Iraq:
An Oasis of Uncertainty
Iraq, a hostile desert of uncertainties regarding both the past and present. A desert oasis that attracts a variety of human nature that ranges from good to evil. A desert with two life-sustaining rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, which fostered the growth of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Elamites, Hatti, Hittites, Assyrians, Hurrians to the modern day cities that most people are familiar with, Mosul, Tikrit and Bagdad (Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) and Department of Defence Legacy Resource Management Program). It is also the birthplace of the ancient Mesopotamian Empires first known writing styles cuneiform . Iraq is also home of some of the oldest known …show more content…
Alexander the Great took advantage of this and delivered promises of restoring Babylon to its formal greatness. He promise to do this by making Babylon his regional capital and allowing the Babylonians to govern the land from this restored seat of power after he returned from his conquests. Alexander then defeated Darius III, the king of Achaemenid dynasty in a battle a few kilometers east of the current city Arbil in northern Iraq and it looked like he would come through with his promise. Alexander then continued on his conquest, pressing into the area known as modern day Afghanistan and did not come back for almost eight years. After a failed attempt to invade India, Alexander the Great returned to Babylon but ended up dying before he could deliver on his promises of restoring Babylon. Alexander the Great’s generals divided his conquered lands and built their respective capitals around the known world. Seleucus, the general from Alexander’s army who laid claim over Mesopotamia, built his capital, named Seleucia-on-the–Tigris, about ninety kilometers north of Babylon. He completely disregarded the promise that Alexander the Great made to Babylon causing Babylon people and city-state to dissolve into nothing over time (Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) and Department of Defence …show more content…
Like Christianity, Islam separates itself into sub beliefs that derive from the same belief system but have different views. The two that dominate Iraq are the Shiites and the Sunni. Although at a glance, the two look fundamentally the same, one can cause great offense if you mix the two up. Professor Cole quoted by History News Network said it the best,
Shiites are more like traditional Catholics in venerating members of the holy family and attending at their shrines. Contemporary Salafi (sic) Sunni Islam is more like the militant brand of Protestantism of the late 1500s that denounced intermediaries between God and the individual and actually attacked (sic) and destroyed shrines to saints and other holy figures, where pleas for intercession were made.
The Sunni Muslim are mainly to the north and east while the Shiites Muslims reside mainly to the south and west of Iraq splitting the country into two (Fisher). One can imagine the tensions between the two while they both struggle for power of the state. Additionally, units must use special consideration of the majority of the populace and the Soldiers have different religious beliefs. The argument, my God or belief is better than your God is or belief will be a common rally point to both the Iraqi and the unit Soldier and it is imperative that a commander does not get caught up in this and
An Oasis of Uncertainty
Iraq, a hostile desert of uncertainties regarding both the past and present. A desert oasis that attracts a variety of human nature that ranges from good to evil. A desert with two life-sustaining rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, which fostered the growth of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Elamites, Hatti, Hittites, Assyrians, Hurrians to the modern day cities that most people are familiar with, Mosul, Tikrit and Bagdad (Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) and Department of Defence Legacy Resource Management Program). It is also the birthplace of the ancient Mesopotamian Empires first known writing styles cuneiform . Iraq is also home of some of the oldest known …show more content…
Alexander the Great took advantage of this and delivered promises of restoring Babylon to its formal greatness. He promise to do this by making Babylon his regional capital and allowing the Babylonians to govern the land from this restored seat of power after he returned from his conquests. Alexander then defeated Darius III, the king of Achaemenid dynasty in a battle a few kilometers east of the current city Arbil in northern Iraq and it looked like he would come through with his promise. Alexander then continued on his conquest, pressing into the area known as modern day Afghanistan and did not come back for almost eight years. After a failed attempt to invade India, Alexander the Great returned to Babylon but ended up dying before he could deliver on his promises of restoring Babylon. Alexander the Great’s generals divided his conquered lands and built their respective capitals around the known world. Seleucus, the general from Alexander’s army who laid claim over Mesopotamia, built his capital, named Seleucia-on-the–Tigris, about ninety kilometers north of Babylon. He completely disregarded the promise that Alexander the Great made to Babylon causing Babylon people and city-state to dissolve into nothing over time (Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) and Department of Defence …show more content…
Like Christianity, Islam separates itself into sub beliefs that derive from the same belief system but have different views. The two that dominate Iraq are the Shiites and the Sunni. Although at a glance, the two look fundamentally the same, one can cause great offense if you mix the two up. Professor Cole quoted by History News Network said it the best,
Shiites are more like traditional Catholics in venerating members of the holy family and attending at their shrines. Contemporary Salafi (sic) Sunni Islam is more like the militant brand of Protestantism of the late 1500s that denounced intermediaries between God and the individual and actually attacked (sic) and destroyed shrines to saints and other holy figures, where pleas for intercession were made.
The Sunni Muslim are mainly to the north and east while the Shiites Muslims reside mainly to the south and west of Iraq splitting the country into two (Fisher). One can imagine the tensions between the two while they both struggle for power of the state. Additionally, units must use special consideration of the majority of the populace and the Soldiers have different religious beliefs. The argument, my God or belief is better than your God is or belief will be a common rally point to both the Iraqi and the unit Soldier and it is imperative that a commander does not get caught up in this and