MORE Afghanistan War

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, seizing control of cities, military bases, and communication and trade routes. The Afghanistan fighters called the  Mujahideen, , fought the Soviets from 1979-1989. The mujahideen were significantly assisted by America's C.I.A. during the Carter and Reagan administrations.



When the Soviet Union pulled troops out of Afghanistan in 1989, a civil war began as the Mujahideen groups began fighting each other for control of Kabul, the capital city. After several years of devastating fighting between themselves, a new armed movement emerged, known as Taliban, or “students of Islam”and took control. 




The Taliban implemented one of the strictest interpretations of Shar’ia law ever seen in the Muslim world including the complete ban of education for girls and employment for women. The new regime was widely criticized internationally for its treatment of women.

Women were forced to wear the burqa in public, because, according to a Taliban spokesman, “the face of a woman is a source of corruption” for men not related to them. A burqa  is an outer garment that cloaks the entire body and head, with a mesh panel covering the eyes. 

Women were not permitted to work; prior to the Taliban women made up 25% of the Afghan government’s work force. While female health care workers were exempted, they endured a segregated bus system and extreme harassment.

The education of girls was banned after the age of eight, and until then, they were permitted only to study the Qur’an. Women seeking an education were forced to attend underground schools where they and their teachers risked execution if caught. 

They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male chaperone, which led to illnesses remaining untreated. For violating these prohibitions, they faced public flogging and execution. 



The Taliban allowed and in some cases encouraged marriage for girls under the age of 16. Amnesty International reported that 80 percent of Afghan marriages were without the girl’s consent.

From May 1996, Osama bin Laden, founder of the terrorist group al Qaeda and responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., was living in Afghanistan with other members, operating terrorist training camps in a loose alliance with the Taliban.

After the 2001 attacks, America and its allies sent troops to free the Afghan people from the rule of the Taliban and to kill Osama bin Laden. 

The results were the liberation of over 13,000,000 Afghan citizens from oppressive Taliban rule and the prevention of al-Qaeda operations in that area. 

The first task was the creation of a new, democratic government in Afghanistan. A land of tribal warlords, Hamid Karzai emerged as an influential man, who would accept the position as Interim President of Afghanistan.

However, by 2008, it was clear that the Taliban was not completely defeated. A resurgent Taliban, having regrouped in Pakistan, was again engaging U.S., Afghan and international forces in Afghanistan.

 In the first months of the Obama Administration, additional U.S. forces would deploy to Afghanistan to deal with increasing aggression by the Taliban. Pakistan would prove to be a fragile state, with the Taliban engaging their forces 20 miles from the capital city, Islamabad.

Obama promised to bring our troops home by 2014 but he recently changed his mind and said that American soldiers would remain in Afghanistan as long as he is President. 

Watch this 3 minute video that was shown on the news only six months ago. 

Written assignment: Write FIVE questions  along with the answers, based on the above reading and videos. Title your page: Afghanistan War Q & A.

Comment: Why did our President decide to leave American troops in Afghanistan? Do you think this is right? 

Afghanistan War

On September 20, 2001, in a speech to a joint session of Congress, President Bush asserted: “Any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.” 

 

In response to the September 11 attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush proclaimed a war on terrorism. Bush demanded that the Taliban, the Islamic group that ran Afghanistan's government, hand over Osama bin Laden. The Taliban refused. On October 7, 2001, the United States began air strikes on targets in Afghanistan connected to Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. That launched the Afghanistan War. U.S.-led forces soon toppled the Taliban and helped build a more democratic government in Afghanistan.

About 100,000 U.S. troops served in Afghanistan and more than 2,100 U.S. soldiers have been killed there since 2001. Since the war began, many top Al Qaeda leaders have been captured or killed. But for a long time, Bin Laden could not be found. He was suspected of hiding out in the mountains near the border of Pakistan.

Finally, on May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced that U.S. military forces located and killed Osama bin laden in Pakistan who was hiding in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Watch some actual footage of the 

raid that found Osama Bin 

Laden.

Watch as President Obama tells America the news. 

September 11 Tribute and Memorial

The National September 11 Memorial is a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993. 

The 9/11 Memorial is located at the site of the former World Trade Center complex and occupies approximately half of the 16-acre site. The Memorial features two enormous waterfalls and reflecting pools, each about an acre in size, set within the footprints of the original Twin Towers.

The Memorial’s twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. 

The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools, a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.

 The Memorial plaza is one of the most eco-friendly plazas ever constructed. More than 400 trees surround the reflecting pools. Its design conveys a spirit of hope and renewal, and creates a contemplative space separate from the usual sights and sounds of a bustling metropolis.

Swamp white oak trees create a rustling canopy of leaves over the plaza. This grove of trees bring green rebirth in the spring, provide cooling shade in the summer and show seasonal color in fall. A small clearing in the grove, known as the Memorial Glade, designates a space for gatherings and special ceremonies.

With its grove of trees, the Memorial’s plaza is an actual green roof for the structure housing the 9/11 Memorial Museum, a train station and other facilities 70 feet below street level. 

The paving of the plaza sits on a series of concrete tables that suspend the plaza over troughs of nutrient-rich soil for the planted trees. The system’s design allows for stable pavement on which people can walk, while providing a space for uncompacted, or loose soil, for healthy tree growth. Many times urban trees live in stressful conditions because they are planted underneath pavements with compacted soil, potentially choking off the nutrient and water supply to roots.

Crews selected and harvested trees planted at the 9/11 Memorial from within a 500-mile radius of the World Trade Center site, with additional ones coming from locations in Pennsylvania and in Maryland near Washington, D.C., areas impacted on September 11, 2001.

Swamp white oaks were picked because of their durability and leaf color. In fall, the leaf color ranges from amber to a golden brown – and sometimes pink. The trees can grow to reach heights as tall as 60 feet in conditions similar to those on the plaza. The trees will never be identical, growing at different heights and changing leaves at different times, a physical reminder that they are living individuals.

Comment: What do you think of this memorial? Do you have any other ideas you would have implemented into the design? 

2000: 9/11 Bombing of the World Trade Center

On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked, or took control of, four airplanes in the United States. 

They flew two of the planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing the towers to catch fire and collapse.

Another plane destroyed part of the Pentagon building (the U.S. military headquarters) in Arlington, Virginia. 

The fourth plane, Flight 93,  crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania and was thought to be headed towards the Capital Building at the White House. 

All told, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. The events of September 11 (often called "9/11") have been described as the worst-ever terrorist attacks against the U.S. 

The hijacked Flight 11 was crashed into floors 93 to 99 of the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. 

The hijacked Flight 175 struck floors 77 to 85 of the South Tower 17 minutes later at 9:03 a.m. 

When the towers were struck, between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the WTC complex. Of those, the vast majority evacuated safely. As they rushed out, first responders rushed in trying to save those still trapped or injured. 

The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes’ burning jet fuel. They weakened the steel support trusses, which attached each of the floors to the buildings’ exterior walls. Along with the initial damage to the buildings’ structural columns, this ultimately caused both towers to collapse.

The World Trade Center was a 16-acre business complex in   Manhattan that contained seven buildings, a large plaza, and an underground shopping mall that connected six of the buildings. 

The centerpieces of the complex were the Twin Towers. They  were the tallest buildings in New York City. At 110 stories each, the North Tower and the South Tower provided  office space for about 35,000 people and 430 companies.  

New Yorkers covered in ash

Investigations revealed that the hijackings were carried out by 19 men — five on each of the first three planes and four on the last. All 19 were reportedly linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda (ahl KAY-dah). The group's leader, Osama bin Laden, operated out of Afghanistan. 

The U.S. government identified bin Laden as the main planner of the attacks. Fifteen of the 19 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. Two were from the United Arab Emirates, one was from Lebanon, and one was from Egypt. Al-Qaeda was based in Afghanistan. They operated training camps there, and openly lived in the country with the support of the Taliban, an Islamist group that ruled  the country. 

The terrorists did not have the capacity to destroy the United States militarily, so they set their sights on symbolic targets instead. 

The Twin Towers, as the centerpieces of the World Trade Center, symbolized globalization and America’s economic power and prosperity. Al-Qaeda hoped that, by attacking these symbols of American power, they would promote widespread fear throughout the country and severely weaken the United States’  standing in the world community, ultimately supporting their political and religious goals in the Middle East and Muslim World.

Watch this video narrated by a girl who was present at the time of the plane crashing into the WTC.

One more 2 minute video presenting basic 9/11 information.

This video shares information about Flight 93 as passengers realized that hijackers were in control of the plane and decide to try to stop them.  

Blog: What do you feel or share your thoughts after  reading this blog and watching these videos?

1990: Saddam Hussein

Who Is Saddam Hussein?

Saddam Hussein, the past President of Iraq,  used any means necessary to hold onto power for more than two decades. His reign continued even in the face of U.S. plans to overthrow him.

Such defiance comes from a determination for power from an early age. Hussein was born in 1937 in Al-jawa, a village in north-central Iraq. He was raised by his widowed mother and other relatives. After moving to Baghdad in 1955, he joined the Baath Party, which opposed Iraq's government. In 1968, the party came to power through a coup, or an overthrow of the government.

Hussein took over as President in 1979. He already had considerable influence, which grew as he eliminated his rivals. He trusted very few people. His inner circle consisted of family members or extended relatives. Others were paid for their loyalty with cash and cars.

Hussein  used violence against his people as well as against his rivals. He used chemical weapons on the Kurds, an ethnic group in northern Iraq. He has defeated rebellions by Shiites (Shee-ITES), a Muslim sect in the south, by attacking their towns and draining their marshlands.

The 6-foot 2-inch-tall Hussein surrounds himself with tight security. He slept only four to five hours a night, and he never slept in one of his 20 palaces. He constantly moved about, staying in secret houses and tents. U.S. intelligence sources believe Hussein had at least a dozen doubles who stand in for him at public events.

Because he was believed to be developing chemical, biological, and possibly nuclear weapons, UN weapons inspectors were combing his country looking for proof.

"He was a dangerous man possessing the world's most dangerous weapons," says President Bush, who  threatened to attack Iraq at the first sign that Iraq did not complying with a UN resolution banning weapons of mass destruction.

Credit: http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews

Watch this video.

After reading and watching the video post a question that you expect the next reader to answer. 
Answer a question and then post another. 

I will post the first question....

1990: Persian Gulf War

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighboring Kuwait in early August 1990. 

Alarmed by these actions, fellow Arab powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the United States and other Western nations to intervene. 

For many years, Iraq and Kuwait had disputed parts of the border between their two countries. The territory near the border is desert-like, for the most part, and desert winds whip sand around until borders can hardly be seen for sure.

In 1990, Iraq accused Kuwait of drilling for oil in disputed lands. The places that Kuwait was drilling might very well be Iraqi land, Iraq argued. Kuwait argued that it was drilling in Kuwaiti territory.  Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait and quickly overran the country, on August 2.

With the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East worried that Iraq wouldn't stop there but would invade other countries as well. The United States and other countries made it very clear that what Iraq had done was invade another independent country and take it over. The United Nations Security Council condemned the Iraqi invasion and imposed an embargo that made illegal almost all trade by any other country with Iraq. Iraq responded by claiming Kuwait as the 19th Province of Iraq.

The United Nations and a great many other countries were angered. The U.N. Security Council adopted sanctions (economic punishment) against Iraq, but Iraqi troops still patrolled Kuwait. Finally, in November 1990, a U.N. resolution allowed other countries to use any means necessary (including military action) to convince Iraq to leave Kuwait.

For weeks, members of the armed forces of many countries from around the world had been gathering in Saudi Arabia. The initial idea was to protect that country and others around it from further Iraqi aggression. But the more Iraq refused to cooperate, the more these Allied troops turned their thoughts from defense to attack.

Iraq had a deadline to get their troops out of Kuwait: January 15, 1991. That day came and went, and Iraqi troops still patrolled Kuwait. Two days later, Allied forces from 28 countries struck back.

The war lasted six weeks, during which the Allies hit Iraq with 140,000 tons of bombs (more than 7 Atomic bombs). About 20,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed, and about 2,300 Iraqi civilians died as well. Allied deaths numbered in the hundreds.

On February 28, 1991, a cease-fire was announced. Iraq agreed to give up its claims to Kuwait. Iraqi troops quickly left Kuwait. Included in the agreement was a promise by Iraq that it would allow international weapons inspectors to tour their weapons factories at regular intervals, to make sure that Iraq wasn't making more and more weapons like the chemical weapons that they used against their own people in 1988.

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/thegulfwar2.htm

Watch this video on the Gulf War and answer the questions on 
Persian Gulf War: Timeline of Operation Desert Storm worksheet. 

Complete Iraq worksheets.

Comment on the blog:  
Share one thing that you learned from this video. Try not to repeat what someone else has said.

1990's Culture & Events

:

First Gulf War 1990-1991

Pictured: President George H. W. Bush waves above a crowd of First Marine Division desert-command-post marines on active duty in the Persian Gulf.

The First Gulf War, which included Operation Desert Storm, was a military response to Iraq’s invasion and subsequent annexation of Kuwait, a small neighboring country with the world’s fifth-largest oil reserves.

Led by the United States, Coalition forces began a massive aerial campaign on January 17, 1991, followed by a ground offensive, and liberated Kuwait from the army of Saddam Hussein.

147 Americans and an estimated 22,000 Iraqis were killed in combat.




Terrorism:1993-1998: 

Islamic terrorists launched a series of attacks on American targets throughout the nineties. In 1993, they bombed the World Trade Center hoping to collapse the buildings. Six were killed and over 1000 wounded in the parking garage explosion. In 1996, they struck American service people at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Twenty were killed and 372 wounded. In 1998, they struck U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killing over 200 and wounding 5000. In October 2000, they killed seventeen sailors aboard the USS Cole. El Queda was responsible for most of the attacks. The American response was weak and the government refused to extradite Osama bin Laden. The lack of response by the American Administration helped lead to 911.




The Internet becomes available (1993): The third wave of human history began in earnest when the government unleashed the internet. 

Today, the internet is at our fingertips. For much of the 90s, it was several beeping and screeching minutes away as we waited for our dial-up connections to boot up. Once that was done, we’d surf the web with the early Netscape browser—which looks about as crude by today’s standards as a pager does next to an iPhone.

This is what it used to sound like when we waited for our computers to "connect" the internet.



Y2K:1999

In 1999, everyone was anticipating the arrival of the new millennium. January 1, 2000 was the day that our entire lives were going to be changed. The fear was that all of the computers that everyone depended on would malfunction. People also feared that our luxuries would be destroyed and that we would revert back to living like the olden days without any electricity, heat or running water. They called this the great Y2K scare. 

The scare consisted of the fear that the entire computer systems were going to fail on New Year's Eve 1999. This is because computer memory space was pricey then and memory was saved by using two digits for the date instead four. For example, a date representing 1995 would be saved as "95." Therefore, when the year changed to 2000, the disaster that was anticipated by so many was that the computers would not be able to tell if "00" meant 2000 or 1900. Some problems with the dates were already occurring before the millennium. Therefore, people assumed that all of the world's computers would fail to function. 

In other words, people saw the new millennium as the apocalypse. They feared that the end of the world was near. A family in Ohio took it to such an extreme that they bought gas-powered generators and a year's supply of dry food because they were so convinced that the end was near. There was complete chaos occurring around the world. 

When the clocks and calendars did actually change to the year 2000, computers barely had any problems. Although there were some reports of minor problems, the majority of computers did alright.



Y2K was a really big deal in 1999. Check it out. 

Silly 1990's Slang. 

Comment: What did you learn about the 1990's that you didn't know before?