Imperial Crusades Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Imperial Crusades - Essay Example Instead, following the rise of nationalism in the  nineteenth  century, imperialism gives rise to a struggle between competing empires  (German Empire,  British Empire and Imperial Russia).  Today the term is used broadly to refer to any report  domination  established by a nation or a country or other countries. Imperial crusades refer to modern wars which took place between Muslim and Christian states. Prominent wars which are termed as imperial crusades are the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia (Cockburn and Clair, 2004). These three wars affected millions of people worldwide and their economic costs were huge. The paper compares and contrasts the causes and impacts of the imperialistic wars of Afghanistan and Iraq. Both wars are termed as imperialistic because they are perceived as a US design to gain control over global resources. The paper discusses similarities and differences between these two wars to gain meaningful insights. Discussion To compare and con trast the two wars termed as imperialistic wars of US – Afghanistan War and Iraq War, it is essential to evaluate the key facts of the two wars. Iraq War The  Iraq war began in  March  2003  with the invasion of Iraq. The war was termed by the coalition  led by the  United States as â€Å"Operation Iraqi Freedom  " against the Baath Party of  Saddam Hussein  and ended in December 2011 with the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops.  The invasion led to the rapid defeat of the Iraqi army, the capture and execution of Saddam Hussein and the establishment of a new government.  President  George W.  Bush  formally declared the completion of the fighting  on May  2003, under the banner  Ã¢â‚¬ËœMission Accomplished’ (Israeli, 2004).  However, violence against coalition forces rapidly led to an  asymmetrical war  involving several groups of insurgents, militia, members of Al Qaeda, the U.S. military forces and the new Iraqi government.   Iraq Body Count, which bases its analysis on data published in the media, estimates that 114,731 Iraqi civilians have died in the violence, mainly composed of attacks, and at least 250,000 Iraqi civilians were wounded (Murray and Scales, 2003). The war led to the exodus  of two million Iraqis fled abroad mainly to Syria Syria  and  Jordan  but also to Europe and United States.   War in Afghanistan The  Afghan War  to the military insurgency of the  United States  along with coalition forces and with the military contribution of the  Northern Alliance against  the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. This war was part of the "  war against terrorism† declared by the  Bush administration  following the  attacks of September 11, 2001  in  New York and Washington (Fiscus, 2004).  The purpose of the invasion according to the United States and its allies was to capture  Osama bin Laden, destroy the organization  Al Qaeda  which allegedly had bas es in the  country with the support of the  Taliban. The  initial attack  drove Taliban out of power, allowing the establishment