World War 1 –

Prior to WWI (also called the Great War) the world was made up of a number of empires who had agreements of support and collective defence (if a member state is attacked by another state, the other helps defend them) with other countries/Empires. On the 28th of June 1914, Gavrilo Princip assassinated the next in line for the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Princip was a Bosnian Serb and a member of an organization called the ‘Young Bosnia’ which wanted independence from Austria-Hungary, who then demanded Serbia punish the members of Young Bosnia. when Austria-Hungary wasn’t satisfied that action had been taken, they declared war against Serbia. Complying with collective defence agreements, most of Europe was at war with in weeks.

Two sides developed. The Allied Powers were France, the UK, Russia and their associated empire states (i.e. New Zealand & Australia). Later on in to the war both the U.S. and Italy joined them as well as Greece. On the other side was the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary with their associated empire states and was later joined by the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.

The German army advanced to the west, through Luxemburg and was stopped by the French & British armies in France. both sides dug in, building a fortified trench network that stretched from the North Sea to the Swiss front, which was called the Western Front. It hardly moved through out the war and led to a horrific and senseless’ type of fighting called trench warfare. In short both sides developed new forms of firepower like the machine gun, but lacked adequate mobility for their forces. This resulted in both sides sending waves of men in a suicidal attempt to attack the others, but being mowed down with machine gun fire in the open ground between each others trenches, called No Mans Land. It forced both sides to come up with new weaponry, tactics and corps, such as the Air-Force and tanks to break the stalemate.

The war was all fought on the Eastern Front between Russia and the Central Powers. The Eastern Front ended in March 1917 prior to the end of the war when the Bolshevik’s took power in Russia. the Balkans Campaign was fought in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria from August 1914 – August 1918. There was also the Middle Eastern theatre which was primarily fighting against the Ottoman Empire. By the time it had ended, the war had seen over 60 million European soldiers mobilized, over 40 million casualties, which included approximately 20 million military and civilian deaths.

When the war ended in November 1918 with the Central Powers defeated, the world was a different place. The Ottoman Empire was sliding towards to disintegration, the Austro-Hungarian empire were completely dissolved and Austria-Hungary was carved up into several new states, as was the land lost by the Russian Empire in to new states such as Poland. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th of June 1919. It saw Germany and its allies having to accept full responsibility for causing the war, make substantial territorial concessions including its colonial empire and to disarm its forces.

The Treaty of Versailles had left a bitter taste in the mouth of the German people. This and the subsequent great financial depression in the world of 1933 and Hitler’s open Racialist ideology such as communists/Russians, Jews etc gained him great support with the German people and he rose to the leader of the Nazi party and leader of the country in 1933. In open defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, he began efforts to repair the economy after abolishing democracy and began a massive rearming campaign, including the introduction of conscription. Concerned with various nations took sides creating the Allies whose principals where – the UK, USA & USSR (who joined them later in the war). On the other side were the Axis forces – Germany, Italy & Japan (who officially formed in 1940 after signing the Tripartite Pact). In the 1936 Spanish Civil War, both Germany & the Italians went to the aid of the fascist nationalist forces. It proved a great training ground for the German forces to practise their weapons and methods of warfare, which later became known as Blitzkrieg! It starts with an aerial bombardment followed by motorized mobile forces such as infantry and tanks who attack with speed and surprise to prevent the enemy from reacting and taking up defensive positions.

Europe –

despite concessions of territory to Italy and Germany in an attempt to cool down Hitler’s ambitions and claims to more territory, the first real military conflict of the war was the German invasion of Poland. Using Blitzkrieg tactics, the Germans entered the country on the 1st of September 1939 via the North, South & West, while the USSR attacked from the East. As Poland’s allies, the UK, Australia & New Zealand declared war against Germany, shortly followed by other countries including France and Canada. By the 6th of October Polish forces were defeated and the country was divided in to two half’s, one for Germany and the other for the USSR.

The German arms industry heavily relied on iron ore from Sweden and being aware of this both the UK & French Navy considered plans to set up a blockade and take control of the Norwegian coast. On the 9th of April 1940 German forces invaded both Denmark & Norway under the justification they were their to protect them from the UK & France, as both Denmark & Norway were neutral countries in the war. By the 10th of June 1940 the invasion AKA Operation Weserübung was over and thus securing the shipping of iron ore for Hitler’s war machine.

Meanwhile on the 10th of May 1940 German & Italian forces launched an invasion against France. Between the wars the French had built the Maginot Line, a network of concrete bunkers and fortifications along their borders with Germany and Italy, designed to stop German armoured vehicles and to hold of an invasion to give French forces time to mobilise and defend against another invasion. Hitler simply decided to go around the line by using Blitzkrieg tactics he crossed and captured Belgium and the Netherlands and used them to secure access to France and to continue his invasion. British forces based in the area were recalled to the UK and used the French beach called Dunkirk to evacuate. Hundreds of British military and civilian boats carried 338226 British and French soldiers back to the UK from May the 26th to June the 4th 1940. By the 25th of June 1940, the French government surrendered to the Germans.

On June the 6th 1944 the Western Allies invaded the German controlled France with beach landings and airborne troops being dropped behind enemy lines. Between Frances surrender and the invasions, the British RAF and USAF had been slowly bombing the Germans in to submission and with the Spitfire and Hurricane fighters enjoyed air supremacy over the German Luftwaffe. How ever, the Germans had fortified their positions along the French coast AKA The Atlantic Wall and some of the Western Allied beach landings suffered horrific losses, but the beaches were secured and Western Allied forces pushed on to liberate Paris in August on the 25th. From the 16th of December 1944 to the 25th of January 1945, the Germans launched a counter attack in the Ardennes (a region of extensive forests starting in France and stretching through Belgium and Luxembourg) but was eventually defeated and by February the Allies had crossed the Rhine River in to Germany and on the 7th of May German forces surrendered to the occupying Western Allied forces after Hitler had committed suicide on the 30th of April.

Russian Front –

Despite early alliances with the invasion of Poland, Germany saw Communism as a threat and saw the Russian/Slovak people as inferior to that of the Germans. On the 22nd of June 1941 Germany launched the biggest military operation, in terms of manpower, area traversed, and casualties, in human history codenamed Operation Barbarossa. Over 4.5 million troops crossed the boarder and opened up a line that stretched 1800miles and became known the Eastern Front through out the war. Barbarossa was Hitler’s idea to capture the European part of the USSR riding on the success of Blitzkrieg and the support of the German people, but it failed to be as successful as the Western front. Despite capturing some territory such as the Ukraine the Red Army (Russian Army) repelled the Germans advance towards Moscow and by December 1941 the Operation had surrendered to the harsh Russian winters and over stretched supply lines, which resulted in Germany being unable to launch such an offensive ever again.

In the summer of 1942 Hitler decided to give up on the idea of occupying Moscow and divided his forces (Army Group Centre) in to two Groups to press on through the South of the country. Group A would attempt to capture the oil-field rich Caucasus to help fix the shortage of oil from the over stretched supply lines, while Group B went on to capture the city of Stalingrad (now called Volgograd). Despite Germany capturing 90% of the city, a horrific battle of attrition (known as the Battle of Stalingrad) raged on and eventually after being cut off from supplies for months and left to starve by Hitler, the tiny remaining pockets of German troops surrendered on the 2nd of February 1943.

The biggest tank battle in world history (Germany 2700 – USSR 3600) raged from July to August 1943. Known as the Battle of Kursk, it was a last ditched attempt by Germany to counter the attacking Russian Army, which resulted in a victory for the Russian Army and for the first time it had pushed the German Army back, recapturing Russian territory and went on to expel all Axis forces, all most completely destroying Army Group Centre. By 1945 the USSR had launched a number of successful campaigns against occupying German forces in Ukraine, Poland, Finland, Romania and Hungary which resulted in defeat of the German forces by 1945. Russian forces pushed on across Germany, storming the capital Berlin, linking up with the Western Allies on April the 25th on the Elbe river, resulting in the surrender of German forces on the 7th of May 1945.

North African, Mediterranean and Middle East campaign’s –

Separating North Africa from Europe is the Mediterranean Ocean and centrally located was the Axis nation Italy, led by the former Benito Mussolini. As well as Germany’s desire to expand its territory’s, so did Italy. It had been given East African colony’s, but Mussolini wanted to further expand north to connect them to Libya, another Italian colony. He also wanted to conquer Egypt and take control of the Suez Canal and its large rich oil fields, so on the 13th of September 1940, Italy invaded Egypt from Libya. The attack was repelled later in the year by Britain & its colonial forces in ‘Operation Compass’, who then crossed in to Libya and captured 113000 Italian soldiers. On the 28th of October 1940, Italy also invaded Greece, but again its attack was repelled by Greek forces, pushing them back into Southern Albania. Eventually Germany invaded from Bulgaria on the 6th of April 1941. British Colonial and Greek troops tried to repel the attack but were heavily out numbered and on the 27th of April, Athens fell and the Battle of Crete was won by Axis forces in the May and Greece was occupied by Axis forces. How ever the British Royal Navy did score a number of defeats and sinking of a number of Italian warships in the Mediterranean Ocean and the Italian Navy was recalled back to Italy for its safety, leaving the Royal Navy to control the Med and secure supply lines.

In February 1941 German forces joined the Italian’s in Libya to assist them and by March they were launching offensives against British forces and with in weeks had expelled them out of Libya and back in to Egypt with the exception of the Port of Tobruk which was controlled by the elements of the Australian Army. Germany assisted in an attempted coup in Iraq only for it be quashed by the UK, who with the assistance of the Free French Forces invaded Syria & Lebanon to prevent further coups from occurring there too. On the 18th of November, Britain and its colonial forces launched Operation Crusader. It pushed the Axis forces out of Egypt in to Libya and to the coastal city of El Agheila how ever Germany counter attacked in May 1942 and the Allies were pushed back in to Egypt, but defeated the German attack in the Battle of El Alamein. The Germans again tried to assault El Alamein in a second battle in August, but again were defeated and pursued by British forces under the command of Field Marshall Montgomery. They were pursued across Libya and the Axis forces a retreated to Tunisia. On November 17th 1942 British forces were joined by US & French troops and they invaded Tunisia, which resulted in the defeat and surrender of Axis forces in North Africa on May 13th 1943. Over 230000 German and Italian troops were taken as prisoners of war.

After defeating Axis forces in Africa, Allied attention was now turned towards the invasion of Italy. The Allies invaded the Italian island of Sicily in July 1943 and after 6 weeks of land fighting, Axis forces were driven off the island and the Allies went on to invade the Italian mainland in September, by which point Benito Mussolini had been removed from power and arrested. The Allies soon took control of the South of the country and on the 3rd of September an armistice (both sides agree to stop fighting) was signed and made public on the 8th. Hitler responded by disarming the Italian army, rescuing Mussolini and deploying German troops to the North of the country in defensive lines, which the Allies battled through by the November. In January 1944, the Allies launched 4 bloody battles in and around the town of Monte Cassino AKA the Battle for Monte Cassino and by June the 4th, the German Army retreated and the Italian Capital Rome was occupied by the Allies and the Mediterranean campaign had come to an end.

Asia and the Pacific –

The Japanese Empire like other Axis powers had its mind set on expansion through invasion, such as the invasion of China & Manchuria. After the second war with China, Japan’s activities fell in to a negative light with the USA, to the point that it introduced embargoes on raw materials such as metal and oil, which it needed to fuel its military expansion, so decided to invade European controlled Asian colonies which had raw materials. As Japans oil reserves started to run low, time was against its forces to secure its theatre of proposed operations and that biggest threat was the US Pacific Fleet based in the Australian Pearl Harbour, so on Sunday morning of December the 7th 1941, the Japanese navy bombed Pearl Harbour, inflicting serious enough damage that the fleet no longer posed a threat. The US declared its entry to the war and in accordance with the Tripartite Pact, Germany declared war on the US.

Japan shortly afterwards went on to invade Hong Kong, British Malaya and the Philippines. By the 15th of February 1942, Japan had secured and was occupying these and other islands in the Pacific and took 200000 Allied prisoners.

But Japans victory was short lived. Japan had acknowledged the US’s industrial capability and their ability to manufacture if required, an unmatchable vast number of military vehicles & munitions and that to insure victory, they would have to achieve strategic strikes. These came in the failed Battle of the Coral Sea & Battle of Midway and the Allied victory’s during the Guadalcanal Campaign during September 1942 and the New Guinea Campaign in 1943. These saw the Japanese change roles from aggressive to defensive and by 1945 the Philippines had also been liberated from Japanese occupation. The US had secured airfields on the Saipan & Guam islands in 1944 and the USAF were carpet bombing Japanese cities, but the Japanese Empire refused to surrender. The final great push by the Allies would have been the land invasion of the Japanese main land, but projected calculations of human losses ruled this out as there was a new weapon developed that offered the Allies an alternative. On August the 6th 1945, the USAF dropped a nuclear bomb on the City of Hiroshima killing an estimated 140000 and on the 9th dropped a second nuclear bomb on the City of Nagasaki killing a further 80000. Thousands more died over the years from radiation poisoning. On August the 15th, Japan announced its surrender to the Allies and World War 2 came to an end.

Overview – Over 100 million people were mobilised during this global conflict and an estimated 60 million died, 40 of those were civilians. It saw the genocide of the Jewish people and the only deployment and use of nuclear bombs. It saw the development of the jet fighter and ballistic missile as well as other weapons and vehicles, be it in the air, land and sea. It saw the decolonisation of African and Asian countries such as India and the formation of new countries such as Pakistani. The United Nations AKA UN was created to prevent further conflicts and the US & USSR emerged as the two major super powers with a growing sense of distrust of each other, which developed in to the 45 year long Cold War, as well as the creation of NATO & WARSAW pact.

The Korean War – Click here to launch the combat map

The Japanese Empire had occupied Korea since 1910 who had proposed to the Russians that they take control of the North in 1902. The proposed boundary separating the North from the South was named the 38th Parallel, however no formal agreement was reached and the whole country was occupied by the Japanese Empire. At the end of World War 2 and the subsequent break up of the Japanese Empire, the Allies had agreed who would occupy former Axis nations and it had been agreed that Russia would occupy the North of Korea and a United States military administration under the direction of General Douglas MacArthur would take control of the South.

In the North, Stalin supported Kim Il-sung, the leader of the communist Workers’ Party of Korea, had created the North Korean Peoples’ Army and had been equipped by Russia with tanks and artillery. In the South, Syngman Rhee took the presidency, with the aim of reunification of both North and South by force, so the US trained South Korean Army was not supplied with military hardware like the north had received from Russia. After a number of skirmish’s along the 38th Parallel occurred between both armies, the North invaded the South on the 25th of June 1950.

The US immediately went to the UN security council asking for North Korea to be branded as aggressors under the United Nations Charter. Member nations dispatched forces immediately to assist the defending South Korean forces with the US forces arriving first shortly followed by the British Navy providing fire support and its land forces, but it was to little to late and the North continued its attack towards Pusan. As Commonwealth and US forces including naval, air and land were deployed to the region, MacArthur landed forces behind the North’s military line at the port of Inchon. They managed to cut off the North’s supply lines and they retreated back towards the North hotly pursued by MacArthur and the UN forces across the 38th Parallel but as they reached the Chinese border, the Chinese launched an attack fearing their boarder was going to breached and in support of the Communists and by November had pushed the UN back to the capital city of Seoul.

Under the new command of US General Ridgway, the UN forces went on the offensive and by spring of 1951, had pushed the Chinese and North Koreans back to the 38th Parallel. Rather than purse the Chinese and North across North Korea, both sides dug in along the 38th Parallel and pretty much the rest of the war was fought along and around the 38th. The USAF ruled the sky’s and bombed the cities and supply lines of the North. It was also the scene of the first jet fighter dog fights between the Russian MiG-15’s flown by Chinese pilots and the USAF F-86 Sabre, which proved superior. The US & British Royal Navy managed to destroy the North Koreans limited submarine fleet and secured the oceans around North Korea, which also allowed the support of Naval launched aircraft to UN forces.

Both sides sat down at the negotiating table in mid 1951 for peace talks that dragged on for two years. The real thorn in the negotiations was what to be done with the communist POW’s held at the prison camps on Koje Island south of South Korea. Originally the communist countries wanted them returned to their countries of origin, however the prisoners didn’t and mutinied in the camps and finally it was agreed asylum would be granted to those who did not wish to return to their country of origin. In July 1953 official fighting ended as prisons were released and both sides retreated to their side of the 38th Parallel which was set up as a DMZ (De-Militarised Zone). Today the DMZ still exists with both North and South forces patrolling it. The North still is a communist state run by the communist Workers’ Party, which has cut itself of from the rest of the world. It still draws attention from Western countries for its weapon programs which allegedly includes development of nuclear weapons. The South is a democratic state and thriving as a leader of industrial manufacturing and still enjoys a strong relationship with US forces based in the country to support against an attack from the North.

The Cold War –

Following the end of hostilities during World War 2, a tension of mistrust, confusion and fear grew predominately between the US and Russia (formerly the USSR) from the threat of their way of life being lost at the hands of one or another. The US operates an economic system called capitalism, which in short means that private individuals/corporations own businesses, such as means of production and operate them to make a profit. They have the right to sell these products on the free market (prices arranged completely by the mutual consent of the sellers and buyers). Individuals/corporations also have the right to choose what to trade, how much of it, prices, how many employees to have and what to do with the profits they make. the US is a Constitutional republic where its run by an elected head of state who represents the people and follows Constitutional law, which limits the governments power over the individual and their rights.

The former USSR operated an economic system called socialism. This means that the state or a collective, own and administrate the means of production and distribution of goods rather than individuals/corporations, as they believe capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth into the hands of those individuals/corporations who control the capital (financial wealth) and creates an unequal society. The USSR political system/way of life was Communism. Communism aims to create a class-less, stateless (working class only) egalitarianism (everyone are equals) and general state ownership of means of production and property.

With such obvious differences it was inevitable that tension would develop between both countries, but other factors increased the tension, notably the US’s development of the atomic bomb (AKA nuclear bomb) and its use against Japan. At the time, the USSR did not know that the US had used all its atomic bombs in the strikes against Japan. Other disputes were over the occupation of defeated countries such as Japan and the reconstruction of Europe at the end of WW2. Germany was occupied at the end of WW2 by the US & the UK in the West and the USSR in the East with the border of east and west running through the German capital Berlin dividing the country in to two. A concrete wall was constructed along the border in the built up and urban area’s whilst in the rural area’s it was simply a sharp edged steel mesh fence, but ran the length of the border. It also included defensive positions, watch towers and border guards of both countries patrolled their respective side. AKA the Iron Curtain, it also expanded around the East European countries and former member states, isolating and cutting the USSR from the rest of the free world. With this lack of communication and isolation, as time passed the lack of knowledge of each other simply added to the mistrust which then fuelled a nearly 50 year long arms race between each side. A lot of it focused on the stock pile and distribution of nuclear missiles from land based launch sites, bombers and submarines.

As far as conventional weapons, i.e. infantry, tanks, ships and aircraft, both sides started their own defence pacts, NATO (US & UK among others) and WARSAW with the USSR. The vast majority of the conventional weapons were based in Germany on each respective side, as it was anticipated that should either start an invasion, it would be launched from and defended there.

Though neither side engaged in open warfare with each other, they both supplied weapons, training and financing to a second party who were either fighting communism/USSR or capitalists/US. These were called Proxy wars, such as the US supplying Anti-Aircraft Stinger missiles to the Afghanis fighting the Soviet Invasion in the Soviet-Afghan War, or the USSR supplying the North Vietnamese who were fighting the US in the Vietnam War.

Eventually in 1991 The USSR collapsed and the financing of such a large military build up could no longer be met and agreements of demilitarization were signed, reducing their nuclear and conventional forces. The Berlin Wall came down, Germany was re-united (whilst to this day NATO members still base military forces in the country) and USSR member states broke away declaring independence, which then led to war within some of those countries. NATO is still a functioning body whilst the WARSAW Pact was dissolved, with some of its former members now joining NATO.

Israeli Conflicts –

The Six Day War of 1967 –

Following the 1956 Suez Crisis, the UN had stationed Emergency Forces on the Sinai Peninsula since 1957, a 60000km land mass, which is part of Egypt. The Suez Canal runs along the west side of the Peninsula and along the east side is the Israel border, which the UNEF were keeping demilitarised and the Gulf of Aqaba. The Gulf is accessed from the Red sea through the Straits of Tiran, which is also part of Egypt and is used by shipping to reach the sea ports of Israel and Jordan. As Arab nations refused to acknowledge Israel as a country, Syria had been sponsoring guerrilla attacks in Israel in the early 60’s and had started to build the Headwater Diversion Plan, which would have diverted water supplies from Israel to Syria and Jordan. Israel responded by attacking the Headwater Diversion Plan three times in 1965, which led to further tensions between the two countries.

On the 11th of November 1966, an IDF patrol hit a mine, which killed three soldiers. The Israelis claimed it was placed by militants in the Jordan occupied West Bank village of Es Samu. IDF raiding parties crossed the West Bank border and headed for the village, but were intercepted by Jordanian forces and a battle broke out.

Egypt responded by calling for a unified Arab destruction of Israel and in May 1967, Egypt expelled the UNEF from Sinai. It then closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and ships, and then moved 1000 tanks and 100 000 troops to the Israeli border. Fearing an invasion of Egypt on its west border, Jordan on its east border and Syria on its north border, Israel decided to make a pre-emptive strike against the head of the new anti Israel Arab coalition, Egypt.

On the morning of the 5th of June Israel’s Air-Force bombed the military airbases of Egypt, catching them off guard and then went on to bomb the airbases of Syria, Jordan and Iraq, insuring Israeli air superiority and control and by the end of the day, 416 Arab aircraft had been destroyed. Out numbered three to one, the IDF crossed the desert of Sinai. It had dropped paratroopers on the rear line destroying Egyptian artillery. The IDF also attacked the front, sides and rear of the Egyptian forces in the desert of Sinai and Egypt started a catastrophic withdrawal of its ground forces, as they were allegedly bombed with napalm by the IAF, after the IDF captured Abu-Agelia and by June the 8th, Israel had captured the Sinai Peninsula. (Click here to launch the combat map)

On the 5th of June Jordanian forces shelled west Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, from the West Bank. On the 6th, the IDF struck back against the Jordan Army in the West bank, who eventually withdrew back in to Jordan and the IDF moved in and captured the West Bank. (Click here to launch the combat map)

The Israeli Air force had been bombing Syrian artillery and forces for four days on the Syrian border which was an area called the Golan Heights. After the operation to cross the border had been given the green light on the 8th, the IAF were ordered to bomb the Syrian positions who were unable to organise a defence and the IDF broke through on to the Golan plateau by the evening of the 9th and by the 10th, the Syrian forces were withdrawing. (Click here to launch the combat map)

The Yom Kippur War of 1973 –

Following Egypt’s humiliated defeat at the hands of the Israeli armed forces in the Six Day War, the new Egyptian President Anwar Sadat declared in 1972, Egypt’s determination to start a war against Israel and that Egypt was prepared to “sacrifice one million Egyptian soldiers”. Egypt had learnt its lessons from the 6-Day War and had always relied on the USSR to supply it with its munitions and military vehicles. Anwar Sadat had gone on the offensive in amassing anti-aircraft missile systems, new jet fighters, RPG-7 ATM’s and T-55’s & T-62 MBT’s, by threatening Moscow that if Egypt did not receive this equipment, it would go to the US instead, which would tip the influence of the region towards the US.

Yom Kippur is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the 6th of October and considered to be the holiest day. Israeli’s fast and reject the use of modern electrical appliances and IDF troops return home and the country comes to a complete standstill. Up to this day, the Egyptians had mounted a number of large-scale training exercises along their side of the Suez in the months leading up to the invasion, which had led to false invasion alerts. Egyptian troops crossed the Suez Canal under the protection of their Russian supplied anti-aircraft batteries, which prevented the IAF from attacking. (Click here to launch the combat map)

The Egyptian troops were armed with ATM’s (1 to each 3 troops) and inflicted heavy losses on the IDF, but did not push on beyond the re-captured 15 km of the Sinai Peninsula and the IDF counter attack on the 8th was defeated. The Egyptian’s responded with a further attack, which was defeated by the IDF and both sides dug in, expecting the other to attack. On the 14th, Egyptian forces attacked the IDF who then counter attacked on the 15th. IDF raiding parties broke through the Egyptian line and crossed the Suez in small boats for 24 hours and armed with M72 LAWS defeated the Egyptian anti-aircraft batteries. The IDF managed to push the Egyptian armed forces back and by the 19th were 101km from Cairo. (Click here to launch the combat map)

Whilst Egypt had launched its invasion, Syria had started to push through the Golan Heights. IDF forces were scrambled and held their ground and until reinforcements arrived and on the 8th started to push the Syrian Army and tanks who had out-numbered the IDF 9 to 1, out of the Golan Heights, which was accomplished by the 10th. From the 11th to the 14th the IDF crossed the purple line (border created after the Six Day War) in to Syria and captured 20 square mile’s of the Bashan salient. Unknown to the IDF, Iraq had inserted a supporting 30000 troops and 500 tanks in support of the Syrians and attacked the IDF flank, forcing them to retreat to avoid encirclement, but were unable to push the IDF out of Bashan. (Click here to launch the combat map)

The 1982 Lebanon War –

At the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (the war fought by the Israelis to create their own state, after rejecting the UN idea to create a separate Jewish & Palestinian state) over 100 000 Palestinians became refugees after being ordered out of the country by the Israelis. They left the country via the north and headed over the Israeli/Lebanese border in to the South of Lebanon and were herded in to refugee camps, creating their own mini state. In 1964 the Palestine Liberation Organization AKA the PLO, was created and supported by Arab Nations, with the sole purpose of destroying the new Israeli state. They were equipped with a limited number of ageing tanks, a growing number of mortars, rockets and artillery. They made guerrilla raids and numerous rocket and artillery attacks in to the towns in Northern Israel, with the IDF and IAF retaliating with air strikes at the refugee camps. A cease-fire was signed in 1981, however Israel claimed the PLO broke the cease-fire 270 times. The final straw was the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador to Britain.

The Nagorno-Karabakh War 1988 to 1994 –

Azerbaijan is a country located in the Caucasus (a region of land containing many mountains, connecting Europe to Asia and the Southern tip of Russia). Located inside Azerbaijan is a small enclave called Nagorno-Karabakh which had a certain level of autonomy given by the Azerbaijan government. To the left of Azerbaijanis is Armenia. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia were part of the USSR. The population of Nagorno-Karabakh are predominately Armenian’s and its government voted in favour of uniting itself with Armenia following a public referendum, which saw the vast majority of the population vote in favour of independence. The initial movement towards independence was peaceful, with small clashes of violence, but full scale fighting broke out in 1992. During the Cold War, Russia had planned for Armenia to be a combat zone, so had made large ammunitions caches and pool’s of AFV’s (tanks, artillery and APC’s) in anticipation of a NATO invasion through Turkey. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia were able to secure these munitions and vehicles. In 1994 Russia was able to secure a ceasefire and the war ended, by which point Armenia had secured the enclave Nagorno-Karabakh and 9% of Azerbaijan territory surrounding the enclave. Peace between both countries is still fragile and on some occasions there is still small exchanges of violence between both countries.

The Gulf War 1991 – Click here to launch the combat map

Despite receiving economical support from Kuwait, other Arab nations and the US, Iraq’s economy was almost in ruins at the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988. It’s national export was oil and the economy was relying on selling it to re-build. In 1989 the Southern neighbouring country of Kuwait had started to pump oil from the Rumaila oil field, which stretched across the border of both countries. They had slant-drilled in to Iraq’s side of the oil-field and increased its national oil production by 40%, which crashed oil-prices, robbing the Iraqi economy of much needed money. Iraq saw this as an attack against it and theft of its property and demanded compensation. Further more Kuwait refused to write of the loans it had made to fund the Iran-Iraq war. Saddam amassed troops and armour along the border.

On the 2nd of August 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. With in two days the Iraqi National Guard and Air-Force had overwhelmed the defending Kuwait forces and annexed the country as the 19th province of Iraq for a further 7 months. During this time UN and Arab resolutions were passed as was economic sanctions against Iraq. Iraq soon started to voice grievances against Saudi Arabia, who also shared a border with both Iraq and Kuwait and was poorly defended on the Saudi side. As a major oil producer the US had feared that Iraq would invade Saudi Arabia and capture its Hama oil fields, so US troops were sent and deployed to the country in August 1990 to defend against a feared Iraqi attack. The deployment was called Operation Desert Shield.

Iraq had over 1.2 million troops on the ground, over 5800 tanks and 9000 AFV’s and artillery. A coalition of countries was pulled together numbering some 34 who contributed air and ground forces, medical staff, naval and economical support to liberate Kuwait.

On the 17th of January 1991, the first of the 100 000 air sorties to destroy or soften up Iraq defences and infrastructure began. On February the 24th, the main ground assault began. Heading out from Saudi Arabia across the North East section of the border was the main US ground force. On its left flank was the French Army and on its right the British Army. It cut across the Southern part of Iraq cutting of the Iraqi army and then swept East in to Kuwait. Iraqi forces started to retreat back in to Iraq and were pursued by the Coalition forces who came with in 240km of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The ground war ended on the 27th of February following a US called cease fire in acknowledgement that Kuwait had been liberated.

The Bosnian War 1992 to 1995 –

The former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia collapsed in 1992 due to its high number of different ethnicities and these ethnicities went on to form Independent states or unions with their own Governments. Some of these states went on to fight each other in a number of wars known as the Yugoslav wars, one of these was called the Bosnian War. The Bosnian population was made up of Croatians, Serbians and Bosniak Muslims who were loyal to the Bosnian Government. A referendum for independence was held in 1992, but was objected to and boycotted by the Serbian population who wanted to be part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), so only the Bosniaks and Croatians were the only ones to vote and independence was claimed. The Serbian Democratic Party withdrew from a EEC negotiated agreement for a power sharing Bosnian Government.

Serbian forces started military operations in March 1992 and by April full scale war broke out around the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. The Serb forces took control of roughly 70% of Bosnia. It saw mass genocide as Serb forces attacked Bosniak Muslim villages, rounding up the villagers, separating the men from the women. The men were put in camps or killed (over 8000 men were massacred in Srebrenicain during July 1995) and the women put in detention centres, where thousands of them were raped by Serb forces. They would then ransack the houses and burn them down. The Serb forces had been able to secure the majority of munitions and AFV’s of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, whilst defending Bosniak Muslims relied on smaller arms and guerrilla tactics.

UN forces were deployed in the country as peace keepers, with out any major effect, as they were unable to intervene against Serb Forces unless fired upon. NATO air forces did contribute to bombing campaigns. The Washington Agreement was signed in March 1994 by leaders of the Bosniaks and native Croatians which created a joint Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The war ended when the Dayton Agreement was signed on the 14th of December 1995 by the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. Between 95000 and 100000 people were killed in the war and more than 2 million displaced.

The first Chechen War 1994 to 1996 – Click here to launch the combat map

The vast majority of the population of the former USSR were ethnic Russians, but the rest were of other ethnicities and religions. They were given enclaves (a territory within in a country) and were subject to a number of federal laws. When communism failed and the USSR collapsed in 1991, these enclaves asked for greater freedom and self governing. The Federation Treaty was signed in March 1992 which met most of the requests from these enclaves, how ever the National Guards/militants of the newly formed All-National Congress of the Chechen People AKA NCChP stormed the Russian communist administrated government buildings in September 1991. By November the leader of NCChP, Dzhokhar Dudayev was made president and declared independence from the USSR. In 1993 Chechnya declared full independence, renaming itself the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. A number of factions who were pro-russian in the North of the country objected to the new government and by 1994 they had formed a coalition, supported by Russia who supplied them with financing, equipment and mercenaries. Russia set up a blockade of the country and by October, it was bombing the Chechen capital Grozny, whilst the coalition attempted a number of failed assaults on the city, which was being protected by the National Guard. With the failed assaults and the capture by the National Guard of Russian security forces personnel who were fighting with the coalition, Russia called for a cease fire and for all sides to lay down arms.

When the NCChP refused, conventional Russian military forces crossed in to Chechnya on the 11th of December 1994 to “establish constitutional order in Chechnya and to preserve the territorial integrity of Russia.” The war raged on predominately in the capital Grozny and in the mountains in the South of the country. The war ended in 1996 after the Khasav-Yurt Accord had been signed. It was a cease fire and an agreed withdrawal of all forces on both sides. It also prolonged any negotiations and relations between the two countries until 2001. In 1997 a formal treaty “on peace and the principles of Russian-Chechen relations” was signed between Russia and Chechnya. The Russian forces claimed 3826 troops were killed, 17892 were wounded and 1906 were MIA, however independent Russian sources claim these numbers to be much higher, whilst Chechen casualties are estimated at up to 100000 dead or more, of which most were civilians.

The Kosovo War 1996 to 1999 –

The Kosovo war was another of the Yugoslav wars. Kosovo was an autonomous (self-govern) region of Serbia. It is located on the southern border of Serbia and Montenegro (the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Its population was made up of Serbian’s and Albanian’s. It was alleged by the Serb’s that over a 20 year period that 200000+ Serbs had left Kosovo. During the 80’s there was a significant exodus of Serbs from Kosovo. They participated in a survey which was published and called the SANU Memorandum. It claimed that those Serb’s who had left Kosovo had done so as a direct result of pressure placed on them by the Albanian’s (who said they left for economical reasons). It suggested that there should be security and equality for all peoples living in Kosovo and objective and permanent conditions for the return of the expelled Serb nation to be created. It concluded that “Serbia must not be passive and wait and see what the others will say, as it has done so often in the past.” The new President of Serbia Slobodan Milošević (and the later Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) In 1989 imposed a curfew and reduced the autonomy of Kosovo following violent demonstrations and in 1990 its self autonomy was revoked by Milošević, who claimed the changes were to protect Kosovo’s remaining Serbs against harassment from the Albanian majority. By 1996 Kosovo’s political institutions were abolished, Albanians were loosing their state jobs by the thousands, the security forces were replaced by Serbian forces, the education system was changed with Albanian teachers removed and Albanian students expelled. This new Police state resulted in 80% of the population being unemployed. The Albanians tried to run their own schools & hospitals and held an independence referendum for a new republic of Kosovo, which passed in 1992, but was not recognised by Serbia.

On the 22nd of April 1996 a newly formed Kosovo Liberation Army AKA KLA attacked a number of Serbian security forces positions in Kosovo triggering the war. The Serbs responded over the coming months by attacking KLA strong holds, which saw the death of Kosovo civilians, (women and children) which caused outpour in Western countries. The KLA grew following the civil unrest in Albania and the KLA were able to secure munitions and vehicles in Albania. They went on to fight the Serb’s security forces and took control of the territory around Decani and the village of Glodjane and its surrounding territory. On May 31st 1998 the Serbs started reprisals against KLA attacks, who were growing and taking control of Southern area’s of the country, by ethnically cleansing area’s of Albanians. In September a determined effort was made to clear the KLA out of the northern and central parts of Kosovo and out of the Drenica valley, which resulted in more criticism and threats of military intervention by western countries against Serbia. A temporary ceasefire was eventually put in place but failed by the December when fighting started up again. One Serbian reprisal against the KLA and example of Serbian cleansing was the Račak massacre in January 1999 when Serb forces killed Albanian civilians, leaving mutilated bodies in the street.

It was the final straw for western countries who decided the only way to end hostilities was to introduce a military NATO peacekeeping force to forcibly restrain the Serbs and KLA. The Rambouillet Agreement was signed between the KLA, the US and Britain but not Serbia. The agreement was for NATO troops to enter Kosovo and NATO to run its administration. Whilst Serbia eventually agreed to the part of administration by NATO, it objected to military intervention calling it an occupation. The next day, the 24th of March, NATO aircraft started bombing Serbian forces. The goal of the bombing was described by NATO to be “Serbs out, peacekeepers in, refugees back”.

Eventually the bombings were enough to get Milošević to agree to NATO troops being deployed in Kosovo. They were called the Kosovo Force AKA KFOR and started to enter Kosovo in June 1999, which saw the end of the war. KFOR was made up from the British Army (who led the force) French, German, Italy and the US. Russia did contribute troops who operated under KFOR but not its command.

The Kosovo war had seen an estimated 850000 Albanians flee their homes and over 300000 become refugees after crossing in to Albania. In 2000 the Red-Cross reported that 3368 civilians were still missing and in August 1999 2788 bodies were exhumed from mass graves. In 2001 four mass graves containing nearly 1000 bodies were discovered, one of these graves was found on a Serbian Police training ground just outside of Belgrade. An estimated 10000 Albanians were killed by Serb forces whilst they carried out ethnic cleansing.

The second Chechen War 1999 to 2000 Click here to launch the combat map

Following the end of the first Chechen War, the countries infrastructure had pretty much collapsed. The guerrillas who had fought in the war now had no occupations, except to fight. These guerrilla groups and war lords lived outside of the capital Grozny and could not be controlled by the Chechen Government and became increasingly lawless. Up to 1999 they carried out a number of border crossings in to other federation countries, attacking Russian federation military/security buildings as well as bombings in the heart of Russia. These border crossings escalated and in August 1999, Shamil Basayev, leader of the Chechen Separatist Movement AKA Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade, lead 1400 fighters in to the neighbouring federal country Dagestan to assist other Islamic fighters who were fighting Russian Forces. They were however pushed back in to Chechen territory by the Russians. All these actions against Russia and its military were the catalyst for Russian Leaders to declare war and retake the country.

Through August and September the Russian air-force carried out a huge bombing campaign in the country in an attempt to wipe out the guerrillas and separatists. It resulted in thousands of civilians fleeing the country into neighbouring countries to escape the bombing. In October land forces then worked their way South through the country in heavy numbers, making strong use of artillery and air-strikes against defending Chechen guerrillas and separatists until they reached Grozny, following the new Russian Leader Vladimir Putin’s declaration that the Chechen President and his government were illegitimate. By early December, Russian forces had captured a number of towns and villages from Chechen fighters and had surrounded Grozny. They then invade the city and by the 2nd of February had re-taken it, or rather had captured a city that was described as the most destroyed city in the world.

Following heavy fighting and shelling of the mountains to the South of the country, Russian forces retook them and by May 2000 Russian federal rule was reinstated in the country, with a pro-Russian Government installed. The Chechen Republic has a significant degree of self-governance but is still part of the Russian federation and subject to its federal laws. Despite the official war ending in May 2000 and the heavy losses and disbandment of the guerrilla fighters and separatists, small groups still continue to carry out bombings and violence in Chechenya and neighbouring federal countries. Russia still maintains a military presence in the country to combat this, how ever the number of troops is continuously shrinking.

Afghanistan & the war on terror Click here to launch the combat map

On the 11th of September 2001, the cities of Washington D.C. and New York were the scene of joint simultaneous suicide attacks of a catastrophic level. A total of 19 Arabic men boarded four different national commercial passenger jets (these were chosen as the security was not as tight as international flights) in Boston, Newark and Washington D.C. during the morning. They over powered the crews, hi-jacked the planes (as they had taken basic flight school) and headed to the symbols of US strength and power. Two of the planes (one each) were flown directly in to both the World Trade Centres in Downtown New York, whilst the third one was crashed in to the Pentagon building (the heart of the national security and military) in Washington. The forth failed to crash in to a target as its believed the passengers tried to re-take control of the plane and it crashed in to a field. With in hours both the World Trade Centre towers had collapsed. By the end of the day 2974 US citizens, emergency personnel and international employees had died in both attacks.

Speculation as too who was responsible was already rife on the 11th, but by the 18th US President Bush had identified a man called Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda as the main suspects for the attacks. Bin Laden was a Saudi national and born in to a wealth family in construction. In the Soviet-Afghan War he organised resistance fighters, arms and money to fund the fighting. He returned to Saudi Arabia as a hero and when the Gulf War broke out, he begged the Saudi Royal Family not to rely on non-Islamic AKA US & UK military, but to rely on Islamic fighters to defend the country. This was rejected as the Coalition used Saudi Arabia as its base for military personnel in the Gulf War, much to Bin Ladens disgust and objective of ending foreign influence in Muslim countries and the creation of a new Islamic political leadership of the Muslim community. He then called for attacks against the US during the 1990’s. This led to the bombing of US Embassy’s and finally the September 2001 attacks AKA 9/11.

On the 7th of October, following Bush’s “either your with us or against us” speech, explosions rocked the Afghan capitals and the Taliban facilities, who for the most part governed Afghanistan and had declared bin Laden as a guest of theirs and therefore were against the US. The Taliban had allowed bin Laden & Al-Qaeda to run training camps in Afghanistan and were also targeted. Prior to the air-campaign, US & British secret service and special forces had made contact with anti Taliban forces like the Northern Alliance who were Afghani’s fighting the Taliban, who assisted the US & British forces direct the air-strikes at the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

On the 12th of November, the Afghan capital Kabul was captured as Taliban forces fled the city. Their equipment and vehicles were all but destroyed from precision strikes from US F-16’s & A-10’s. Other battles raged on including the siege of Kunduz which ended on the 26th of November. The battle of Qala-i-Jangi saw 300 Taliban prisoners try to escape and was suppressed after 6 days of fighting with the British SBS. The taking of Kandahar, the last Taliban-controlled city had fallen by December the 6th. The last major push was the Battle of Tora Bora by British forces including the SAS. They pursued Taliban & Al-Qaeda forces through the maze of fortified bunkers and caves in the mountains of Tora Bora, pushing them across the boarder in to Pakistani. The last caves were cleared on the 17th of December. 200 al-Qaeda fighters were killed during the battle with no losses to the British.

By early 2002 an Afghan Transitional Administration was established in Kabul and It has been replaced with the election of a permanent government in 2004. Hamid Karzai won and became the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

One of the key goals for the country has been its reconstruction such infer structure, services (clean water & electricity) health and education services. This has resulted in two separate military operations being conducted by International forces. The first is called Operation Enduring Freedom AKA OEF. Its predominantly made up of US forces and responsible for hunting down Al Qaeda remnants along the Pakistani border in the East and South of the country. Its a non NATO mission and whilst some NATO members contribute troops to it, the mission is shared with the Afghan National Army.

The second operation is the International Security Assistance Force AKA ISAF. Its main goal was to stabilize the country and provide security so that the reconstruction could begin and to provide assistance to the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Established by the international community in 2002, since 2003 ISAF is now under NATO command and control. By May 2008, its estimated that 40 countries have contributed 47000 troops to ISAF, with NATO members providing the core of the force. Each of the 40 countries have varied levels of contribution such as the US who have 17790 troops (as of September 2008, excluding OEF) and Greece who have 170.

Apart from the obvious success and use of air-strikes by fixed wing aircraft, the on-going military operations have been proving grounds for a number of other AFV’s for a number of countries (including the Apache helicopter recently adopted by the British Army Air-Corp). The Pzh 2000 Artillery System has been deployed for the first time by the Dutch Army (AKA Royal Netherlands Army) in fighting in the Kandahar Province. The Leopard 2 A6 CAN has been deployed with the Canadian Army and one was struck by an IED which the crew survived. The Danish Leopard 2 A5DK has also been deployed. One was struck by an IED and the driver was killed. The British Warrior & Scimitar are also serving in the country and still proving their worth as excellent AFV’s. The British Royal Marines recently adopted BvS 10 AKA Viking APC has also been proving very success thanks to its high off-road mobility, increased protection thanks to added BAR armour and very low ground pressure, which doesn’t activate anti-tank mines. The M270 MLRS has also been deployed and used by the British Army.

Though the initial military campaigns of 2001 & 2002 toppled the Taliban & destroyed the Al-Qaeda training camps, in recent years the Taliban have been regrouping and launching new offensives. This has been met with a number of conflicts with ISAF who have been increasing troop numbers and equipment. The original goal of the regrouped Taliban was to try to topple the new government, but have given up on this and been focusing on guerrilla attacks against ISAF and civilians. As of September the 11th 2008, fighting is still continuing in the country and there have been 949 coalition deaths in both OEF & ISAF. The highest losses have been the US – 581 , UK – 97 and Canada – 97.

2003 Invasion of Iraq Click here to launch the combat map

Following the defeat of his forces in the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein managed to retain power and his position following his brutal response to the US orchestrated Kurdish uprising in the North & Shiite uprising in the South of Iraq at the end of the war. His actions led to a no fly zone over these area’s and a UN ban on Iraq manufacturing Weapons of Mass Destruction AKA WMD. It was backed up by an international Special Commission AKA UNSCOM, whose inspectors searched for and destroyed Iraq’s chemical, biological & nuclear weapons.

The US government continued with CIA operations through out the 1990’s to insight rebellion so the Iraqi Presidency and its government collapsed, all of which failed. At the same time the US & the UK continued sporadic bombings in Iraq as well as tight economic sanctions. By 1998 Saddam refused to cooperate with the UNSCOM inspectors and eventually were withdrawn. In the 2000 US elections, the Bush Administration had aired desires for the removal of Saddam Hussein whilst others were in favour of invading Iraq.

Following the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent September 20th War on Terror announcement which included the use of ‘pre-emptive’ military action, some of the Bush Administration called for the immediate invasion of Iraq. Instead Bush went to the UN looking for support in September 2002 to invade Iraq. It was met with much resistance by member states such as France, Germany and UN Resolution 1441 was passed as a compromise. It was a final demand made to Iraq to comply with a list of points and accusations made by Bush that Iraq were allegedly breaking, which were: Resolution 1373, “extremely grave” human rights violations, Iraq production and use of WMD, miss spending of proceeds from the “oil for food” U.N. program and finally, violating the terms of the weapons inspection program. Resolution 1441 had stated serious consequences were to follow with failure to comply, which caused much concern and debate, but following reassurances from the US & UK that these were not triggers for an invasion, the resolution was passed.

In November 2002 Saddam let the inspectors, now called UNMOVIC and IAEA, back in to the country. By February 2003 the IAEA reported “it had found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons programme in Iraq”. UNMOVIC found a small number of empty chemical rocket warheads, 50 litres of mustard gas that had been declared by Iraq and sealed by UNSCOM in 1998, and laboratory quantities of a mustard gas precursor (chemical that is transformed into another compound), along with about 50 Al-Samoud missiles. It also stated “it would take “months” to verify Iraqi compliance with resolution 1441″ by which point in late 2002 a US resolution authorized the President to “use any means necessary” against Iraq had been passed.

The Bush Administration had started a media campaign supporting the invasion and by February 2003, 74% of Americans supported taking military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power. A small coalition led by the US & the UK continued to press for UN support to invade Iraq, but when they failed to gain it, they decided to pursue the invasion without U.N. authorization. This decision has been questioned as to whether or not the invasion did in fact break international law. According to the Guinness Book of World records, the world wide anti-war peace protests held simultaneously on February the 15th around the world in 800 cities was the largest anti-war peace protest in human history.

Bush gave Saddam Hussein and his two sons 48hrs to leave Iraq on the 17th of March 2003, but started bombing Iraq on the 18th. Saddam did not comply with Bush’s demands and the invasion began. The invading coalition was made up predominantly by the US (248 000 Soldiers and Marines) & the UK (45 000), with Spain (1300), Australia (2000), Denmark (500) and Poland (194). About 90 minutes after the end of the 48hr deadline to leave, explosions echoed across Baghdad from air strikes guided in by Coalition special forces which was followed a few hours later by the regular forces crossing the Iraqi border. The British forces with other coalition forces targeted the south of the country around and including the 2nd largest Iraqi city, Basra. The US led forces went on to the capital Baghdad.

The end of conventional armed fighting was announced by President Bush on May the 1st 2003 following the defeat and capture of the town Tikrit by US Marines. Both Saddams sons were killed in a gun fight with US Soldiers and Saddam himself was later found in hiding on the 13th of December 2003. He was later hung by an Iraqi court. No Weapons of Mass Destruction were ever found.

The occupation by Coalition forces has led to a resistance AKA insurgents made up of Iraqi and many other foreign nationals, who predominantly target the US forces with IED’s and RPG-7’s. Of those 4000+ US forces killed in Iraq (as of late 2008), only 139 of them were during the conventional fighting in 2003. Many of the old and long standing grudges between religious factions has led to sectarian violence. In some parts of Baghdad concrete walls much like those used in Israel have been erected to separate them, creating enclaves and an estimated 4 million Iraqi’s have been displaced from their homes and many are refugee’s. It is felt that Iraq has been in a state of civil war since the end of the conventional fighting and an estimated 600000 Iraqi civilians have been killed in this violence and 35% of Iraqi children are now orphans. As of May 2006 there is a new Government of Iraq, which was voted in by a general election. The desire by the Governments of the Coalition forces to leave Iraq have been hampered by the continued sectarian violence, the targeting of US forces and the targeting of Iraqi police and security forces recruited and trained by Coalition forces and seen as calibrators. With so much violence and uncertainty, the Iraqi people face a hard and troubled future to rebuild their country following nearly 25 years of heavy fighting with its neighbouring countries, being bombed by Western countries air strikes, isolation through international embargoes & economic sanctions, occupation and civil war.