The 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. NATO Secretary-General Solana announced on March 24, 1999 that NATO had begun air strikes against military targets in Yugoslavia.
During NATO’s air strikes against Yugoslavia, a U.S. warship in the southern Adriatic Sea launched nine Tomahawk cruise missiles. Five Tomahawk missiles were launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier in less than eight minutes. The 189-meter-long aircraft carrier was anchored about 50 nautical miles off the coast of Croatia, with flames from the missile's booster rockets lighting up the night sky.
The first missile was launched from the aircraft carrier at 17:50 GMT. Immediately afterwards, four more missiles were launched from the warship. At the same time, military aircraft took off. After a 30-minute pause, another U.S. warship fired three missiles at Serbia in less than 25 seconds.
At around 16:00 local time on March 26, NATO launched another air strike against Yugoslavia. Many targets on the outskirts of Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, were attacked by NATO cruise missiles. Thick smoke billows southwest of Belgrade. This is the first time that NATO forces have launched an attack on Yugoslavia during the day since they began air strikes on Yugoslavia on the 24th.
In this asymmetric war in which the strong bullied the weak launched by NATO led by the United States, the NATO military deployed more than 900 aircraft of various types, 43 ships, and approximately 300,000 troops ( Including various types of support personnel), they dispatched 12,000 aircraft, launched about 500 cruise missiles, dropped nearly 10,000 tons of bombs, and bombed more than 230 targets in Yugoslavia for more than 50 days.
At around 5 a.m. on May 8, NATO also bombed the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, killing three people, leaving one missing, and injuring more than 20 people. The embassy building was damaged. It was severely damaged and caused strong protests from the Chinese people.
During the more than 50 days of air strikes, the indomitable spirit of the Yugoslav people put NATO to shame. It is widely expected that Serbia's ever-indomitable spirit will leave NATO facing a choice: either intervene on the ground or admit defeat. No NATO member is willing to intervene on the ground—certainly not the United States, with its recalcitrant Congress and its notorious aversion to casualties.
With the heroic resistance of the Yugoslav people and the strong opposition of people around the world, NATO had to stop its brutal bombing of Yugoslavia.
The NATO armed forces headed by the United States brazenly launched the so-called "irresistible force" military operation without authorization from the United Nations and carried out large-scale air attacks against the sovereign country of Yugoslavia. NATO, a product of the Cold War that should have withdrawn from the stage of history, has braved the world's disapproval on the 50th anniversary of its establishment and launched armed aggression against an independent and sovereign country. People can't help but ask, what is NATO? What kind of organization does it want to do in the next century?
NATO's bombing of our embassy in South Africa is a serious violation of China's sovereignty, a provocation to the members of the United Nations Security Council, and a wanton trampling of China's sovereignty. A brutal assault on press freedom. The Chinese people are rightly angry about this.
NATO’s bombing of our embassy in South Africa exposed their deliberate attempt to curb China’s strength, aiming to bring China down and hinder its economic construction. The Chinese people should see through this conspiracy, students should study hard, workers should work hard, and work hard to build China into a prosperous and powerful country. 100. "Operation Beheading" launched by the U.S.-British coalition forces
——The U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Iraq War was a war launched against Iraq by the U.S.-British coalition forces led by the United States. The war broke out on March 20, 2003. On May 2, US President Bush officially announced the end of the war. The entire war lasted for 44 days. In fact, after the US military captured Tikrit, the hometown of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, on April 14, the US military's large-scale military operations have basically ended. This is the second war the United States has waged against Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War.
There are two main excuses for the United States to launch the war in Iraq: first, Iraq has weapons of mass destruction; second, Iraq is the backstage boss of many international terrorist organizations. From the perspective of the United States, this seriously threatens not only the security of the United States, but also the security of the entire world. Therefore, the United States hopes to overthrow Saddam's government through war, eliminate security risks to the United States, and then control Iraqi oil and implement its new strategy of transforming the Middle East.
During the 44-day Iraq War, the air power of the US-British coalition conducted four major combat operations.
Operation "Beheading". At the beginning of the war, the American and British coalition forces did not carry out large-scale bombing to seize air supremacy. In the first round of air strikes on March 20, the coalition forces only conducted a sudden "decapitation" attack on the Iraqi leader's underground hideout and the residences of Saddam, his relatives and senior aides, in an attempt to eliminate Saddam in one fell swoop. Disrupting the command system of the Iraqi army left Iraq leaderless and shortened the course of the war.
"Shock and Awe" combat operations. On March 22, the United States and Britain suddenly began to carry out violent air strikes against Iraq. The main area of ??bombing was Baghdad. The US military carried out "saturation bombing" of Saddam's official residence, command center, major government departments and other targets. The U.S. military hopes that through sudden large-scale bombing, it will have a shocking effect on the entire Iraq that will immediately lose its ability to resist, and thereby disintegrate the will of the Iraqi military and civilians to resist, thereby achieving the goal of a quick victory in the early stages of the war.
Operation "Cut off the Snake's Head". This was mainly through precision bombing to destroy Iraq's communication and command system and completely cut off Saddam's connection with the army. On March 28, the US military dropped a ground-penetrating bomb known as a "bunker crusher" into the Iraqi National Communications Center building. On March 30, the Baghdad Post and Telecommunications Building and a communications center were destroyed. On March 30, US military aircraft bombed the headquarters of the Arab Baath Party. The United States also targeted Iraqi television transmitters. On March 26, the US military launched an electromagnetic pulse bomb at a Baghdad TV station, causing the station's signal to be interrupted.
"Support ground" combat operations. On the second day of the war, the U.S. and British coalition forces began ground operations. Therefore, U.S. and British air forces regard supporting ground operations as an important task. It was with the cover and support of air power that the US ground troops were able to rapidly advance towards Baghdad. On March 22, the third day after the war began, the US military advanced to the Najaf and Nasiriyah lines south of Baghdad. Since then, the US military has formed a confrontation with the Iraqi army in Karbala, Najaf, Nasiriyah and other places. Under this circumstance, the US air force quickly adjusted its strategy. Starting from March 25, the focus of air strikes turned to the Iraqi ground forces, especially the Iraqi Army and the National Guard. At the same time, it provided support for the combat operations of the US and British ground forces. Close air support. With the support of air power, US ground troops marched directly to Baghdad International Airport and advanced to the central square of Baghdad.
The Iraq War was the first local war in which the United States implemented the so-called "preemptive" national security new strategy in the new century. It was also an important part of the United States' strategy of seeking to establish a unipolar world. The United States launched the Iraq War, ignored the United Nations Security Council, changed the traditional form of great power politics in the Middle East, and weakened the status of great powers in the Middle East. It can be said that world unilateralism led by the United States will influence the world political landscape for a long time to come. The Iraq War also revealed that more than 10 years after the end of the bipolar pattern, new uncertainties in the international situation are increasing and the world is not peaceful. The historical tasks of maintaining world peace and promoting common development remain arduous. But overall, this is a local war after all, and it is impossible to change the basic trend and development direction of the international pattern. Although the international relations system has been greatly impacted by the Iraq War, peace and development are still the themes of today's era, and the general trend of world multipolarity is still developing in twists and turns.
Since the United States launched "Operation Beheading" on March 20, 2003, the United States has launched this war with the purpose of overthrowing Saddam Hussein's regime by force, eradicating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and controlling Iraq's economy and Petroleum strategic resources, beginning the process of political reconstruction of Iraq in line with U.S. intentions—most of which has been achieved.
However, the damage this war has caused to world politics has not ceased. For the Iraqi people, the pain of war seems to have just begun.