>
<p><span>American gunboats engaged in the bombing of several targets, including the town of Suk Al-Gharb.</span></p>
<h4><b>1986 – War on Libya</b></h4>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<h4><b>1991 – The First War on Iraq</b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<h4><b>1991 – 2003 – Also Iraq</b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<h4><b>1998 – Afghanistan and Sudan</b></h4>
<p><span>The Clinton Administration ordered a massive aerial attack on
targets in both Afghanistan and Sudan, under the guise of fighting
terrorism.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>But the so-called Operation Infinite Reach, of August 1998
seemed to be motivated by something else entirely, a distraction from
Clinton’s </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/eafricabombing/stories/decision082198.htm"><span>sexual scandal </span></a><span>at the White House, which ultimately resulted in his impeachment. </span></p>
<h4><b>1998 – Iraq again</b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>Later years proved that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Sporadic attacks on Iraq continued for years. </span></p>
<h4><b>2001–2021 – War on Afghanistan</b></h4>
<p><span>Dubbed a ‘War on Terror’, Washington and its Western allies launched a major war and invasion of Afghanistan in October 2021.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<h4><b>2003 – 2011 – The Second War on Iraq</b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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.”</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<h4><b>2011 – War on Libya</b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<h4><b>2018 – Attack on Syria</b></h4>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<h4><b>2021 – Syria again</b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<h4><b>2014 – to date</b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>This resulted in attacks that took place in Yemen, Somalia, and other parts of the Middle East and East Africa. </span></p>
<h4><b>The Kill List </b></h4>
<p><span>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.”</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<h4><b>2000 – 2023 – War on Yemen</b></h4>
<p><span>US attacks on Yemen have taken place under several US
administrations, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden, resulting in the killing
and wounding of thousands.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>Most of the attacks took place during the administrations of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.</span></p>
<h4><b>2023 – Operation Prosperity Guardian </b></h4>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>On January 12, at dawn, the US and the UK launched a major aerial strike against Yemeni targets.</span></p>
<p><i><span>(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 </span></i><a href="https://www.newamerica.org/future-security/reports/americas-counterterrorism-wars/the-war-in-yemen/"><i><span>here</span></i></a><i><span>.) </span></i></p>
<p><i><span>(The Palestine Chronicle)</span></i></p>
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