Operation Enduring Freedom

King Philip's War July 4, 1675 -August 12, 1676

In 1620 when the English first settled in New England, relations between the Amerindians and the colonists were friendly. Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoag tribe, brought food to sustain the newcomers through their first winter and helped them adjust to life in this strange, new world. As more and more colonists flooded into New England, strains in the relationship began to appear. The English were convinced that the various tribes should be under colonial control. Unless the Amerindians were willing to surrender their independence, conflict was inevitable. Finally, in 1675, the battle was joined. Massasoit's son, Metacomet, called Philip by the English, led his tribe into a final struggle.
In 1676, the battle was over. Philip was slain, his body drawn and quartered, and his head paraded in triumph in Plymouth. Philip's son, Massasoit's grandson, was sold into slavery in Bermuda. The generosity of Massasoit in 1620 indirectly resulted in the enslavement of his grandson 56 years later.
The individual INCIDENTS featured here are isolated events that occurred during one year in the Connecticut River Valley. The war that is known as King Philip's War ranged from the Mt. Hope peninsula in Rhode Island to the outermost colonial settlement of Northfield, Massachusetts.
(http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/philip.html)

The Iraq War

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Iraq War Cost

Today they are still fighting in Iraq. The United States had joined the war too, and it cost a lot. The two reasons that make up this war are Oil, and Israel. But the mechanical reasons are the neocon lobby, Cheney as VP, and Bush's desire to prove himself and best his father. The neocons discuss mainly on the needs of Israel (the WMD they were truely concerned about were Scuds aimed at Israel), but Cheney and Rumsfeld may be more focussed on oil.
John McCain pushed American to Iraq to fight. In the midst of decrying the dangers of Americans reliance on foreign oil, McCain seemed to suggest that this reliance caused the current struggle in Iraq. "My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will -that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East,” McCain said. This comment was initially prompted by a compliment from a military veteran, who stated he hoped a group called, "Swift Boats for McCain come out and help" the GOP nominee, somehow leading McCain to go into an unprompted defense of the current attack campaign against him -- based on his 100-year statement. "You have seen an ad campaign that is mounted against me that says I wanted to stay and fight in Iraq for a 100 years," McCain said to a crowd at a Jewish Community Center. "My friends, it’s a direct falsification, and I’m sorry that political campaigns have to deteriorate in this fashion, because there’s legitimate differences between myself and Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton on what we should do in Iraq. After we win the war in Iraq ... then I’m talking about a security arrangement that may or may not be the same kind of thing we have with South -- with Korea."

Vietnam War 1960-1975

Between 1945 and 1954, the Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France and received $2.6 billion in financial support from the United States. The French defeat at the Dien Bien Phu was followed by a peace conference in Geneva, in which Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam received their independence and Vietnam was temporarily divided between an anti-Communist South and a Communist North. In 1956, South Vietnam, with American backing, refused to hold the unification elections. By 1958, Communist-led guerrillas known as the Viet Cong had begun to battle the South Vietnamese government.
To support the South’s government, the United States sent in 2,000 military advisors, a number that grew to 16,300 in 1963. The military condition deteriorated, and by 1963 South Vietnam had lost the fertile Mekong Delta to the Vietcong. In 1965, Johnson escalated the war, commencing air strikes on North Vietnam and committing ground forces, which numbered 536,000 in 1968. The 1968 Tet Offensive by the North Vietnamese turned many Americans against the war. The next president, Richard Nixon, advocated Vietnamization, withdrawing American troops and giving South Vietnam greater responsibility for fighting the war. His attempt to slow the flow of North Vietnamese soldiers and supplies into South Vietnam by sending American forces to destroy Communist supply bases in Cambodia in 1970 in violation of Cambodian neutrality provoked antiwar protests on the nation’s college campuses.
From 1968 to 1973 efforts were made to end the conflict through diplomacy. In January 1973, an agreement reached and U.S. forces were withdrawn from Vietnam and U.S. prisoners of war were released. In April 1975, South Vietnam surrendered to the North and Vietnam was reunited.

Korean War 1950-1953

Korean War, conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet (North Korean) and U.S. (South Korean) zones of occupation. In 1948 rival governments were established: The Republic of Korea was proclaimed in the South and the People's Democratic Republic of Korea in the North. Relations between them became increasingly strained, and on June 25, 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea. The United Nations quickly condemned the invasion as an act of aggression, demanded the withdrawal of North Korean troops from the South, and called upon its members to aid South Korea.
In the first weeks of the conflict the North Korean forces met little resistance and advanced rapidly. By Sept. 10 they had driven the South Korean army and a small American force to the Busan (Pusan) area at the southeast tip of Korea. A counter offensive began on Sept. 15, when UN forces made a daring landing at Incheon (Inchon) on the west coast. North Korean forces fell back and MacArthur received orders to pursue them into North Korea. After months of heavy fighting, the center of the conflict was returned to the 38th parallel, where it remained for the rest of the war. MacArthur, however, wished to mount another invasion of North Korea. When MacArthur persisted in publicly criticizing U.S. policy, Truman, on the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff removed (Apr. 10, 1951) him from command and installed Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway as commander in chief. Gen. James Van Fleet then took command of the 8th Army. Ridgway began (July 10, 1951) truce negotiations with the North Koreans and Chinese, while small unit actions, bitter but indecisive, continued. Gen. Van Fleet was denied permission to go on the offensive and end the “meat grinder” war.
The war's unpopularity played an important role in the presidential victory of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had pledged to go to Korea to end the war. Negotiations broke down four different times, but after much difficulty and nuclear threats by Eisenhower, an armistice agreement was signed (July 27, 1953). Casualties in the war were heavy. U.S. losses were placed at over 54,000 dead and 103,000 wounded, while Chinese and Korean casualties were each at least 10 times as high. (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0828118.html)

Spanish-American War 1898

The Spanish-American War (April-July 1898) was a brief, intense conflict that effectively ended Spain's worldwide empire and gained the United States several new possessions in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Preceded by a naval tragedy, the destruction of USS Maine at Havana, Cuba, the Spanish-American War featured two major naval battles, one in the Philippines and the other off Cuba, plus several smaller naval clashes.
The war with Spain itself was swift and decisive. During the four months it lasted, not a single American reverse of any importance occurred. A week after the declaration of war, Commodore George Dewey, then at Hong Kong, proceeded with his squadron of six vessels to the Philippines. His orders were to prevent the Spanish fleet based there from operating in American waters. He caught the entire Spanish fleet at anchor and destroyed it without losing an American life.
Meanwhile, in Cuba, troops landed near Santiago, where -- after winning a rapid series of engagements -- they fired on the port. Four armored Spanish cruisers steamed out of Santiago Bay and a few hours later were reduced to ruined hulks. From Boston to San Francisco, whistles blew and flags waved when word came that Santiago had fallen.
During the conflict, newspapers had dispatched correspondents to Cuba and the Philippines, who trumpeted the renown of the nation's new heroes. Chief among them were Dewey of Manila fame and Roosevelt. Spain soon sued for peace, and in the treaty signed on Dec. 10, 1898, transferred Cuba to the United States for temporary occupation preliminary to the island's independence. In addition, Spain ceded Puerto Rico and Guam in lieu of war indemnity, and the Philippines on payment of $20 million. (http://www.humboldt.edu/~jcb10/spanwar.shtml)