but his escort was held captive and he was murdered. Akbar Khan paraded through Kabul with a bloodstained sword, boasting that he killed Macnaghten, but told the British that it was another person who had done it. To show his good faith, he returned the British Soldiers that were escorting Macnaghten. By the time General Elphinestone decided to retreat, his Soldiers were lacking food, ammunition and temperatures were dropping. Multiple negotiations were made between the British and the Afghans in order to have a safe retreat from Kabul to Jalalabad, but the British were betrayed by the Afghans. Elphinestone’s troops were witnessing these negotiations and noticing that they were being betrayal by the Afghans constantly. When troops and
camp followers commenced the retreat from Kabul, they started to receive enemy fire. Not everybody was out of the cantonment, the Afghans were pushing to get in and steal anything that was of value for them. Around 50 Soldiers from the cavalry did not make it out of the cantonment and a trail of dead Soldiers and camp followers marked the way towards the Kabul River. By the evening they had only traveled six miles. The following morning the retreating forces set off at first light, although no order was given or any type of signal was given to announce the continuation of the march. The march was stopped in order to keep the forces together and this gave plenty of time to the Afghans to organize an ambush for the following day. This demonstrates that Elphinstone didn’t have the skills of art of command. With all the chaos and disorganization, the Indian Soldiers decided to desert the Army. Some of them decided to go back to Kabul, but they were killed by Afghan tribesmen right after they left. Soldiers were losing trust in their chain of command because of the decisions that they were making. Every decision that the leadership made resulted in numerous Soldiers getting killed, including
The award-winning novel by Stephen Ambrose, Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, discusses one of the greatest examples of mission command in the form of 1st Lieutenant Richard Winters and his role in the Brecourt Manor Assault. This battle is a textbook example of how to fight against a superior enemy force that outnumbered the unit by four times as much. Facing overwhelming odds with just 16 paratroopers against over 60 German Soldiers, 1LT Winters nevertheless prevails and succeeds in achieving his objective while minimizing casualties to just three Soldiers lost. Looking back further into the American Revolution, the Battle of Bunker Hill on the American side is one of the earliest examples of Mission Command under the command of COL William Prescott.
The insurgents had arrived in the neighboring villages of the camp deep in the night and started grouping together with the Nuristan militia men. Their first step involved evicting the civilians in the village on an impending attack on the Keating combat outpost. Following analysis showed that the villagers might not have moved out of the area during the attack. The attack started at dawn when the insurgent...
...hrough the mountain passages to the south and into Pakistan. By him doing this, we expected his approval rating by the Taliban would diminish quickly. This too was not true; he continued to be the well-respected leader of al-Qaeda and gain numerous followers through his illusiveness.
“Over the past century, Canadian attitudes towards the use of force and the exercise of military power in support of national aims have fundamentally shifted”. This is a quote written by Major Todd Strickland in his article, titled, “From the Boers to the Taliban: How Canadians Attitudes towards War Have Changed”. This article reviews Canada’s history within the wars and also Canadian’s thoughts on war. The Afghan war began in 2001 and is still ongoing today. The war began due to the terrorist attacks that took place in the United States on September 11th, 2001, also known as 9/11. The purpose of this war was to invade Afghanistan and to disassemble an organization, known as the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Another objective was to dismantle the Taliban government. The Taliban government was simply to blame for the deaths of so many Americans on 9/11. The leader, brains and financial support behind this organization was one by the name of Osama bin Laden. Because his country did not surrender him, the United States made the decision to declare war on Afghanistan and fight for those who lost their lives in 9/11. Canada became involved in the Afghan War very quickly after the attacks of 9/11. Because the Afghanistan war is a war that is constantly covered by the media, it makes the information overwhelming. To narrow the topic down, this paper will focus mainly on the Canadian’s involvement in the Afghanistan war. Violent political wars have been reoccurring for as long as anyone can remember, and the intensity of this violence continues to rise. The magnitude of political violence involved, the main interpretations on the causes of political violence, and the prospects for conflict resolution are all topics that will be covered...
John Walker Lindh an American citizen who has been referred to as “The American Taliban”, left the United States to receive military training as an enemy combat. Upon his departure from the United States, he received the necessary discipline that was required in order to be a part of the Afghan Army. These Afghans were in the business for recruiting Muslims to engage in the fight against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan’s civil war. After training and fighting with an Afghan based Taliban group, the ultimate result ended with John Walker Lindh being captured as an enemy and returned to his homeland. It was at this time he appeared in front of the American judicial system to face charges ranging from providing material support to conspiracy against citizens of the United States (America’s 2011)
In the Crucible, we are introduced to the main protagonist John Proctor; the way that Arthur Miller presents him by rebelling against the authority in Salem. Out of the entire town he is the only person that speaks out, realising that the authority is unfair and unjust; he is not like everyone else in the town who keeps quiet to themselves. There are many situations where we the readers can see very clear examples of him rebelling against the authority that controlled Salem. One example of Proctor rebelling against authority in Salem was when he did not go to church on a Sabbath day and instead decided to pray in his own home ‘Mr Proctor, your house is not a church; your theology must tell you that’. That is one clear example of him rebelling
The 1980 summer Olympics, or more formally known as Games of the XXII Olympiad, was held in Moscow in the Soviet Union. Moscow proved to serve as a sufficient location for the Summer Games, proving itself with its size and budget, it was also an opportunity to elicit new jobs into the community and to increase in tourism rates. However, in Christmas 1979, Soviet Union paratroopers landed in Kabal, capital to Afghanistan. The country was already at the grip of war and its monarchy was decreasing in power. The Prime Minister of Afghanistan, Hazifullah Amin, wanted to add a more Western culture into the country and relieve the country of its Muslim tradition. A majority of the country was angered by this because Muslim belief was common. Soon enough, Afghan residents would react by joining the Mujahdeen, a guerrilla force composed of Muslims. The Mujahdeen declared a jihad, a holy war, on the Amin government of which included Russia. The Soviet Union took action on December 27th, 1979 by murdering Amin and appointed Kamal Barbak to lead Afghanistan. Many countries were disapproving of Russia's actions and in their perspective, felt that it was both inappropriate and unnecessary in Russia's involvement.
...ng the grenade and killing the man. Without killing the enemy soldier, O’Brien could’ve been to blame for losing many of his comrades, and maybe even his own life. A true war hero wouldn’t be hesitant to take out an enemy to protect their comrades. They’d react instantly and do their job. “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone…” (Pg 118) A typical war hero would keep their focus on the war and their comrades. Even though fear runs through every man, a war hero would fight through the fear and do their task at hand to save their comrades and their own life. Hesitating on the battlefield can cost many lives, even their own life.
The United States Military though has problems in the country and has been having these problems since the invasion. Training Afghan forces and fighting the Taliban has not been working and is not efficient. We are trying to win the hearts and minds of the people but when the Taliban are blowing up schools and hospitals, winning those hearts and minds is a challenge. “Americans are used to be successful and these wars are not” announces Mark Lytle (Hampson). Americans are being worn down and soon will be on the verge of giving up, something Al Qaeda wants, and we are letting our enemy win this war. Afghanistan though also has ethnic problems. There are several divisions in Afghanistan, different tribes different ethnic background. The concept of majority rule has not been sitting well. The Afghan Government is corrupt and is not efficient enough to rule effectively. “The sooner we accept that Afghanistan ...
and were forced to give up all claims on Afghanistan to the British. These two
Since the beginning of the retreat from Kabul, General William Elphinstone never provided a clear commander’s intent to his subordinate leaders and Soldiers. His lack of confidence and indecisiveness made the situation worse. He tried to stop the retreat as thousands of troops and camp followers were already half way leaving the cantonment. Elphinestone ordered one of his officers, Collin Mackenzie, to stop the retreat and make the retreating forces go back to the cantonment in Kabul. Mackenzie, tried to convince Elphinestone that this would be fatal. Half of the troops inside the cantonment and the other half out of the cantonment left them vulnerable to an enemy attack. Mackenzie ignored Elphinestone’s order and he kept moving the troops
Although overthrowing Hafizullah Amin was a big reason why the Soviet government invaded Afghanistan, there were many other reasons. The Soviet Union was looking to free the communists in Afghanistan by fighting Islamic fundamentalism. The Soviet Union thought that an ex...
In the years of 1838 until 1842, the British armies attacked. King Shah Sharjah slayed in 1842. The British and Indian troops slaughtered during withdrawal from Kabul. In 1878-1880 the second Anglo-Afghan War happened. A settlement then gives Britain control of Afghan foreign affairs. In 1919 A...
McMahon, Robert. "The Purpose of the Afghan War." 21 September 2009. The Council on Foreign Relations. 26 October 2011 .
In the past ten years the Afghan Government has been dealing with a number of issues that have caused problems for the country, problems such as illegal drug trade, terrorism and violence. But nowadays they are fighting a problem that has long existed between people, and quite recently has taken a whole new aspect to it. Ethnic conflict is the destructive factor that has caused problems between people for generations, often leading to fights, outbreak of violence and grudge between different ethnicities.