Iraq War
Alright, that got your attention...
I am an adult student on an Access course, and this course will be used as a foot in the door for a commissioned RAF career. One of the subjects is British History, and for the Unit 2 assignment, I have been set a research project where I can negotiate a subject title from the late 19th century until fairly recent. The title I have negotiated is, 'To what extent did Britain's involvement in the Iraq War have a negative impact on the War on Terror?' This is a topic that interests me and motivates me so it was a no-brainer. I have already spoken to a couple friends of mine who are both military historians and did quite a lot of flying in Iraq as Chinook/Hercules pilots, however it is likely that there's always something that we may have missed and I know lots of you served on TELIC, HERRICK, ELLAMY, SHADER, etc. and you may be aware of other publications (open source) from either the MOD, Staff college essays or even other books/articles that have been missed. I'd be grateful for any assistance please! The key points I wish to argue are:
The sources I already have noted down, are:
Thank you and I will keep you all fully updated - I kind of want to try to dedicate this piece to all British servicemen and women who served on Operation TELIC; much respect for you all. |
Lordy lord. There's enough there for a doctorate never mind an Access course.
My initial thought are that, by having to be selective with you chain of thoughts, you're going to struggle presenting a balanced argument. There's a huge (international) political piece that needs to provide context. Good luck. |
Thanks CGB.
It'll be tough, for sure. |
That right there
The pivot was on Iraq and left Afghanistan unfinished Fiasco End of Iraq were two that were written while it was in progress and both aren't bad. There's been other stuff since. |
I have about 1,500-2000 words to play with after a 1,000 word plan. It's not much.
I appreciate the book references, thank you. Does anybody know of any Defence publications from the UK that are open source? |
Desired End State and Post Conflict Reconstruction would give you all you need within your wordcount. |
I know this may be looking rather too far into the past for your purposes, but I recommend highly these two books which may help to give you a historical perspective on what is happening now.
'A Line in the Sand' by James Barr which describes how Britain and France agreed to divide up the Middle East after WW1 and the fall of the Ottoman Empire:- https://www.sce.cornell.edu/sce/alts...120212_455.pdf 'Queen of the Desert' by Georgina Howell. This is a biography of Gertrude Bell who was an advisor to the British government when setting up the new state of Iraq. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/b...w/Worth.t.html Western ignorance of this area of the world then and now has much to answer for as a cause of our present troubles. |
The Iraq Inquiry (‘Chilcot’) evidence is all online and an unrivalled primary source for the subject. The handwritten notes in the margins of cabinet papers are particularly interesting.
I’d also advise a trawl of Parliamentary select committee websites; Defence and Foreign Affairs mainly, but also Home Affairs. There are several past reports that you can read and the written and oral evidence is all archived and cross-referenced. A very interesting source indeed. However my best piece of advice is similar to the others that have already replied: reconsider your scope, which is far too broad for a 15,000 word dissertation, let alone a 2,000 word essay. You will most likely end up losing marks for giving a superficial treatment to your question. Remember that the marker will be looking for evidence that you have: a) advanced an idea; b) considered a range of sources; c) weighed the evidence and argued your case; d) drawn appropriate conclusions. You should have an essay-writing guide from your provider so follow that and don’t try to pack too much in. |
Point 4 would be suitable for an essay. You could touch on Iraq and AFG which are both
positive recruitment benefits and public alienation. |
On your Point 4, I would argue that the public are more aware of the military than they were 10-15 years ago. They also seem to now sensibly disconnect the individual serviceman (oops -serviceperson) from the policies they are supporting. This is very different from the case with NI operations.
Reasons: - Greater use of reservists who return to the "real world" (sic) after deployment. - Better immediate trauma care for wounded individuals, leading to more surviving "disabled" veterans in the public eye. - As a subset of the above, Special Olympics (or whatever they are called now) and - particularly - Prince Harry and the Invictus Games. Evidence: - Amongst other things, greater availability of military discounts (even for "veterans"); two I've experienced recently was a chain restaurant which sounds like it is run by the present and previous Popes; and a card shop which isn't run by an ex-POTUS. Both give 20% which is not to be sneezed at - just don't tell Milady T I got her Valentine card at a disount! |
I appreciate the feedback so far - I think I'm going to send this link to my tutor, see what he thinks. Thanks guys.
I am really passionate about this, and I want to get it right - not just for the marks, but because I have a moral obligation to get it right by providing an honest argument. Our Forces mean a lot to me and they are owed that. |
"War on Terror" is such a mangled use of English. It is highly debatable if you can have a war on the outcome of methods of unconventional conflict.
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Beardy,
I'm sure you can appreciate that I'd rather not play the semantics game. The 'War on Terror' was coined by President George W. Bush in 2001, reaffirmed by Prime Minister Tony Blair and other leaders across the world. I think it is universally understood what it is meant by 'War on Terror.' B. |
Originally Posted by BVRAAM
(Post 10386168)
Beardy,
I'm sure you can appreciate that I'd rather not play the semantics game. The 'War on Terror' was coined by President George W. Bush in 2001, reaffirmed by Prime Minister Tony Blair and other leaders across the world. I think it is universally understood what it is meant by 'War on Terror.' B. |
Originally Posted by BVRAAM
(Post 10386168)
Beardy,
I'm sure you can appreciate that I'd rather not play the semantics game. The 'War on Terror' was coined by President George W. Bush in 2001, reaffirmed by Prime Minister Tony Blair and other leaders across the world. I think it is universally understood what it is meant by 'War on Terror.' B. YS |
Originally Posted by Yellow Sun
(Post 10386192)
Their attempt at a response to political Islam? YS |
As someone who has a medal/campaign ribbon for GWOT (Global War on Terror) I can assure you that even when I was involved in it I was not quite sure WTF they were on about.
It's like the "war on poverty" horse**** in the US. The war on drugs. People are appropriating a term for their pet peeve and what they are crusading against. PS: if you look from the other side, the Westerners are often referred to as Crusaders, in a pejorative sense. Iif you value your credibility, I'd not use War On Terror in your formal work. It is a loaded term devoid of value. I prefer the term that got a few people into some trouble: The War Against Terror. :E (On a coffee cup, it was just the initials, so it was spelled T.W.A.T.) The higher brass were not amused. |
The key points I wish to argue are:
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A major failure was to not define and maintain an objective. There was no stated goal that could be said to have been achieved. Hence 'mission creep' was absolutely inevitable as everyone with a finger in the pie had their say.
That is the reason why the phrase 'War on Terror' is useless. |
Minigundiplomat, if there was a 'like' button on here, I'd have used it. Thank you - that's given me some ideas to research.
By the way, I figure you're Chinook rear-crew; thanks for rattling my windows every so often, I love having that absolute beast flying around - I'm 40 miles from Odiham. |
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