Browsing: Military

A Brief History The US brokered multi-country deal with Iran in July of 2015 to limit Iran’s nuclear research and delay Iranian development of a nuclear weapon has generated heated rhetoric by Israel condemning the pact, and strident criticism (mostly by Republicans) in the United States, with the US Senate poised to debate the merits of the agreement after the summer Congressional recess. Digging Deeper Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Will the US and other countries honor the agreement if Congress fails to ratify the pact?  What will happen if the hard fought for agreement falls apart? If…

A Brief History Turns out Khzir Khan, the irate grieving father of a slain American hero (his son was an Army captain that died heroically in the line of duty in Iraq) may have more motivation to attack Donald Trump than merely sticking up for Muslims. Digging Deeper Mr. Khan, a Muslim immigrant from Pakistan, spoke at the Democratic National Convention and spoke emotionally about his son, an Army captain awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart while being killed in combat while saving the lives of other soldiers, and severely chastised Trump for his call to ban Muslim immigrants…

A Brief History On August 2, 216 BC, the Carthaginian army of Hannibal defeated the larger Roman Army at Cannae, a major battle during the Second Punic War.  This battle was one of the most humiliating defeats in the history of Rome and is considered one of the great strokes of tactical military genius of all time. Digging Deeper After losing 2 major battles to the Carthaginians at Trebia and Lake Trasimene (218 and 217 BC respectively),  the Romans had regrouped and sought a decisive battle against the invaders.  Able to field an army of  86,000 men against only 50,000…

A Brief History On August 2, 1916, the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci was sunk in its own harbor at Taranto courtesy of Austrian sabotage.  The mighty battleship was only 2 years old and was sunk by a magazine explosion, a sorry end to a capital ship.  The Italian military and its Roman predecessors have had plenty of notable military triumphs over the years, but seem to have a reputation for disaster despite that.  Here we list 10 Italian Military Disasters or Catastrophes.  (Note: We are tempted to count World War I and World War II as 2 complete disasters…

A Brief History Captain Humayun Saqib Muazzam Khan (September 9, 1976 – June 8, 2004) was a Pakistani American Muslim soldier of the United States Army who was killed in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Khan’s parents later appeared at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, where his father, Khizr Khan, spoke of his dead son and controversially rebuked the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump.  Our hearts of course go out to the father of a soldier who died for our country, but there clearly seems to be some kind of double-standard at play in this latest controversy concerning the 2016 U.S.…