Is Single Life or Married Life Better Essay

In my culture, you used to be required to be married in order to be treated as a grown up or an adult. That concept had been in my culture for more than a thousand years. As time changed, that concept has somewhat changed too. Nowadays, being married in an option. Many people prefer to stay single and are living happily with their choices, but many others disagree. They think that you need to be married to achieve ultimate happiness. So, what are the differences between being married and being single? The three most popular arguments between a married life and a single life are freedom, social ife and finance. Let’s start with the first difference: freedom, since it is the first thing you give up when you marry to someone. Coming along with marriage is responsibilities, it means that you have to take care of your partner, your children, you cannot just decide to do anything on your own anymore. You can’t take off and do anything you want anymore, because most of your time will be dedicated to your family. So, whenever you want to go out with your friends, you need to ask your partner for permission. Things are ifferent when you are single. When you are single, you have full control over your life, you are not bound to any responsibility but your own. If you need to take a break from the stress from your work, you can just take off by yourself. When you want to go out with your friends, you don’t need to ask anyone’s permissions. In contrast, you have busy life taking care of you parent and your children, and you don’t get enough time to go out and enjoy yourself. If you’re married, you don’t have to worry about your social life. It won’t be a hassle if you ecide to go out or need someone to hang out with because your partner will always be there. Since you and your parent have become a package, your amount of friends will become double concluding your partner’s source of friends. You get to meet more people with more choices of activity. But, things are much more difficult for a single person than a married couple in social life. People who are single always have to worry about their companion whenever they are out. They don’t have such a stable friend or partner every time they go out. Instead, they need to call many friends before they find a suitable partner for the night, or they need to spend more time making new friends. Also their choices of activity are limited and predictable since there are only some activity for single person. So in comparison, people who are married will save time in finding a partner for their social activity with a lot more choices. Last but not least, finance. It is very controversy topic whether you will save more money staying single or earn more money being a married couple. According to Tom Van Riper on Forbes. com, married couples have the advantage in the short term compared to single life, where only 9. 3% of monthly gross income goes for rent compared with 23% for single, 5. 6% vs. 8. 3% for food, 1% vs. 1. 8% for cable television, and 1. 2% vs. 2. 8% for telephone bill. In addition, auto insurers place married couple in a lower risk class, saving them money on car insurance. On the other hand, once the children enter the picture, which can bring a married couple in financial trouble, a child’s cost can goes up to $4000 per onth ascending in ages. Despite the expenses, single people actually do better in buying houses. Annually, standard deduction for a single person is $4,750 per year, where married couple stands at $7,950 per year. Moreover, married couple tend to start saving for retirement early on, while singles generally wait until they’re 40, which means singles have more free cash in their pocket than married couple. As I stated in the introduction, nowadays, being single or married is a choice, which many eople choose differently according to the perks they encountered. But beyond the perks, you need to choose wisely with another point of view where you can acknowledge advantage and disadvantage of being single or married. Married life comes with responsibility, where you need make the correct decisions every day and taking care of your partner and your children; while single life offers freedom, escape from the burden of responsibilities, but lonely in the late years of your life. It has been always a tough decision.

Social Studies: The Invasion of Kuwait

Social studies notes Chapter 1 The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, which subsequently led to direct military intervention by United States-led forces in the Gulf War. [edit] Dispute over the financial debt Kuwait had heavily funded the 8 year long Iraqi war against Iran. By the time the war ended, Iraq was not in a financial position to repay the $14 billion it borrowed from Kuwait to finance its war. 6] Iraq argued that the war had prevented the rise of Iranian influence in the Arab World. However, Kuwait's reluctance to pardon the debt created strains in the relationship between the two Arab countries. During late 1989, several official meetings were held between the Kuwaiti and Iraqi leaders but they were unable to break the deadlock between the two. [edit] Economic warfare and slant drilling According to George Piro, the FBI interrogator who questioned Saddam Hussein after his capture (in 2003), Iraq tried repaying its debts by raising the prices of oil through OPEC's oil production cuts. However, Kuwait, a member of the OPEC, prevented a global increase in petroleum prices by increasing its own petroleum production, thus lowering the price and preventing recovery of the war-crippled Iraqi economy. [7] This was seen by many in Iraq as an act of aggression, further distancing the countries. The collapse in oil prices had a catastrophic impact on the Iraqi economy. According to former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, â€Å"every US$1 drop in the price of a barrel of oil caused a US$1 billion drop in Iraq's annual revenues triggering an acute financial crisis in Baghdad. [5] It was estimated that Iraq lost US$14 billion a year due to Kuwait's oil price strategy. [8] The Iraqi Government described it as a form of ‘economic warfare,' which it claimed was aggravated by Kuwait's alleged slant-drilling across the border into Iraq's Rumaila field. The dispute over Rumaila field started in 1960 when an Arab League declaration marked the Iraq-Kuwait border 2 miles north of the southern-most tip of the Rumaila field. [9] During the Iran–Iraq War, Iraqi oil drilling operations in Rumaila declined while Kuwait's operations increased. In 1989, Iraq accused Kuwait of using â€Å"advanced drilling techniques† to exploit oil from its share of the Rumaila field. Iraq estimated that US$2. 4 billion worth of Iraqi oil was stolen by Kuwait and demanded compensation. [10][11] Kuwait dismissed the accusations as a false Iraqi ploy to justify military action against it. Several American firms working in the Rumaila field also dismissed Iraq's slant-drilling claims as a â€Å"smokescreen to disguise Iraq's more ambitious intentions†. [9] [edit] Kuwait's lucrative economy After the Iran–Iraq War, the Iraqi economy was struggling to recover. Iraq's civil and military debt was higher than its state budget. Most of its ports were destroyed, oil fields mined, and traditional oil customers lost. Despite having a total land area 1/25th of Iraq, Kuwait's coastline was twice as long as Iraq's and its ports were some of the busiest in the Persian Gulf region. The Iraqi government clearly realized that by seizing Kuwait, it would be able to solve most of its financial problems and consolidate its regional authority. Due to its relatively small size, Kuwait was seen by Baghdad as an easy target as well as a historically integral part of Iraq separated by British imperialism. The Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), commonly referred to as the Gulf War, and also known as the First Gulf War[12][13], the Second Gulf War,[14][15] by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles,[16] and commonly as Desert Storm for the military response, was the final conflict, which was initiated with United Nations authorization, by a coalition force from 34 nations against Iraq, with the expressed purpose of expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait after its invasion and annexation on 2 August 1990. The invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi troops that began 2 August 1990 was met with international condemnation, and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. U. S. President George H. W. Bush deployed American forces to Saudi Arabia and urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. An array of nations joined the Coalition of the Gulf War. The great majority of the military forces in the coalition were from the United States, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. Around US$40 billion of the US$60 billion cost was paid by Saudi Arabia. [17] The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial bombardment on 17 January 1991. This was followed by a ground assault on 23 February. This was a decisive victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait and advanced into Iraqi territory. The coalition ceased their advance, and declared a cease-fire 100 hours after the ground campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and areas on the border of Saudi Arabia. However, Iraq launched missiles against coalition military targets in Saudi Arabia. Further information: Iraq-United States relations Throughout much of the Cold War, Iraq had been an ally of the Soviet Union, and there was a history of friction between it and the United States. The U. S. was concerned with Iraq's position on Israeli–Palestinian politics, and its disapproval of the nature of the peace between Israel and Egypt. The U. S. also disliked Iraqi support for various Arab and Palestinian militant groups such as Abu Nidal, which led to its inclusion on the developing U. S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism on 29 December 1979. The U. S. remained officially neutral after the invasion of Iran, which became the Iran–Iraq War, although it assisted Iraq covertly. In March 1982, however, Iran began a successful counteroffensive – Operation Undeniable Victory, and the United States increased its support for Iraq to prevent Iran from forcing a surrender. In a U. S. bid to open full diplomatic relations with Iraq, the country was removed from the U. S. ist of state sponsors of terrorism. Ostensibly this was because of improvement in the regime’s record, although former United States Assistant Secretary of Defense Noel Koch later stated, â€Å"No one had any doubts about [the Iraqis'] continued involvement in terrorism†¦ The real reason was to help them succeed in the war against Iran. â€Å"[18] With Iraq's new found success in the war, and its rebuff of a peace offer in July, arms sales to Iraq reached a record sp ike in 1982. An obstacle, however, remained to any potential U. S. -Iraqi relationship – Abu Nidal continued to operate with official support in Baghdad. When Iraqi President Saddam Hussein expelled the group to Syria at the United States' request in November 1983, the Reagan administration sent Donald Rumsfeld to meet President Hussein as a special envoy and to cultivate ties. Main article: Invasion of Kuwait By the time the ceasefire with Iran was signed in August 1988, Iraq was virtually bankrupt, with most of its debt owed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Iraq pressured both nations to forgive the debts, but they refused. Kuwait was also accused by Iraq of exceeding its OPEC quotas and driving down the price of oil, thus further hurting the Iraqi economy. The collapse in oil prices had a catastrophic impact on the Iraqi economy. The Iraqi Government described it as a form of economic warfare, which it claimed was aggravated by Kuwait slant-drilling across the border into Iraq's Rumaila oil field. [19] Iraq claimed Kuwait had been a part of the Ottoman Empire's province of Basra. Its ruling dynasty, the al-Sabah family, had concluded a protectorate agreement in 1899 that assigned responsibility for its foreign affairs to Britain. Britain drew the border between the two countries, and deliberately tried to limit Iraq's access to the ocean so that any future Iraqi government would be in no position to threaten Britain's domination of the Persian Gulf. Iraq refused to accept the border, and did not recognize the Kuwaiti government until 1963. [20] In early July, Iraq complained about Kuwait's behavior, such as not respecting their quota, and openly threatened to take military action. On the 23rd, the CIA reported that Iraq had moved 30,000 troops to the Iraq-Kuwait border, and the U. S. naval fleet in the Persian Gulf was placed on alert. On the 25th, Saddam Hussein met with April Glaspie, an American ambassador, in Baghdad. At that meeting, Glaspie told the Iraqi delegation, â€Å"We have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts. † On the 31st, negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait in Jeddah failed violently. [21] On 2 August 1990 Iraq launched an invasion with its warplanes, bombing Kuwait City, the Kuwaiti capital. The main thrust was conducted by commandos deployed by helicopters and boats to attack the city, while other divisions seized the airports and two airbases. In spite of Iraqi sabre-rattling, Kuwait did not have its forces on alert, and was caught unaware. After two days of intense combat, most of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces were either overrun by the Iraqi Republican Guard, or had escaped to neighboring Saudi Arabia. After the decisive Iraqi victory, Saddam Hussein installed his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid as the governor of Kuwait. [22] Saddam Hussein detained several Westerners, with video footage shown on state television On 23 August 1990 President Saddam appeared on state television with Western hostages to whom he had refused exit visas. In the video, he patted a small British boy named Stuart Lockwood on the back. Saddam then asks, through his interpreter, Sadoun al-Zubaydi, whether Stuart is getting his milk. Saddam went on to say, â€Å"We hope your presence as guests here will not be for too long. Your presence here, and in other places, is meant to prevent the scourge of war. [23] Within hours of the invasion, Kuwaiti and U. S. delegations requested a meeting of the UN Security Council, which passed Resolution 660, condemning the invasion and demanding a withdrawal of Iraqi troops. On 3 August the Arab League passed its own resolution, which called for a solution to the conflict from within the League, and warned against outside intervention. On 6 August UN Resolution 661 placed economic sanctions on Iraq . United Nations Security Council Resolution 665 followed soon after, which authorized a naval blockade to enforce the economic sanctions against Iraq. It said the â€Å"use of measures commensurate to the specific circumstances as may be necessary †¦ to halt all inward and outward maritime shipping in order to inspect and verify their cargoes and destinations and to ensure strict implementation of resolution 661. †[24] One of the main concerns of the west was the significant threat Iraq posed to Saudi Arabia. Following the conquest of Kuwait, the Iraqi army was within easy striking distance of Saudi oil fields. Control of these fields, along with Kuwaiti and Iraqi reserves, would have given Hussein control over the majority of the world's oil reserves. Iraq also had a number of grievances with Saudi Arabia. The Saudis had lent Iraq some 26 billion dollars during its war with Iran. The Saudis backed Iraq, as they feared the influence of Shia Iran's Islamic revolution on its own Shia minority (most of the Saudi oil fields are in territory populated by Shias). After the war, Saddam felt he should not have to repay the loans due to the help he had given the Saudis by stopping Iran. Soon after his conquest of Kuwait, Hussein began verbally attacking the Saudi kingdom. He argued that the U. S. supported Saudi state was an illegitimate and unworthy guardian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. He combined the language of the Islamist groups that had recently fought in Afghanistan with the rhetoric Iran had long used to attack the Saudis. [25] Acting on the policy of the Carter Doctrine, and out of fear the Iraqi army could launch an invasion of Saudi Arabia, U. S. President George H. W. Bush quickly announced that the U. S. would launc h a â€Å"wholly defensive† mission to prevent Iraq from invading Saudi Arabia under the codename Operation Desert Shield. â€Å"Operation Desert Shield† began on 7 August 1990 when U. S. troops were sent to Saudi Arabia due also to the request of its monarch, King Fahd who had earlier called for U. S. military assistance. [26] This â€Å"wholly defensive† doctrine was quickly abandoned, as on 8 August, Iraq declared Kuwait to be the 19th province of Iraq and Saddam Hussein named his cousin, Ali Hassan Al-Majid as its military-governor. [27] Liberation of Kuwait Main article: Liberation of Kuwait campaign American decoy attacks by air attacks and naval gunfire the night before the liberation of Kuwait were designed to make the Iraqis believe the main coalition ground attack would focus on Central Kuwait. On 23 February 1991, the 1st Marine Division, 2nd Marine Division, and the 1st Light Armored Infantry crossed into Kuwait and headed toward Kuwait City. They overran the well designed, but poorly defended, Iraqi trenches in the first few hours. The Marines crossed Iraqi barbed wire obstacles and mines, then engaged Iraqi tanks, which surrendered shortly thereafter. Kuwaiti forces soon attacked Kuwait City, to which the Iraqis offered light resistance. The Kuwaitis lost one soldier and one aircraft, and quickly liberated the city. Most Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait opted to surrender rather than fight. [edit] Initial moves into Iraq [edit] Coalition forces enter Iraq General Colin Powell briefs then U. S. President George H. W. Bush and his advisors on the progress of the ground war Shortly afterwards, the U. S. VII Corps assembled in full strength and, spearheaded by the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (3/2 ACR), launched an armored attack into Iraq early on 24 February, just to the west of Kuwait, taking Iraqi forces by surprise. Simultaneously, the U. S. XVIII Airborne Corps launched a sweeping â€Å"left-hook† attack across the largely undefended desert of southern Iraq, led by the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment (3rd ACR) and the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized)). The left flank of this movement was protected by the French 6th Light Armoured Division Daguet). The French force quickly overcame the Iraqi 45th Infantry Division, suffering only a small number of casualties and taking a large number of prisoners, and took up blocking positions to prevent an Iraqi counter-attack on the Coalition flank. The right flank of the movement was protected by the British 1st Armoured Division. Once the allies had penetrated deep into Iraqi territory, they turned eastward, launching a flank attack against the elite Republican Guard before it could escape. The battle lasted only a few hours. 50 Iraqi armored vehicles were destroyed, with few coalition losses. On 25 February 1991 however, Iraq launched a scud missile attack on Coalition barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia. The missile attack killed 28 American military personnel. [44] The mixture of civilian and military vehicles on the Highway of Death The Coalition advance was much swifter than U. S. generals had expected. On 26 February, Iraqi troops began retreating from Kuwait, after they had set its oil fields on fire (737 oil wells were set on fire). A long convoy of retreating Iraqi troops formed along the main Iraq-Kuwait highway. Although they were retreating, this convoy was bombed so extensively by Coalition air forces that it came to be known as the Highway of Death. Hundreds of Iraqi troops were killed. Forces from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France continued to pursue retreating Iraqi forces over the border and back into Iraq, fighting frequent battles which resulted in massive losses for the Iraqi side and light losses on the coalition side, eventually moving to within 150 miles (240 km) of Baghdad before withdrawing from the Iraqi border. One hundred hours after the ground campaign started, on 28 February, President Bush declared a cease-fire, and he also declared that Kuwait had been liberated. CAUSES OF CONFLICT: There are three basic causes to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. First, Iraq had long considered Kuwait to be a part of Iraq. This claim led to several confrontations over the years (see below), and continued hostility. Also, it can be argued that with Saddam Hussein's attempted invasion of Iran defeated, he sought easier conquests against his weak southern neighbors. Second, rich deposits of oil straddled the ill-defined border and Iraq constantly claimed that Kuwaiti oil rigs were illegally tapping into Iraqi oil fields. Middle Eastern deserts make border delineation difficult and this has caused many conflicts in the region. Finally, the fallout from the First Persian Gulf War between Iraq and Iran strained relations between Baghdad and Kuwait. This war began with an Iraqi invasion of Iran and degenerated into a bloody form of trench warfare as the Iranians slowly drove Saddam Hussein's armies back into Iraq. Kuwait and many other Arab nations supported Iraq against the Islamic Revolutionary government of Iran, fearful that Saddam's defeat could herald a wave of Iranian-inspired revolution throughout the Arab world. Following the end of the war, relations between Iraq and Kuwait deteriorated; with a lack of gratitude from the Baghdad government for help in the war and the reawakening of old issues regarding the border and Kuwaiti sovereignty. 1973, March- Iraq occupies as-Samitah, a border post on Kuwait-Iraq border. Dispute began when Iraq demanded the right to occupy the Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan and Warbah. Saudi Arabia and the Arab League convinced Iraq to withdraw. 1980-1988- Kuwait supports Iraq in the First Persian Gulf War with Iran. DESCRIPTION OF CONFLICT: Amid growing tension between the two Persian Gulf neighbors, Saddam Hussein concluded that the United States and the rest of the outside world would not interfere to defend Kuwait. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait and quickly seized control of the small nation. Within days, the United States, along with the United Nations, demanded Iraq's immediate withdrawal. U. S. and other UN member nations began deploying troops in Saudi Arabia within the week, and the world-wide coalition began to form under UN authority. By January of 1991, over half a million allied troops were deployed in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Gulf region. Intense diplomacy between U. S. and Iraqi officials failed to bring an Iraqi withdrawal, so, on January 16, 1991, Allied forces began the devastating bombing of Iraq and her forces in Kuwait. The Allied bombing sought to damage Iraq's infrastructure so as to hinder her ability to make war while also hurting both civilian and military morale. To counter the air attack, Saddam ordered the launching of his feared SCUD missiles at both Israel and Saudi Arabia. He hoped to provoke the Israelis into striking back at Iraq, which he theorized would split the Arab nations from the anti-Iraq coalition due to the ongoing hostility between Israel and the Arab world. Israel came very close to retaliating, but held back due to President George Bush's pledge to protect Israeli cities from the SCUDs. As a result of this promise, U. S. Patriot missile batteries found themselves deployed in Israel to shoot down the SCUDs. Another result of the SCUD launches was to divert Allied air power from hitting the Iraqi army to hunting for the elusive mobile missile launchers. Even so, the Allied air strikes and cruise missile attacks against Iraq proved more devastating than expected. When the Allied armies launched the ground war on February 23, the Iraqi occupation forces in Kuwait were already beaten. Cut off from their supply bases and headquarters by the intense air campaign, thousands of Iraqi soldiers simply gave up rather than fight, as the Allies pushed through Iraq's defenses with relative ease. In the few cases where the more elite Iraqi forces, such as the Republican Guard, stood and fought, superior American, British and French equipment and training proved the undoing of the Soviet-equipped Iraqis. By February 26, U. S. and Allied Arab forces, along with the underground Kuwaiti Resistance, controlled Kuwait City and Allied air forces pounded the retreating Iraqi occupation army. In southern Iraq, Allied armored forces stood at the Euphrates River near Basra, and internal rebellions began to break out against Saddam's regime. On February 27, President Bush ordered a cease-fire and the surviving Iraqi troops were allowed to escape back into southern Iraq. On March 3, 1991, Iraq accepted the terms of the cease-fire and the fighting ended. CONSEQUENCES OF CONFLICT: Saddam's second war of foreign conquest ended even worse than the first one. Iraq again stood defeated with the liberation of Kuwait. Despite the crushing defeat and subsequent Shiite and Kurdish rebellions, Saddam's government retained a strong grip on power in Iraq. As a result of the cease-fire terms, Iraq had to accept the imposition of â€Å"no-fly zones† over her territory and United Nations weapons inspection teams sifting through her nuclear and other weapons programs. The economic and trade sanctions begun during the war continue to the present day, ontributing to severe economic hardship in Iraq. Some reports say hundreds of thousands of children have died due to the sanctions. There are no indications that the government or military suffer undo hardships. While the world (and the United States and Europe), concentrated on Iraq, Syria moved to crush the last resistance to her de facto control of Lebanon, thus ending that country's long civil war. It is believed that Syria's President Assad was given a free hand to deal with Lebanon in return for joining the war in Kuwait. It's also believed there was a cash for annuity payment agreed upon When Yemen declared sympathy for Iraq, Saudi Arabia expelled upwards of a million Yemeni guest workers, causing economic hardship in Yemen and increased tension between the two neighbors. See Saudi-Yemen Border Conflict page. CASUALTY FIGURES: Update as of August 2, 2009 Iraq: Original figures listed 100,000 Iraqi military dead, but more recent estimates place Iraqi dead at 20,000 military and 2,300 civilian. United States: 148 killed in action, 458 wounded, and one Missing In Action (MIA). Also, 121 Americans died through non-combat incidents. The one MIA (compared to 1,740 MIA in the Vietnam War), was Navy pilot, Captain Michael â€Å"Scott† Speicher was shot down and was neither rescured, nor was a body found until, on August 2, 2009, the Pentagon announced that U. S. Marines stationed in Iraq had found Speicher's remains. See also: U. S. identifies remains of pilot missing in Persian Gulf War–LA Times, Aug. 2, 2009 Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, the Pentagon announced the recovery of Speicher's on the 19th anniversary of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, which occurred on August 2, 1990, and sparked the following 19 years of war between the U. S. and Iraq. Gulf war (1990-1), a limited war in which a US-led coalition enjoying overwhelming technological superiority defeated the armed forces of Iraq in a six-week air campaign crowned with a 100-hour land campaign, with minimal coalition casualties. However, the coalition forces failed to destroy the Republican Guard, mainstay of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who remained a threat primarily because of his continued development of nuclear and chemical and biological weapons, leading to repeated aftershocks in the form of US and Allied air strikes throughout the 1990s. The proximate cause was the Rumaila oilfield straddling the Iraq-Kuwait border. In mid-July 1990 Saddam claimed that Kuwait had stolen oil from this field by diagonal drilling and refused to pay back loans received from Kuwait to fund the recent Iran-Iraq war, saying that he had been doing the Gulf monarchies' dirty work for them. Neither argument was completely without merit. He massed armour on the frontier and after being told by the US ambassador that the USA did not wish to become involved in the dispute, at 01. 0 local time on 2 August the Iraqi columns invaded. Minds were concentrated and Pres Bush denounced the invasion, alarmed that the Iraqis would carry on into Saudi Arabia and thus control half the world's oil reserves. The UN condemned the invasion in Resolution 660, demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal and on 7 August the USA announced it was sending forces in a joint operation with Egypt and Saudi Arabia: DESERT SHIELD. The following day the UK announced it would send forces too, in GRANBY. On 29 November 1990 the Security Council adopted Resolution 678, authorizing the USA-led coalition to use ‘all necessary means’ against Iraq to liberate Kuwait if it did not withdraw by 15 January 1991. Instead, the Iraqis reinforced their positions along the southern Kuwaiti border and by 8 January had an estimated 36 to 38 divisions, each nominally 15, 000 strong but actually considerably less. The coalition eventually had about 700, 000 troops in the theatre, with the main ground contributions coming from the USA and important contingents from the UK, France, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, under the operational command of US Gen Schwarzkopf. The maintenance of the coalition, in which Arab states were arrayed with infidels against another Arab state, was pivotal. It was therefore imperative to ensure that Israel—a target for Iraqi missile attacks—should stay out of the war. The Iraqis were known to have the means to deliver their chemical and biological weapons (CBW) with their al-Hussein missiles, which had a range of 373 miles (600 km), double that of the original Soviet Scud missiles on which they were based. At 02. 38 local time on 17 January DESERT STORM began when US Apache helicopters began attacking Iraqi air defence sites near the border to clear a corridor through which a massive air armada then passed, beginning a 43-day air campaign involving 100, 000 sorties. The F-117A Stealth light bomber was very successful in striking key targets in heavily defended Baghdad, as were sea-launched cruise missiles. Early targets were the Iraqi air defences, electrical power, and command and control facilities, also suspected nuclear and chemical and biological warfare facilities. Although precision-guided munitions got all the publicity thanks to the excellent TV pictures they sent back, the bulk of the ordnance delivered were conventional bombs. As the campaign continued, the Allies switched to Iraqi ground forces although the elite Republican Guard was less badly damaged than the poorer quality infantry in the forward positions. Schwarzkopf later explained that this was because of his strong concern to avoid his ground troops being held up and rained with CBW. {draw:frame} _The Gulf war, 1991: the land campaign, 24-8 February. Top: positions of forces 24 February. Bottom: Allied envelopment of Iraqi forces (Click to enlarge)_ Early on 18 January Iraq responded to the air onslaught by attacking Israel, the coalition's most vulnerable point. A missile landed in Tel Aviv, initially reported to have a chemical warhead. The coalition later denied this but the relevant log, released after the war, recorded it carried cyclo-sarin, a particularly deadly nerve gas. Israel prepared to counter-attack, but was dissuaded when the USA promised to destroy the Scuds. As a result, a great deal of effort was diverted into the ‘Scud hunt’, although the mobile Iraqi missiles proved difficult to find. British and US special forces were also sent in to find and destroy Scuds, with mixed results. The US also used the Patriot, originally an anti-aircraft system, to shoot down incoming missiles, the first time anti-missiles were used in the history of war. Very few incoming missiles were actually hit and those that were broke up, possibly doing even more damage than they would have otherwise. On 20 January, Iraq also began firing missiles at Riyadh, one of which hit a temporary US barracks and inflicted the worst Allied casualties of the war. Schwarzkopf formulated a classic military plan of encirclement. While the Iraqis were to have their attention fixed to the south and on the coast by the US Marines, his main effort would be to the west of the main Iraqi forward defences, swinging round behind them and straight for the Republican Guard. The aim was ‘to conduct a swift, continuous and violent air-land campaign to destroy the Republican Guard Force Corps while minimising friendly force casualties. Aim is to make Iraqi forces move so that they can be attacked throughout the depth of their formations’. After several days of probing and artillery raids, the main ground attack began on 24 February with direct attacks into Kuwait from the south by the US Marines and two Saudi task forces. The next day, the outflanking forces swung into action, the main force being the US VII Corps including the 1st British Armoured Division, while the XVIII Airborne Corps including the French 6th Light ‘Daguet’ Division swung even wider to protect the left flank. The VII Corps hit its breach area with 60 batteries of artillery and Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, delivering more explosive power than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Although Iraq was expected to use CBW, Saddam showed a little belated discretion and refrained, as there were a number of extremely unpleasant options the coalition held in reserve, including retaliation in kind or the destruction of Iraq's extremely vulnerable water-supply system. Late on 25 February he gave the order to withdraw from Kuwait, but the bulk of Iraqi armour was trapped between the Allies closing in from the south and west, and the Gulf and the Euphrates marshes to the east and north. TV pictures of the comprehensively incinerated Iraqi column that had been attempting to flee Kuwait City raised fears of public revulsion and Pres Bush called a halt after only 100 hours of land campaign. There were also geopolitical considerations. Until the invasion, the West had been concerned to maintain a balance of power between Iraq and Iran in the region, and the Arab members of the coalition might have bolted if the land war had been extended into Iraqi territory. At 08. 00 local time the guns fell silent, and Saddam was to be left with most of the Republican Guard and the freedom to use attack helicopters to crush the rebellions among the Sunni in the south and the Kurds in the north that the coalition had encouraged. Post-war, the extent and sophistication of his weapons development programmes came as a shock, and despite UN inspections and economic sanctions that affect mainly the civilian population, there is very little doubt that he has retained some CBW and possibly also some nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, Kuwait's territorial integrity was restored and most of Saddam's larger fangs were pulled. The war could only be considered unsuccessful if the hyperbole about human rights that accompanied it had ever been taken seriously by anyone involved. The first phase was Operation Desert Shield—a largely defensive operation in which the United States and Saudi Arabia rushed to build up the defensive forces necessary to protect Saudi Arabia and the rest of the gulf, and the United Nations attempted to force Iraq to leave Kuwait through the use of economic sanctions. The United States then led the UN effort to create a broad international coalition with the military forces necessary to liberate Kuwait, and persuaded the United Nations to set a deadline of 15 January 1991 for Iraq to leave Kuwait or face the use of force. The second phase, known as â€Å"Desert Storm,† was the battle to liberate Kuwait when Iraq refused to respond to the UN deadline. The fighting began on 17 January 1991 and ended on 1 March 1991. The UN Coalition liberated Kuwait in a little over six weeks, and involved the intensive use of airpower and armored operations, and the use of new military technologies. The Gulf War left Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in power, but it destroyed nearly all of Iraq's conventional forces and allowed the United Nations to destroy most of Iraq's long? range missiles and chemical weapons and capabilities to develop nuclear weapons. Saddam Hussein almost certainly saw the seizure and annexation of Kuwait as a means of solving Iraq's economic problems, of greatly increasing Iraq's share of world oil reserves, and as a means of demonstrating that Iraq had become the dominant power in the region. Kuwait was capable of adding at least 2 million barrels a day of oil to Iraq's exports of roughly 3. million, and offered the opportunity to double Iraq's total oil reserves, from 100 billion to 198 billion barrels (representing nearly 20% of the world's total reserves). Although he continued to negotiate his demands on oil revenues and debt relief from the Persian Gulf Arab nations, Saddam Hussein ordered his troops to the Kuwait border in July 1990, built up all of th e support capabilities necessary to sustain an invasion, and then ordered his forces to invade on 2 August 1990. Kuwait had not kept its forces on alert, and Iraq met little resistance. It seized the entire country within less than two days; within a week, Iraq stated that it would annex Kuwait as its nineteenth province. Iraqi forces also deployed along Kuwait's border with Saudi Arabia, with more than five Iraqi divisions in position to seize Saudi Arabia's oil? rich Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia had only two brigades and limited amounts of airpower to oppose them. Saddam Hussein may have felt that the world would accept his invasion of Kuwait or would fail to mount any effective opposition. However, Saudi Arabia and the other gulf states immediately supported the Kuwaiti government? n? exile. The Council of the Arab League voted to condemn Iraq on 3 August and demanded its withdrawal from Kuwait. Key Arab states like Algeria, Egypt, and Syria supported Kuwait—although Jordan, Libya, Mauritania, the Sudan, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) supported Iraq. Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and most other European nations as well as the United States, Canada, and Japan condemned the invasion. U. S. President George Bush announced on 7 August that the United States would send land, air, and naval forces to the gulf. Equally important, the end of the Cold War allowed the United Nations to take firm action under U. S. initiative. On the day of the invasion, the Security Council voted 14–0 (Resolution 660) to demand Iraq's immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Kuwait. The United States, Britain, and Saudi Arabia led the United Nations in forming a broad military coalition under the leadership of U. S. Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf that deployed the military forces necessary to enforce the United Nations' sanctions and to defend Saudi Arabia. This was the defensive military operation code? named â€Å"Desert Shield. † On 29 November 1990, the United States obtained a Security Council authorization for the nations allied with Kuwait â€Å"to use all necessary means† if Iraq did not withdraw by 15 January 1991. Key nations like the United States, Britain, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and several others began to deploy the additional forces necessary to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. In 1990–91, the United States deployed a total of 527,000 personnel, over 110 naval vessels, 2,000 tanks, 1,800 fixed? ing aircraft, and 1,700 helicopters. Britain deployed 43,000 troops, 176 tanks, 84 combat aircraft, and a naval task force. France deployed 16,000 troops, 40 tanks, attack helicopters, a light armored division, and combat aircraft. Saudi Arabia deployed 50,000 troops, 280 tanks, and 245 aircraft. Egypt contributed 30,200 troops, 2 armored divisions, and 350 tanks. Syria contributed 14,000 troops and 2 divi sions. Other allied nations, including Canada, Italy, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates deployed a significant portion of their small forces. Iraq responded by building up its military forces in the Kuwait theater of operations to a total of 336,000 troops and a total of 43 divisions, 3,475 battle tanks, 3,080 other armored vehicles, and 2,475 major artillery weapons. This buildup on both sides made full? scale war steadily more likely and triggered a number of political debates within the West and the Arab world over the need for war. The most important of these debates took place within the United States; largely because of President Bush's political leadership, the Congress, after Bush gained UN endorsement, requested such authorization on 8 January 1991. On 12 January the House of Representatives by 250 to 183 and the Senate by 52 to 47 voted to authorize the use of force. Though a number of new efforts were made to persuade Iraq to leave Kuwait in late December and early January, Saddam Hussein refused to withdraw under any practical conditions. Baghdad also continued to expand its military capabilities in Kuwait and along the Iraqi border with Saudi Arabia, and continued its efforts to convert Kuwait into an Iraqi province. As a result, the UN Security Council voted to ignore yet another effort to negotiate with Iraq. On that date, 15 January 1991, President Bush ordered the military offensive to begin. Desert Storm: The Air War The Gulf War began early in the morning on 17 January when the United States exploited its intelligence and targeting assets, cruise missiles, and offensive airpower to launch a devastating series of air attacks on Iraqi command and control facilities, communications systems, air bases, and land? based air defenses. During the first hour of the war, U. S. sea? launched cruise missiles and F? 117 stealth aircraft demonstrated they could attack even heavily defended targets like Baghdad. Within three days, a mix of U. S. , British, and Saudi fighter aircraft had established near air superiority. In spite of Iraq's air strength, UN air units shot down a total of thirty? five Iraqi aircraft without a single loss in air? to? air combat. Although Iraq had a land? based air defense system with some 3,000 surface? to? air missiles, the combined U. S. and British air units were able to use electronic warfare systems, antiradiation missiles, and precision air? to? surface weapons to suppress Iraq's longer? range surface? to? air missiles. As a result, Coalition air forces were able rapidly to broaden their targets from attacks on Iraq's air forces and air defenses to assaults on key headquarters, civil and army communications, electronic power plants, and Iraq's facilities for the production of weapons of mass destruction. Victory in the air was achieved by 24 January, when Iraq ceased to attempt active air combat. A total of 112 Iraqi aircraft fled to Iran, and Iraq virtually ceased to use its ground? based radar to target UN aircraft. This created a safe zone at medium and high altitudes that allowed U. S. nd British air units to launch long? range air? to? surface weapons with impunity. The UN air forces were also able to shift most of their assets to attacks on Iraqi ground forces. For the following thirty days, UN Coalition aircraft attacked Iraqi armor and artillery in the Kuwaiti theater of operations, as well as flying into Iraq itself to bomb Iraq's forward defenses, elite Republican Guard units, air bases an d sheltered aircraft, and Iraq's biological, chemical, and nuclear warfare facilities. Iraq's only ability to retaliate consisted of launching modified surface? to? urface Scud missiles against targets in Saudi Arabia and Israel, which had remained outside the war: forty Scud variants against Israel and forty? six against Saudi Arabia. U. S.? made Patriot missiles in Israel shot down some Scuds, but although the United Nations carried out massive â€Å"Scud hunts† that involved thousands of sorties, it never found and destroyed any Scud missiles on the ground, which demonstrated the risks posed by the proliferation of mobile, long? range missiles. Iraq's Scud strikes could not, however, alter the course of the war. Iraqi ground forces were struck by more than 40,000 air attack sorties; U. S. authorities estimated that airpower helped bring about the desertion or capture of 84,000 Iraqi soldiers and destroyed 1,385 Iraqi tanks, 930 other armored vehicles, and 1,155 artillery pieces before the United Nations launched its land offensive. They also estimated that air attacks severely reduced the flow of supplies to Iraqi ground forces in Kuwait and damaged 60 percent of Iraq's major command centers, 70 percent of its military communications, 125 ammunition storage revetments, 48 Iraqi naval vessels, and 75 percent of Iraq's electric power–generating capability. Desert Storm: The Land War The Aftermath of the War

Influence of Religion on the Civil Rights Movement

Religion has had a profound effect on numerous events throughout the course of American history. The Civil Rights Movement was not withheld from the influence of religion, particularly Christianity and Islam. Many of the key players such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, who were devoted to the cause of justice and equality for African Americans, gained their passion from their spiritual roots. Through these religious leaders organizations were established to fight for civil rights. It was through these religious men and the religion of blacks that the fight for equality gained enthusiasm and courage to fight oppression and discrimination. Opposition also came from religion, however. Reverend Jerry Falwell and the white supremacists of the Ku Klux Klan, who fought against the Civil Rights Movement, based their justification for an inferior black race on their religious beliefs. The Civil Rights Movement, by the people and parties involved, was in itself a battle of beliefs. How is religion involved in the progression and initiation of the fight for equality for African Americans? Christianity, being the a religion active in the Civil Rights Movement, has aspects within its doctrine that encourages equality. It contributed in giving African Americans the passion and the support to continue on in the struggle despite its hardships. â€Å"‘I come to preach, to liberate them’†¦. The thrust of the Civil Rights Movement†¦was that God was on the side of the oppressed, the poor, the downtrodden, the outcast, the persecuted, the exploited. God is on the side of justice† (Williams 119). Those that believed in God also believed that this divine, powerful being was behind their every effort and would grant them victory in the battle for civil rights. They saw themselves as the persecuted and knew that their God would have compassion on them through their difficulty. Moreover, the Christian faith brought unity among African American because they saw others turning to faith for hope to gain equality and so they followed suit. â€Å"According to several respondents, religion engendered in them collective identities and meanings that imbued a sense of purpose† (Williams 113). It â€Å"inspired the construction of perspectives proclaiming, ‘people who were products of segregation must be viewed theologically as the poor, the handicapped, the downtrodden. And theologically we have a responsibility to use our faith—to not be afraid to confront the oppressor’† (Williams 113). Many Christians believed it was their duty and their way of showing obedience to God by fighting those who discriminated against them. Christianity was certainly a motivator and contributor to the Civil Rights Movement. It caused African Americans to not limit their movement to the potential of a human being. Instead, they gained hope in believing that something more powerful than them was working to give them equality. Despite the unity and empowerment that blacks received from their churches, white churches mostly existed in the background and never really urged their members to partake in the Civil Rights Movement. Rather, they sat back in a more comfortable position and consented to the Supreme Court’s decision to segregate. Integration, although it did occur, had a very slow progression in Caucasian churches and schools. Roman Catholicism was the first Christian sect to completely integrate their parochial schools (Mathisen 575). With Catholics and most other sects of Christianity, preachers gave sermons to white folks, many of whom favored segregation. If a pastor spoke out about the injustices of discrimination and encouraged civil rights, they might be removed from their position as a clergyman. Moreover, Ku Klux Klan members were mixed in their churches as well. â€Å"Much of the minister’s ardor is dampened when he returns to his flock though this is not to say that he bends completely to their will. It is not without significance that some fairly strong announcements have been made on the local level† (Mathisen 574,575). Based on their audience, white pastors had to weaken their sermons so that people would continue to attend their church and so they could maintain their job. Clearly, white Americans were not all opposed to integration. Rather, many of them just did not desire to sacrifice their lifestyle to help African Americans in their struggle for equality. Yet, this is not to say all Caucasians did not fight for civil rights, but the majority of them were not an active part of the movement. Such a religious force in America that did not partake in the struggle for civil rights held back some of the potential of the movement. The Ku Klux Klan, notorious for their brutality towards others, fought against the efforts of Civil Rights activists. Despite their ruthless behavior, the Ku Klux Klan had members in law enforcement and within the church. Members of this organization believed that only white Christian people should exist within America and that other races should be honored to be controlled by Caucasian Christians. If others, such as the African Americans in their fight for civil rights, tried to gain an equal status, then the KKK would use ruthless tactics to suppress them. They defended their violent acts against African Americans by referencing their faith. A member of the KKK was asked in an interview, â€Å"What is your explanation of why there have been so many National Police Agents [F. B. I.? ] involved in the case of the ‘missing civil rights workers’† (Mathisen 576)? The Ku Klux Klan member, knowing that the National Police Agents involved were in cooperation with the KKK, responded, â€Å"First I must correct you on your terms. Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman were not civil rights workers. They were Communist Revolutionaries, actively working to undermine and destroy Christian Civilization† (Mathisen 576). Later on in the interview the KKK affiliate declared that Lyndon B. Johnson, a president known for his support of the Civil Rights Movement, â€Å"is a communist sympathizer† (Mathisen 576). This member was clearly discussing the Civil Rights activists. He proclaims that they were tainting the Christian religion, which is why they were killed and are â€Å"missing. This notion brings up religion as a contributor to their own views against African Americans. â€Å"The KKK uses words from the Holy Bible and teachings from Protestant Reverends to support its cause and justify its actions† (Fisher 1). They truly rationalize their superiority complex and their brutality to blacks by the Christian faith. By using Christianity, they too obtained unity against the Civil Rights Movement. The Ku Klux Klan was not the only notorious adversary of civil rights. A prominent opponent of the fight for African American equality and was the Baptist minister, Jerry Falwell. Falwell was a strong supporter of segregation and believed that based on the bible, â€Å"Africans were the cursed descendants of Ham, and worthy only of subservience to white people† (Kimberley 1). In Genesis of the bible Ham was cursed by his father, Noah, for disrespecting him. Through this, Reverend Falwell believes that African Americans should not gain any standing in society. To him it is the natural place of blacks to be below the status of whites due to the actions of their ancestors (Kimberley 1). Due to this, his position on civil rights legislation is very ardently against it. He has been reported to have said that the Civil Right Movement is a ‘civil wrong’ (Kimberley 1). Clearly, religion was used on both sides of the spectrum as a means to rally for a cause. While it was used by blacks for their crusade, some whites relied on it as tool to keep segregation and maintain discrimination. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most famous leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. It is through him and others like him that African Americans gained justice and equality. One of the motivators of this intelligent, talented orator is most certainly his faith. Before ever becoming a part of the battle for civil rights, King was a devoted Christian and minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (King 47). He, then, carried these beliefs into the Civil Rights Movement. â€Å"There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression† (Kelley 463). King continues on in a freedom sermon, â€Å"I want say that we’re not here advocating violence†¦We have never done that†¦I want it to be known throughout Montgomery and throughout this nation that we are a Christian people†¦We believe in the Christian religion. We believe in the teachings of Jesus. The only weapon we have this evening is the weapon of protest† (Kelley 463). The reactions to these words were astounding. People identified with this idea and it gave them passion and courage to pursue equality. â€Å"All through that statement of religious identity the people shouted and applauded, moved with King, pressed him forward even as he urged them toward their own best possibilities† (Kelley 463,464). By their religious unity the Civil Rights Movement becomes undeniably contagious. As faith is mentioned, everyone joins in the excitement of the crowd and begin to trust that with numbers they can protest and achieve equality. Martin Luther King, Jr. ’s most famous speech â€Å"I Have a Dream† contains within it references to religion, faith, and hope. â€Å"And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up the day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants —will be able to join hands and sing the words of the old negro spiritual, â€Å"Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last† (Finkenbine 190). This speech, like many of his others, held within it the idea of nonviolence. King looked to an Indian leader named Mahatma Gandhi as a guide to his desire to resist violence in the Civil Rights Movement. Despite this, he always turned to the Bible as a source to defend this action. King puts it best when he said, ‘The spirit of passive resistance came to me from the Bible, from the teachings of Jesus. The technique came from Gandhi† (Kelley 468). Religion was certainly Martin Luther King, Jr. ’s driving force as he became a prominent leader of the movement. He used Christianity as a means to support his every action and without its inspiration he would not have had nearly as great an effect on the Civil Rights Movement. Through him, African Americans came together inspired to make a change to society and not stand for injustice. Another contributor to the Civil Rights Movement was a man known as Malcolm X. He, like numerous other African Americans, took to practicing the religion of Islam. Elijah Muhammad, a member of the Nation of Islam (NOI), influenced Malcolm X and many others into pursuing these beliefs (Kelley 478). Black Muslims viewed themselves in American society as â€Å"an isolated and unappreciated appendage† (Mathisen 576). Muhammad saw the black race as not wanted and believed that the only way to achieve peace in such a circumstance is to remove those that do not desire them. Moreover, he taught that white people belong in Europe and that, â€Å"there will be no peace until every man is in his own country† (Mathisen 576). Black Muslims stressed their own identity and black racial supremacy. They had little desire to integrate and would have rather made America their own Islamic nation. With such a heavy goal, they decided to become a part of the Civil Rights Movement and obtain the rights that they believed were due to them. Malcolm X was brought into the Nation of Islam and it became his inspiration to gain equal rights for African Americans. He actually, despite Elijah Muhammad’s influence, was the leader who made the Nation of Islam a prominent and powerful force in the United States. Unlike Martin Luther King, Jr. , Malcolm X believed in violence as a means for blacks to gain better standing in society. People looked to him as the militant, uncompromising man who would use violence when needed to scare whites into accepting their conditions. He too believed, as many black Muslims, that building black institutions and defending blacks was far more important than integrating into society. Through men like Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, â€Å"the Nation of Islam attracted thousands of urban blacks to the disciplined life of abstinence, prayer, and black self-determination† (Kelley 478). Although their techniques were different in achieving civil rights for African Americans, this religion of Islam motivated people just like Christianity to fight for equality and justice. As religious leaders began to speak up and stand up against the prejudices that African Americans faced, organizations began to form to further the effectiveness of the struggle for civil rights. One such organization is Congress for Racial Equality, or CORE. This group, which organized direct nonviolent protests, branched off of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The Fellowship of Reconciliation was a Christian pacifist group formed during World War I. They, like Martin Luther King, Jr. , believed in the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and implemented Christian values into their approach (Kelley 450). The Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) focused on destroying legalized segregation, particularly on downtown stores and municipal facilities. Another association that sprung up out of religious roots is the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). By 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr. and several black ministers from the South came together to form this organization which was based on the â€Å"Montgomery experience† (Kelley 470). One of their major accomplishments during this time was that they held conferences and organized people, such as when a group of some twenty thousand people came together in Washington, D. C. to pray for civil rights legislation. The fact that a mass amount of people came to pray that day gave others in the church the inspiration to look beyond their own means and to see things occurring which have never before. This gave African Americans hope and led more of them to these gatherings since they know that their desire for justice can be heard. Religion had a major effect on the Civil Rights Movement. Even when it was on an individual level such as with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, the effects of religion trickle down into the masses. Speech after speech, African Americans became inspired and empowered by them and began to believe in things beyond their own human capacity. Blacks turned to divine beings as a means to achieve equality and justice. Religion helped teach them to ignore the years of discrimination and damage to their self-esteem. It gave them the power to stand strong in the face of hurt and in the face of humiliation. Without religion, the Civil Rights Movement would not have had the unity, and hope that allowed it to continue on. At the same time, however, the enemies of the movement found their muse to keep segregation and discrimination. Religion was then used by them too as a means to protect their way of life and maintain the status over blacks that they had ingrained in them since the time of slavery. Religion had a mixed influence over the movement, but in the end African Americans would see the day when they gained those civil rights. They would see the day when blacks have equality under the law in America.

A 2000 word review of Mark Deuzes Media Work and 2000 word self Essay

A 2000 word review of Mark Deuzes Media Work and 2000 word self evaluation - Essay Example His remarks here refer to conditions and setting of liquid life. Among the conditions Deuze is referring to include the challenge and opportunities of precarious labour, contingent employment, and a structural sense of authentic or perceived job insecurity. The first liquid life condition that Deuze refers to is the challenges and opportunities that are resultant of the current contingent or reliant employment environment. This situation, as noted by Ulrich Beck, reflects the fundamental hesitant prospects of the current work-styles throughout the society which are marked by uncertainty, inconsistency and risks (Deuze, 2006). Deuze notes that it is the nature of contemporary freedom that manifests itself most openly in the noteworthy change of people’s career from a chain of more or less expected achievements. Such is a result of an enduring contract to a continuous reshuffling of job bits and pieces in what has been heralded as portfolio work life (Deuze, 2006). Such reshuffle makes life liquid in nature. Another condition of liquid life that referred by Deuze is that precarious labour environment in the contemporary transition from life to work and the overall present employment patterns. Using Zygmunt Bauman’s sketch, Deuze notes that stability and solidity, which were at one-time major hallmarks of a health organisation have also become signs of organisation’s weakness. This is a liquid life because such global integration introduces a deep-seated aspect of unpredictability of work, leading to failure or success of the local production process becoming entirely dependent on the fluctuations in the worldwide network. Consequently, Deuzes’s reference to liquid life is relevant to the perceived job insecurity as it reflects the contemporary workforce behaviours. He notes that such patterns include adaptive response, permanent change, and continual innovation, all expressed as the exclusive philosophies of workforce flexibility.

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Hydropower - Essay Example This paper also deals with the uses of hydropower as the renewable energy resources in the environment. Hydropower is also known as waterpower. In simple words, it refers to the power of electricity produced from water currents. Hydropower energy thus involves hydroelectric dams as well as reservoirs, underground waterways and tidal plants among others. Hydropower is widely considered as more efficient, as compared to other energy sources, as it helps in decreasing the cost of electricity and increasing the reliability as well as flexibility of energy produced. Hydropower is however noted to be a costly method for the production of energy (7). It is worth mentioning in this context that energy is required for the progress of mankind and therefore, energy must be available in sufficient quantities along with affordable prices for the consumers, which the hydropower plants often fail to suffice. New and advanced technologies are also required for the availability of hydropower energy as well as for the safety of the environment. However, besides the fact that hydropower is regarded as a cost consuming energy production source, it is also perceived to impose strong negative affects to the environment, especially when concerning marine biological lifecycle (7). Nevertheless, one of the benefits of hydropower is its superior ability for fossil-fuel generation. Hydropower is also considered to protect from greenhouse gas emission at large quantities. It has often been argued that the developed hydropower will have the potential of making large contributions towards improvements in the living standard of developing countries, making energy available at cheaper rates. Compulsions of the recent era to suffice rising global demand, resulting in higher costs for fuel base energy sources have further led mankind to innovate new sources of energy, one of those being the water source, which has however been in use since traditional times (8). A few noteworthy

WE 3 CRJ 545 rESPONSE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

WE 3 CRJ 545 rESPONSE - Essay Example Listing of the bodies involved in the crime scene investigations could also be imperative (Gardner, 2011). Owing to the complexity and disparity in various crimes, it is critical for the CSI teams and other forensic practitioners to have a well-constructed approach to the reconstruction of a Crime Scene, in order to ascertain the mode in which the exact crime occurred (Gardner, 2011). The writer portrays vast awareness of the processes that occur in the crime scene reconstruction. The systematic approach of crime scene reconstruction from the assessment to analysis of collected evidence seems appealing (Gardner, 2011). However, the writer ought to include the protocol observed in the reconstruction of various crime scenes. The ethics observed in crime scene reconstruction is also significant (Gardner, 2011). As indicated, crime scene documentation is critical in the reconstruction of the scene, or for the utilization as evidence in the courtrooms. The writer has a clear record of the significance of crime scene documentation, thereby highlighting the relevant information to be documented, while leaving insignificant information (Gardner, 2011). The tools and modes of documentation are also appealing. However, the writer is not exhaustive on the technological modes of the scene’s data collection and documentation. Besides, it will also be crucial to highlight the protocols and ethics involved in crime scene documentation (Gardner,

Ethical Issues in Resource Allocation Term Paper

Ethical Issues in Resource Allocation - Term Paper Example 45). During the resource allocation in medical assistance, we should be able to satisfy two main ethical criteria. I should be able to be cost effective to the limited resources that are used in the health care facility where I will make sure that I am able to utilize the available resources to maximize the health benefits of the patients that I serve. By using the cost effectiveness analysis of the available alternative health intervention measures, I should be able to consider the respective costs and benefits to determine the efficiency of these intervention measures. The ethical issue here is deciding whether, after I take such considerations in to account, I will be able to give the same quantity of the health benefits in the future. I will manage to use the CEA to be able to analyze the benefits of using such interventions and be able to help the patients in the future. An outstanding example is where I have to decide on using a program that might save one hundred people now or decide on another that will help save two hundred people at a later date. The second program will save a lot of people, but on applying a three percent discount rate to the lives that will be saved in the future; they will be an equivalent to 78 of the lives that can be saved at the moment. Hence, I will choose to use the first program that will save the one hundred people at the moment (George 56). The ethical requirements are like expectations which I am supposed to achieve on a regular basis in this profession. I have to use the ethical principles to depict the greatest moral standards and behavior in the health care profession. Whenever I face any form of ethical dilemma, I always find a method to enable me to consult and get guidance from the people who work with me. They have guided me into being able to develop my professional skills in the health care sector. I have managed to create healthy relationships with my patients that are therapeutic in nature. The medic assistant needs to follow the ethical conduct regulations in order to become a successful professional in the health care sector. He /she has to work with other health care service providers in order to be able to treat and provide quality health care services to patients. Medical assistants are required to have good, quality and moral values that will oversee the values succeeding in the health care sector. Some of the moral values that I have had to use included the following: first of all, I have had to take my primary responsibility to being the health, welfare, safety, and the dignity of all the patients whom I help. Secondly, I have had to promote and appreciate the diversity value. Thirdly, I have had to treat every person that seeks the health care attention equally without having to be bias to anyone. This has helped foster my dignity, and it has created a level of trust in my patients. Fourthly, I have had to create and uphold my levels of confidence in the course of health care pro vision and all that pertains to the practice. Fifthly, I have had to assess my personal ability and any kind of limitations; by doing this, I see where I make mistakes and am able to correct these mistakes and change for the better. Sixthly, I have been able to add the level of my knowhow and practicing skills so that I will be able to create and achieve all forms of health care practices.

External and Internal Environmental Analysis of Caribou Coffee Essay

External and Internal Environmental Analysis of Caribou Coffee - Essay Example fee followed the rules and regulations of American government in an efficient way, the introduction of disabilities act affected the functioning of the organization to a considerable extent. This was owing to the fact that after the introduction of this law, the management of Caribou Coffee had to offer uniform wages to all of its employees irrespective of any disability, which enhanced the total operating revenue (Scribd, n.d.). However, it also assisted the organization to minimize discrimination within its workplace and maintain uniformity. Besides, introduction of licensing helped Caribou Coffee to maintain safety and security within the functions of the organization, resulting in the overall augmentation of its corporate image and distinctiveness among other competitors in the beverage segment (Caribou Coffee Company, n.d.). Due to the recent inflation that occurred in the US, the income rates and living standards of the citizens declined to a considerable extent leading to the lowering of buying behavior of the customers. As a result, the total sales of Caribou Coffee reduced by 0.2 million to 63 million, resulting in the decline in its profitability and productivity by a significant extent (Scribd, n.d.). The society of America is highly passionate about coffee not only in the social gatherings but also in professional discussions. The prime aspect behind this is to enhance the friendliness and affection within the co-members of the group. Coffee is not only regarded as a stimulator in the American society, but is often considered to be a cause of gathering to revitalize long term relationship (Scribd, n.d.). This reason can further be regarded as a vital motivating factor for organizations including Caribou Coffee for creating their mission towards offering a refreshing coffee to the American population (Caribou Coffee Company, 2012). Modernization has apparently led to the introduction of varied types of inventive equipments and technologies within the

Monetary and Fiscal Policy Essay Example for Free

Monetary and Fiscal Policy Essay 1. Monetary and fiscal policy and its impact on business decision making 2. Open economy macroeconomics-Mundell –Fleming Model and its application FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICY IN INDIA AND ITS IMPACT ON Business Decision Making. What is monetary policy? Monetary policy is the management of money supply and interest by central banks to influence prices and employment. Monetary policy works through expansion or contraction of investment consumption expenditure. Monetary policy is the process by which the government, central bank (RBI in India), or monetary authority of a country controls 1. The supply of money 2. Availability of money 3. Cost of money or the rate of interest, in order to attain a set of objective oriented towards the growth and stability of the economy. Monetary theory provides insight into how to craft optimal monetary policy. Monetary policy is referred to as either being an expansionary policy, or a contractionary policy, where an expansionary policy increases the total supply of money in the economy, and a contractionary policy decreases the total money supply. Expansionary policy is traditionally used to combat unemployment in a recession by lowering interest rates, while contractionary policy involves raising interest rates in order to combat inflation. Monetary policy is contrasted with fiscal policy, which refers to government borrowing, spending and taxation Why it is needed? What monetary policy – at its best – can deliver is low and stable inflation, and thereby reduces the volatility of the business cycle. When inflationary pressures build up, it is monetary policy only which raises the short-term interest rate (the policy rate), which raises real rates across the economy and squeezes consumption and investment. The pain is not concentrated at a few points, as is the case with government interventions in commodity markets. Monetary policy in India underwent significant changes in the 1990sas the Indian Economy became increasing open and financial sector reforms were put in place. In the 1980s, monetary policy was geared towards controlling the quantum, cost and directions of credit flow in the economy. The quantity variables dominated as the transmission Channel of monetary policy. Reforms during the 1990s enhanced the sensitivity of price signals from the central bank, making interestrates the increasingly Dominant transmission channel o f monetary policy in India. WHEN WERE MONETARY POLICIES INTRODUCED? Monetary policy is primarily associated with interest rate and credit. For many centuries there were only two forms of monetary policy: (i) Decisions about coinage (ii)Decisions to print paper money to create credit. Interest rates, while now thought of as part of monetary authority, were not generally coordinated with the other forms of monetary policy during this time. Monetary policy was seen as an executive decision, and was generally in the hands of the authority with seignior age, or the power to coin. With the advent of larger trading networks came the ability to set the price between gold and silver, and the price of the local currency to foreign currencies. This official price could be enforced by law, even if it varied from the market price. With the creation of the Bank of England in 1694, which acquired their responsibility to print notes and back them with gold, the idea of monetary policy as independent of executive action began to be established. The goal of monetary policy was to maintain the value of the coinage, print notes which would trade at par to specie, and prevent coins from leaving circulation. The establishment of central banks by industrializing nations was associated then with the desire to maintain the nations peg to the gold standard, and to trade in an arrow band with other gold-backed currencies. To accomplish this end, central banks as part of the gold standard began setting the interest rates that they charged, both their own borrowers, and other banks that required liquidity. The maintenance of a gold standard required almost monthly adjustment of interest rates. During the 1870-1920 periods the industrialized nations set up central banking systems, with one of the last being the Federal Reserve in1913.By this point the role of the central bank as the lender of last resort was understood. It was also increasingly understood that interest rates had an effect on the entire economy, in no small part because of the marginal revolution in economics, which focused on how many more, or how many fewer, people would make a decision based on a change in the economic trade-offs. It also became clear that there was a business cycle, and economic theory began understanding the relationship of interest rates to that cycle.(Nevertheless, steering a whole economy by influencing the intere st rate has often been described as trying to steer an oil tanker with a canoe paddle.) Research by Cass Business School has also suggested that perhaps it is the central bank policies of expansionary and contractionary Policies that are causing the economic cycle; evidence can be found by looking at the lack of cycles in economies before central banking policies existed. OBJECTIVES OF MONETARY POLICY The objectives are to maintain price stability and ensure adequate flow of credit to the productive sectors of the economy. Stability for the national currency (after looking at prevailing economic conditions), growth in employment and income are also looked into. The monetary policy affects the real sector through long and variable periods while the financial markets are also impacted through short-term implications. There are four main channels which the RBI looks at: †¢Quantum channel: money supply and credit (affects real output and price level through changes in reserves money, money supply and credit aggregates). †¢Interest rate channel. †¢Exchange rate channel (linked to the currency). †¢Asset price. Monetary decisions today take into account a wider range of factors, such as: †¢short term interest rates; †¢long term interest rates; †¢velocity of money through the economy; †¢exchange rate †¢credit quality †¢bonds and equities (corporate ownership and debt) †¢government versus private sector spending/savings * International capital flow of money on large scale * Financial derivatives such as option, swaps and future contracts etc. Types of monetary policy: In practice, all types of monetary policy involve modifying the of base currency (MO) in circulation. This process of changing liquidity of base currency through the open sales and purchase (government-issued) debt and credit instrument is called open market operation. Constant market transactions by the monetary authority modify the supply of currency and this impacts other markets variables such as short term interest rates and the exchange rates. The distinction between the various types of monetary policy lies primarily with the set of instruments and target variables that are used by the monetary authority to achieve their goals. A fixed exchange rate is also an exchange rate regime; The Gold standard results in a relatively fixed regime towards the currency of other countries on the gold standard and a floating regime towards those that are not. Targeting inflation, the price level or other monetary aggregates implies floating exchange rate unless the management of the relevant foreign currencies is tracking the exact same variables (such as a harmonized consumer price index).Inflation targeting Under this policy approach the target is to keep inflation, under particular definition such as Consumer Price Index, within a desired range. The inflation target is achieved through periodic adjustments to the Central Bank interest rate target. The interest rate used is generally the interbank rate at which banks lend to each other overnight for cash flow purposes. Depending on the country this particular interest rate might be called the cash rate or something similar. The interest rate target is maintained for a s pecific duration using open market operations. Typically the duration that the interest rate target is kept constant will vary between months and years. This interest rate target is usually reviewed on a monthly or quarterly basis by a policy committee Price level targeting Price level targeting is similar to inflation targeting except that CPI growth in one year is offset in subsequent years such that over time the price level on aggregate does not move. Something similar to price level targeting was tried by Sweden in the1930s, and seems to have contributed to the relatively good performance of the Swedish economy during the Great Depression. As of 2004, no country operates monetary policy based on a price level target. Monetary aggregates In the 1980s, several countries used an approach based on a constant growth in the money supply. This approach was refined to include different classes of money and credit (M0, M1 etc). In the USA this approach to monetary policy was discontinued with the selection of Alan Greenspan as Fed Chairman. This approach is also sometimes called monetarism. While most monetary policy focuses on a price s ignal of one form or another, this approach is focused on monetary quantities. Fixed exchange rate this policy is based on maintaining a fixed exchange rate with a foreign currency. There are varying degrees of fixed exchange rates, which can be ranked in relation to how rigid the fixed exchange rate is with the anchor nation. Under a system of fiat fixed rates, the local government or monetary authority declares a fixed exchange rate but does not actively buy or sell currency to maintain the rate. Instead, the rate is enforced by non-convertibility measures (e.g. capital controls, import/export licenses, etc.). In this case there is a black market exchange rate where the currency trades at its market/unofficial rate. Under a system of fixed-convertibility, currency is bought and sold by the central bank or monetary authority on a daily basis to achieve the target exchange rate. This target rate may be a fixed level or a fixed band within which the exchange rate may fluctuate until the monetary authority intervenes to buy or sell as necessary to maintain the ex change rate within the band. (In this case, the fixed exchange rate with a fixed level can be seen as a special case of the fixed exchange rate with bands where the bands are set to zero.) Under a system of fixed exchange rates maintained by a currency board every unit of local currency must be backed by a unit of foreign currency (correcting for the exchange rate). This ensures that the local monetary base does not inflate without being backed by hard currency and eliminates any worries about a run on the local currency by those wishing to convert the local currency to the hard (anchor) currency. These policies often abdicate monetary policy to the foreign monetary authority or government as monetary policy in the pegging nation must align with monetary policy in the anchor nation to maintain the exchange rate. The degree to which local monetary policy becomes dependent on the anchor nation depends on factors such as capital mobility, openness, credit channels and other economic factors Gold standard The gold standard is a system in which the price of the national currency as measured in units of gold bars and is kept constant by the daily buying and selling of base currency to other countries and nationals. (I.e. open market operations cf. above). The selling of gold is very important for economic growth and stability. The gold standard might be regarded as a special case of the Fixed Exchange Rate policy. And the gold price might be regarded as a special type of Commodity Price Index . Today this type of monetary policy is not used anywhere in the world, although a form of gold standard was used widely across the world prior to 1971. For details see the Breton Woods system. Its major advantages were simplicity and transparency. Monetary policy tools monetary base monetary policy can be implemented by changing the size of the monetary base. This directly changes the total amount of money circulating in the economy. A central bank can use open market operations to change the monetary base. The central bank would buy/sell bonds in exchange for hard currency. When the central bank disburses/collects this hard currency payment, it alters the amount of currency in the economy, thus altering the monetary base. . Monetary policy in different years The monetarist statistical regularities have weakened for the 1970-90 period, in comparison with the 1960-79 where the influence of current and past business activity on the money supply were weak, while the predictive value of changes in the money stock for future output was large National income and saving play vital role on formulation of monetary policy. As the income increases the spending will also increase, thus monetary will be less intensively required and same is the case with increase in saving .chart shows how the finance systems generate the real money and nominal money .The existence of long-run equilibrium relationship among money and income represented by a money demand function also has significant implications for monetary policy. The kind of economy India has, it is effected by the dollar rate .India has Services led growth is getting reinforced by a sustained resurgence in industrial activity after a long hiatus of slow down and restructuring during the period 1976-1987.Thus India contribute much too the imports and exports, thus it have impacted by dollar price.

An Introduction To Network Topology

An Introduction To Network Topology In the context of a communication network, the term topology refers to that way in which the end points, or stations, attached to the network are interconnected or it is the arrangements of systems in a computer network. It can be either physical or logical. The physical topology refers that, a way in which a network is laid out physically and it will include the devices, installation and location. Logical topology refers that how a data transfers in a network as opposed to its design. The network topology can be categorized into bus, ring, star, tree and mesh. Hybrid networks (They are the complex networks, which can be built of two or more topologies). Bus Topology A Bus topology is characterized by the use of a multi point medium. A long and single cable acts as a backbone to connect all the devices in a network. In a bus topology, all computers or stations attach through the appropriate hardware interfacing known as a tap, directly to a bus network. Full duplex operation between the station and tap allows data to transmit onto the bus and received from the bus. A transmission from any station propagates the length of the medium in both directions and can be received by all other stations. At each end of the bus is a terminator, which absorbs any signal, removing it from the bus. Nodes are connected to the bus cable by drop lines and taps. A drop line is a connection running between the device and the main cable. A tap is a connector that either splices into the main cable or punctures the sheathing of a cable to create a contact with the metallic core. A bus network work best with a limited number of computers. Advantages Bus topology can install very easily on a network. Cabling will be less compare to other topologies because of the main backbone cable laid efficiently in the network path. Bus topology suited for a small network. If one computer fails in the network, the other computers are not affected they will continue to work. It is also less expensive than star topology. Disadvantages The cable length will limited and there by limits the number of stations. If the backbone cable fails, the entire network will goes down. It is very difficult to trouble shoot. Maintenance cost is very high in a long run. Terminators are required for both the ends of the cable. Ring topology The ring topology the network consists of dedicated point to point connection and a set of repeaters in a closed loop. A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from device to device, until it reaches its destination. It may be clock wise or anti clock wise. When a device receives a signal intend for another device, its repeater generates the bits and passes them along. As with the bus and tree, data are transmitted in frames. As a frame circulates past all the other stations, the destination station recognize its address and copies the frame into a local buffer as it goes by. The frame continues to circulate until it returns to the source station, where it is removed. These topologies are used in school campuses and some office buildings. tifsTemp 13.a.tif Figure (2) Bus topology Advantages It performs better than star topology under heavy work load For managing the connection between the computers, there is no need for the network server. It is cheaper than star topology because of less wiring. By adding the token ring in the network, can create large network. Very order network because all the devices has a access to the token ring and opportunity to transmit. Disadvantages A break in the ring (such as a disabled station) can disable the entire network. It is much slower than an Ethernet network with under normal load. Any moves, changes and adds of the devices can affect the network. Network connection devices like (Network adapter cards and MAU) are much more expense than Ethernet cards. Star Topology In a star topology, each station is directly connected to a common node called hub. Unlike a mesh technology, the devices are not directly linked to one another. A star topology does not allow direct traffic between devices. The controller act as an exchange, like if one device wants to send to another, it sends the data to the controller, which then relays the data to the connected device. In a star, each device needs only one link and one I/O port to connect it to any number of others. The star topology is used in local area networks (LAN) and sometimes high speed LAN often uses a star topology with central hub. Advantages If one link fails in the star topology, only that link is affected. All other links remain active. It is easy to identify the fault and fault isolation. Easy to expand the network in the star topology. No disruptions to the network when connecting or removing devices. It is very easy to manage because of its simplicity in the function. Disadvantages In a star topology, if the hub goes down, the entire network will fails. It requires more cable length compared to the linear bus topology. It is much more expensive than bus topology, because of the cost of the hubs. Tree Topology A tree topology is the generalization of the bus topology. It integrates the multiple star topologies together on to a bus. The transmission medium is a branching cable with no closed loops. The tree layout begins at a point known as the head end. The branches in turn may have additional branches to allow quite complex layouts. A transmission from any station propagates throughout the medium and can be received by all other stations. This topology will allow for the expansion of an existing network. Advantages Tree topology is well supported by the hardware and software vendors. Point to point wiring for each and every segments of the network. It is the best topology for the branched networks. Disadvantages It is more expensive because more hubs are required to install the network. Tree topology is entirely depends upon the backbone line, if it fails then the entire network would fail. It is very difficult to configure and wire than other network topologies. In a tree topology, the length of network depends on the type of cable being used. Mesh Topology In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other device. The term dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the two devices it connects. To find the number of physical links in a fully connected mesh network with n nodes, we first consider that each node must be connected to other node. Node 1 must be connected to n-1nodes, node 2 must be connected to n-1nodes, and finally node n must be connected n-1 nodes. However, if each physical link allows communication in both directions, we can divide the number of links by 2.In other words we can say that in a mesh topology, we need n (n-1)/2. tifsTmp9.tif Figure (5 Mesh topology Suppose if we are connecting 15 nodes in a mesh topology, then the number of cables required; DA = n (n-1)/2 DA = Number of cables = 15 (15 1)/2 n = Node = 15*14/2 = 15*7 = 105 Therefore, the total number of cables required for connecting 15 nodes = 105. Advantages There is no traffic problem because of the dedicated link in the mesh network. Mesh topology is robust. If one link becomes unusable. It does not incapacitate the entire system. Point-to-point links make full identification and fault isolation easy. Security or privacy for data travels along the dedicated line. Network can be expanded without any disruptions to the users. Disadvantages Installation and reconnection are difficult. Large amount of cabling and the number of I/O ports required Sheer bulk of the wiring can be greater than the available space can accommodate. The hardware required to connect each link can be prohibitively expensive. Hybrid Topology A network can be hybrid, which uses two or more network topologies together in a network. For example, we can have a main star topology with each branch connecting several stations in a bus topology. The OSI Model The Open System Inter connection (OSI) reference model was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)2 as a model for a computer protocol architecture and as a frame work for developing protocol standards. The purpose of the OSI model is show how to facilitate communication between different systems without requiring changes to the logic of the underlying hardware and software. The OSI model is not a protocol; it is a model for understanding a network architecture that is flexible, robust and interoperable. The OSI model is a layered frame work for the design of network systems that allows communication between all types of computer systems. It consists of seven separate but related layers, each of which defines a part of the process moving information across a network. The seven layers of the OSI reference model can be divided into two categories: upper layers and lower layers. Upper Layers of the OSI Models are; Application layer Presentation layer Session layer The upper layers of the OSI model designate the application issues, presentation session stages and generally are implemented only in software. The highest layer, (the application layer) is close to the end user. These upper layers are act as an interface between the user and the computer. The term upper layer is sometimes used to refer to any layer above another layer in the OSI model. Examples of upper layer technologies in the OSI model are SNMP, FTP, and WWW etc. Lower Layers of the OSI Model Transport layer Network layer Data link layer Physical layer The lower layers of the OSI model provide network specific functions like data transport issues (flow control, addressing and routing). The lower layers of the OSI model (the physical layer and the data link layer) are implemented in hardware and software also. Examples of lower layer technologies in the OSI model are TCP, UDP, IP, IPX etc. Application layer The application layer enables the user, whether human or software, to access the network. It provides user interfaces and support for services such as electronic mail, remote file access and transfer, shared database management, and other types of distributed information services. The application layer provides specific services like network virtual terminal, file transfer, access and management, mail services and directory services. Network virtual terminal: A network virtual terminal is a software version of physical terminal, and it allows a user to log on to a remote host. File transfer, access and management: This application allows a user to access files in a remote host (to make changes, read data), to retrieve files from a remote computer for use in the local computer and to manage or control files in a remote computer locally. Mail services: The application provides the basis for e-mail forwarding and storage. Directory services: This application provides distributed database source and access for global information about various objects and services. Presentation layer The presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged between two systems. The presentation layer is responsible for the translation, compression and encryption. Messages are sending between the layers. Translation: The process in two systems are usually exchanging in the form of character strings, numbers, and so on. The information is changed into bit streams before being transmitted. The presentation layer at the sender changes the information from its sender dependent format into a common format. On the receiving machine, the presentation layer changes the common format into its receiver-dependent format. Encryption: Encryption means that the sender transforms the original information to another form and sends the resulting message out over the network. Decryption reverses the original process to transform message back to its original form. Compression: Data compression reduces the number of bits contained in the information. It becomes particularly important in the transmission of multimedia such as text, audio and video. Session layer The session layer is the network dialog controller. It establishes, maintains and synchronizes the interaction among communicating systems. These layers have specific responsibilities include the following; Dialog control: The session layer allows two systems to enter into a dialog. It allows the communication between twp processes to take place in either half duplex (one way at a time) or full duplex (two ways at a time) mode. Synchronization: The session layer allows a process to add check points, or synchronization points, to a stream of data. Examples for session layers are MPEG, JPEG, MIDI, NCP etc. Transport layer The transport layer is responsible for process to process delivery of the entire message. The transport layer is responsible for the delivery of a message from one process to another. A process is an application program running on a host. The transport layer ensures that the whole message arrives intact and in order, overseeing both error control and flow control at the source-to-destination level. It also has some specific responsibilities mentioned below; Service-point addressing: The transport layer includes a type of address called a service-point address (or port address). The network layer gets each packet to the correct computer,; the transport layer gets the entire message to the correct process on that computer. Segmentation and reassembly: A message is divided into transmittable segments, with each segment containing a sequence number. These numbers enable the transport layers to reassemble the message correctly upon arriving at the destination and to identify and replace packets that were lost in transmission. Connection control: The transport layer can be either connectionless or connection oriented. A connectionless transport layer treats each segment as an independent packet and delivers it to the transport layer at the destination machine. If a connection oriented transport layer make a connection with the transport layer at the destination machine first before delivering the packets. After all the data are transferred the connection is terminated. Flow control: The transport layer is responsible for the flow control. However, flow control at this layer is performed end to end rather than across a single link. Error control: Transport layer is also responsible for the error control. Error control at this layer is performed process-to-process rather than across a single link. The sending transport layer makes sure that the entire message arrives at the receiving transport layer without error. These layers using the TCP/IP and UDP protocols. Network layer The network layer is responsible for the source to destination delivery of a packet, possibly across multiple networks (links). This layer ensures that each packet gets from its point of origin to its final destination. Network layers also have other responsibilities include the following; Logical addressing: If a packet passes the network boundary, it needs another addressing system to help distinguish the source and destination systems. The network layer adds a header to the packet coming from the upper layer that, among other things, includes the logical addresses of the sender and receiver. Routing: When independent networks are connected to create internetworks or a large network, the connecting devices route or switch the packets to their final destination. Data link layer The data link transforms the physical layer, a raw transmission facility, to a reliable link. It makes the physical layer appear error-free to the upper layer. It also has other responsibilities include the following; Framing: The data link layer divides the stream of bits received from the network layer into manageable data units called frames. Physical addressing: The data link layer adds a header to the frame to define the sender and/or receive of the frame. If the frame is intend for a system outside the senders network, the receiver address is the address of the device that connects the network to the next one. Flow control: If the rate at which the data are absorbed by receiver is less than the rate at which data are produced in the sender, the data link layer impose a flow control mechanism to avoid overwhelming the receiver. Error control: The data link layer adds reliability to the physical layer by adding mechanisms to detect and retransmit damaged or lost frames. It also uses a mechanism to recognize duplicate frames. Error control is normally achieved through a trailer added to the end of the frame. Access control: When two or more devices are connected to the same link, data link layer protocols are necessary to determine which device has control over the link at any given time. Data link contains two sub layers; LLC (Logical Link Control) and MAC (Medium Access Control).LLC is the upper sub layer, which maintains and establishes the communication links to the device. And it also responsible for the frame error control and addressing.MAC is the lower sub layer of the data link layer. It controls how the devices sharing the media channel. Physical layer The physical layer coordinates the functions required to carry a bit stream over a physical medium. It deals with the mechanical and electrical specifications of the interface and transmission medium. It also defines the procedures and functions that physical devices and interfaces have to perform for transmission to occur. The physical layer is also concerned with the following: Physical characteristics of interface and medium: Physical layer defines the characteristics of the interface between the devices and the transmission medium. It also defines the type of transmission medium. Representation of bits: This layer data consists of a stream of bits with no interpretation. To be transmitted, bits must be encoded into signals electrical or optical. The physical layer defines the type of encoding. Data rate: The transmission rate the number of bits sent each second- is also defined by physical layer. In other words physical layer defines the duration of a bit, which how long it lasts. Synchronization of bits: The sender and receiver not only must use the same bit rate but also must be synchronized at the bit level. Line configuration: The physical layer is concerned with the connection of devices to the media. In a point-to-point configuration, two devices are connected through a dedicated link. In a multipoint configuration a link is shared among several devices. Physical topology: The physical topology defines how devices are connected to make a network. Devices can be connected by using a mesh topology, a star topology, a ring topology, a bus topology, or a hybrid topology. Transmission mode: The physical layer also defines the direction of transmission between two devices: simplex, half duplex, or full duplex.