1.
Mauritania
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Mauritania /mɔːrɪˈteɪniə/, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in the Maghreb region of western Africa. The country derives its name from the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauretania, approximately 90% of Mauritanias land is within the Sahara and consequently the population is concentrated in the south, where precipitation is slightly higher. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast, the government was overthrown on 6 August 2008, in a military coup détat led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. On 16 April 2009, Aziz resigned from the military to run for president in the 19 July elections, about 20% of Mauritanians live on less than US$1.25 per day. Mauritania suffers from several human rights issues, including slavery, as at least 4% of the population are enslaved against their will, the Bafours were primarily agriculturalist, and among the first Saharan people to abandon their historically nomadic lifestyle. With the gradual desiccation of the Sahara, they headed south, many of the Berber tribes claimed Yemeni origins. There is little evidence to such claims, but a 2000 DNA study of Yemeni people suggested there might be some ancient connection between the peoples. Other peoples also migrated south past the Sahara to West Africa, in 1076, Moorish Islamic warrior monks attacked and conquered the large area of the ancient Ghana Empire. Over the next 500 years, Arabs overcame fierce resistance from the population to dominate Mauritania. The Char Bouba war was the final effort of the peoples to repel the Yemeni Maqil Arab invaders. The invaders were led by the Beni Hassan tribe, the descendants of the Beni Hassan warriors became the upper stratum of Moorish society. Hassaniya, a Berber-influenced Arabic dialect that derives its name from the Beni Hassan, berbers retained a niche influence by producing the majority of the regions marabouts, those who preserve and teach Islamic tradition. Imperial France gradually absorbed the territories of present-day Mauritania from the Senegal River area and upwards, in 1901, Xavier Coppolani took charge of the imperial mission. Through a combination of strategic alliances with Zawiya tribes, and military pressure on the Hassane warrior nomads, he managed to extend French rule over the Mauritanian emirates. Trarza, Brakna and Tagant quickly submitted to treaties with the colonial power, Adrar was finally defeated militarily in 1912, and incorporated into the territory of Mauritania, which had been drawn up and planned in 1904. Mauritania was part of French West Africa from 1920, French rule brought legal prohibitions against slavery and an end to inter-clan warfare. During the colonial period, 90% of the population remained nomadic, many sedentary peoples, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier, began to trickle back into Mauritania. After gaining independence, larger numbers of indigenous Sub-Saharan African peoples entered Mauritania, educated in French language and customs, many of these recent arrivals became clerks, soldiers, and administrators in the new state
2.
Colonel
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Colonel is a senior military officer rank below the general officer ranks. However, in small military forces, such as those of Iceland or the Vatican. It is also used in police forces and paramilitary organizations. Historically, in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army, the rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel. The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier, brigade general or brigadier general, equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain. In the Commonwealth air force rank system, the equivalent rank is group captain, the word colonel derives from the same root as the word column and means of a column, and, by implication, commander of a column. The word colonel is therefore linked to the column in a similar way that brigadier is linked to brigade. By the end of the medieval period, a group of companies was referred to as a column of an army. Since the word is believed to derive from sixteenth-century Italian, it was presumably first used by Italian city states in that century. The first use of colonel as a rank in an army was in the French National Legions created by King Francis I by his decree of 1534. Building on the reforms of Louis XIIs decree of 1509. Each colonel commanded a legion with a strength of six thousand men. With the shift from primarily mercenary to primarily national armies in the course of the seventeenth century, the Spanish equivalent rank of coronel was used by the Spanish tercios in the 16th and 17th centuries. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, nicknamed the Great Captain, divided his armies in coronelías or colonelcies, however, the Spanish word probably derives from a different origin, in that it appears to designate an officer of the crown, rather than an officer of the column. This makes the Spanish word coronel probably cognate with the English word coroner and this regiment, or governance, was to some extent embodied in a contract and set of written rules, also referred to as the colonels regiment or standing regulation. By extension, the group of companies subject to a colonels regiment came to be referred to as his regiment as well, the position, however, was primarily contractual and it became progressively more of a functionless sinecure. By the late 19th century, colonel was a military rank though still held typically by an officer in command of a regiment or equivalent unit. As European military influence expanded throughout the world, the rank of colonel became adopted by every nation
3.
Western Sahara
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Its surface area amounts to 266,000 square kilometres. It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, the population is estimated at just over 500,000, of which nearly 40% live in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara. Occupied by Spain until the late 20th century, Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1963 after a Moroccan demand and it is the most populous territory on that list, and by far the largest in area. In 1965, the UN General Assembly adopted its first resolution on Western Sahara, one year later, a new resolution was passed by the General Assembly requesting that a referendum be held by Spain on self-determination. In 1975, Spain relinquished the control of the territory to a joint administration by Morocco. A war erupted between those countries and a Sahrawi nationalist movement, the Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic with a government in exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew its claims in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured de facto control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources. The United Nations considers the Polisario Front to be the representative of the Sahrawi people. As of 2017, no member state of the United Nations has ever recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. However, a number of countries have expressed their support for a recognition of the Moroccan annexation of the territory as an autonomous part of the Kingdom. Overall, the annexation has not garnered as much attention in the community as many other disputed annexations. Internationally, countries such as Russia have taken a generally ambiguous and neutral position on each sides claims, both Morocco and Polisario have sought to boost their claims by accumulating formal recognition, essentially from African, Asian, and Latin American states in the developing world. The Polisario Front has won recognition for SADR from 37 states. Morocco has won recognition or support for its position from several African governments and from most of the Muslim world, in both instances, recognitions have, over the past two decades, been extended and withdrawn according to changing international trends. Western Sahara is located in Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and it also borders Algeria to the northeast. The land is some of the most arid and inhospitable on the planet, the land along the coast is low, flat desert and rises, especially in the north, to small mountains reaching up to 600 metres on the eastern side. While the area can experience flash flooding in the spring, there are no permanent streams, at times a cool off-shore current can produce fog and heavy dew. The earliest known inhabitants of Western Sahara were the Gaetuli, depending on the century, Roman-era sources describe the area as inhabited by Gaetulian Autololes or the Gaetulian Daradae tribes
4.
Polisario Front
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It is an observer member of the Socialist International. The United Nations considers the Polisario Front to be the representative of the Sahrawi people. The Polisario Front is outlawed in the parts of Western Sahara under Moroccan control and they called themselves the Constituent Congress of the Polisario Front. Its first Secretary General was El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed, on 20 May, the new organization attacked El-Khanga, where there was a Spanish post manned by a team of Tropas Nomadas was overrun and rifles seized. At this point, Polisarios manpower included perhaps 800 men and women, with Algerias help, Polisario set up headquarters in Tindouf. Upon Spains withdrawal, and in application of the Madrid Accords in 1976, the Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic on 27 February 1976, and waged a guerrilla war against both Morocco and Mauritania. The World Court at The Hague had issued its verdict on the former Spanish colony just weeks before, for the next two years the movement grew tremendously as Sahrawi refugees continued flocking to the camps and Algeria and Libya supplied arms and funding. Within months, its army had expanded to several thousand armed fighters, camels were replaced by modern jeeps, the reorganized army was able to inflict severe damage through guerrilla-style hit-and-run attacks against opposing forces in Western Sahara and in Morocco and Mauritania proper. A comprehensive peace treaty was signed on 5 August 1979, in which the new government recognized Sahrawi rights to Western Sahara, Mauritania withdrew all its forces and would later proceed to formally recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, causing a massive rupture in relations with Morocco. King Hassan II of Morocco immediately claimed the area of Western Sahara evacuated by Mauritania, a cease-fire between the Polisario Front and Morocco, monitored by MINURSO, has been in effect since 6 September 1991, on the promise of a referendum on independence the following year. However, the referendum stalled over disagreements on voter rights, numerous attempts to restart the process seem to have failed. The Polisario has repeatedly threatened to resume if a referendum cannot be held. Pressures on the leadership from the population to resume fighting are apparent. The project was presented to the United Nations Security Council in mid-April 2007 and this led to the negotiations process known as the Manhasset negotiations. Four rounds were held in 2007 and 2008, no progress was made, however, Polisario agreed to add autonomy as per the Moroccan proposal to a referendum ballot, but refused to relinquish the concept of an independence referendum itself, as agreed in 1991 and 1997. Morocco, in its turn, insisted on negotiating the terms of autonomy offered. The Polisario is first and foremost a nationalist organization, whose goal is the independence of Western Sahara. It has stated that ideological disputes should be left for a future democratic Western Sahara to deal with and it views itself as a front encompassing all political trends in Sahrawi society, and not as a political party
5.
Islamism
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Islamism is a concept whose meaning has been debated in both public and academic contexts. It is commonly used interchangeably with the terms political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism and these movements have arguably altered the Middle East more than any trend since the modern states gained independence, redefining politics and even borders according to Robin Wright. Some authors hold the term Islamic activism to be synonymous and preferable to Islamism, Central and prominent figures of modern Islamism include Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Abul Ala Maududi, and Ruhollah Khomeini. Some Islamist thinkers emphasize peaceful political processes, whereas Sayyid Qutb in particular called for violence, however, Qutb, unlike modern extremists, denounced the killing of innocents. Following the Arab Spring, some Islamist currents became heavily involved in politics, while others spawned the most aggressive and ambitious Islamist militia to date. A theocratic ideology that seeks to impose any version of Islam over society by law, subsequently, clarified to be, the desire to impose any given interpretation of Islam on society. A movement so broad and flexible it reaches out to everything to everyone in Islam, making it unsustainable. and at the extremes, a violent vehicle for rejectionists and radicals. All who seek to Islamize their environment, whether in relation to their lives in society, their circumstances, or the workplace. Moderate and reformist Islamists who accept and work within the process include parties like the Tunisian Ennahda Movement. Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan is basically a socio-political and democratic Vanguard party but has gained political influence through military coup détats in the past. The Islamist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine participate in the democratic, following the Arab Spring, Roy has described Islamism as increasingly interdependent with democracy in much of the Arab Muslim world, such that neither can now survive without the other. While Islamist political culture itself may not be democratic, Islamists need democratic elections to maintain their legitimacy, at the same time, their popularity is such that no government can call itself democratic that excludes mainstream Islamist groups. The term, which denoted the religion of Islam, first appeared in English as Islamismus in 1696. The term appears in the U. S. Supreme Court decision in In Re Ross, the term Islamism acquired its contemporary connotations in French academia in the late 1970s and early 1980s. From French, it began to migrate to the English language in the mid-1980s, a 2003 article in Middle East Quarterly states, In summation, the term Islamism enjoyed its first run, lasting from Voltaire to the First World War, as a synonym for Islam. Enlightened scholars and writers generally preferred it to Mohammedanism, eventually both terms yielded to Islam, the Arabic name of the faith, and a word free of either pejorative or comparative associations. To all intents and purposes, Islamic fundamentalism and Islamism have become synonyms in contemporary American usage, the AP Stylebook entry for Islamist now reads as follows, An advocate or supporter of a political movement that favors reordering government and society in accordance with laws prescribed by Islam. Do not use as a synonym for Islamic fighters, militants, extremists or radicals, where possible, be specific and use the name of militant affiliations, al-Qaida-linked, Hezbollah, Taliban, etc
6.
Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
7.
Saddam Hussein
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Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. In the early 1970s, Saddam nationalized oil and other industries, the state-owned banks were put under his control, leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War, and UN sanctions. Through the 1970s, Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraqs economy to grow at a rapid pace, positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunni Arabs, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population. Saddam formally rose to power in 1979, although he had been the de facto head of Iraq for several years prior. He suppressed several movements, particularly Shia and Kurdish movements, seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence, and maintained power during the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War. Whereas some in the Arab world lauded Saddam for his opposition to the United States, the total number of Iraqis killed by the security services of Saddams government in various purges and genocides is unknown, but the lowest estimate is 250,000. Saddams Baath party was disbanded and elections were held, following his capture on 13 December 2003, the trial of Saddam took place under the Iraqi Interim Government. On 5 November 2006, Saddam was convicted of charges of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shiites and his execution was carried out on 30 December 2006. His mother, Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat, named her newborn son Saddam and he is always referred to by this personal name, which may be followed by the patronymic and other elements. He never knew his father, Hussein Abd al-Majid, who disappeared six months before Saddam was born, shortly afterward, Saddams 13-year-old brother died of cancer. The infant Saddam was sent to the family of his maternal uncle Khairallah Talfah until he was three and his mother remarried, and Saddam gained three half-brothers through this marriage. His stepfather, Ibrahim al-Hassan, treated Saddam harshly after his return, at about age 10, Saddam fled the family and returned to live in Baghdad with his uncle Kharaillah Talfah. Later in his relatives from his native Tikrit became some of his closest advisors and supporters. Under the guidance of his uncle he attended a high school in Baghdad. After secondary school Saddam studied at an Iraqi law school for three years, dropping out in 1957 at the age of 20 to join the revolutionary pan-Arab Baath Party, during this time, Saddam apparently supported himself as a secondary school teacher. Revolutionary sentiment was characteristic of the era in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, in Iraq progressives and socialists assailed traditional political elites. Moreover, the nationalism of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt profoundly influenced young Baathists like Saddam. The rise of Nasser foreshadowed a wave of revolutions throughout the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s, with the collapse of the monarchies of Iraq, Egypt, and Libya
8.
Gulf War
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The Iraqi Armys occupation of Kuwait that began 2 August 1990 was met with international condemnation, and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. US President George H. W. Bush deployed US forces into Saudi Arabia, an array of nations joined the coalition, the largest military alliance since World War II. The great majority of the military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost, the war was marked by the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network CNN. The war has also earned the nickname Video Game War after the daily broadcast of images from cameras on board US bombers during Operation Desert Storm. The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991 and this was followed by a ground assault on 24 February. This was a victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait. The coalition ceased its advance, and declared a ceasefire 100 hours after the campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, Iraq launched Scud missiles against coalition military targets in Saudi Arabia and against Israel. The following names have been used to describe the conflict itself, Gulf War, a problem with these terms is that the usage is ambiguous, having now been applied to at least three conflicts, see Gulf War. The use of the term Persian Gulf is also disputed, see Persian Gulf naming dispute, with no consensus of naming, various publications have attempted to refine the name. Other language terms include French, la Guerre du Golfe and German, Golfkrieg, German, Zweiter Golfkrieg, French, most of the coalition states used various names for their operations and the wars operational phases. Operation Desert Storm was the US name of the conflict from 17 January 1991. Operation Desert Sabre was the US name for the offensive against the Iraqi Army in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations from 24–28 February 1991, in itself. Operation Desert Farewell was the given to the return of US units and equipment to the US in 1991 after Kuwaits liberation. Operation Granby was the British name for British military activities during the operations, Opération Daguet was the French name for French military activities in the conflict. Operation Friction was the name of the Canadian operations Operazione Locusta was the Italian name for the operations, in addition, various phases of each operation may have a unique operational name. The US divided the conflict into three campaigns, Defense of Saudi Arabian country for the period 2 August 1990, through 16 January 1991
9.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
10.
Six-Day War
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The Six-Day War, also known as the June War,1967 Arab–Israeli War, or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10,1967 by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Relations between Israel and its neighbours had never fully normalised following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, in the period leading up to June 1967, tensions became dangerously heightened. In reaction to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces along the Israeli border in the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptians were caught by surprise, and nearly the entire Egyptian air force was destroyed with few Israeli losses, giving the Israelis air superiority. Simultaneously, the Israelis launched an offensive into the Gaza Strip and the Sinai. After some initial resistance, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered the evacuation of the Sinai, Israeli forces rushed westward in pursuit of the Egyptians, inflicted heavy losses, and conquered the Sinai. Nasser induced Syria and Jordan to begin attacks on Israel by using the initially confused situation to claim that Egypt had defeated the Israeli air strike. Israeli counterattacks resulted in the seizure of East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank from the Jordanians, on June 11, a ceasefire was signed. Arab casualties were far heavier than those of Israel, fewer than a thousand Israelis had been killed compared to over 20,000 from the Arab forces. Israels military success was attributed to the element of surprise, an innovative and well-executed battle plan, Israel seized control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israeli morale and international prestige was greatly increased by the outcome of the war, across the Arab world, Jewish minority communities were expelled, with refugees going to Israel or Europe. After the 1956 Suez Crisis, Egypt agreed to the stationing of a United Nations Emergency Force in the Sinai to ensure all parties would comply with the 1949 Armistice Agreements, in the following years there were numerous minor border clashes between Israel and its Arab neighbors, particularly Syria. In early November 1966, Syria signed a defense agreement with Egypt. Jordanian units that engaged the Israelis were quickly beaten back, King Hussein of Jordan criticized Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser for failing to come to Jordans aid, and hiding behind UNEF skirts. In May 1967, Nasser received false reports from the Soviet Union that Israel was massing on the Syrian border, the right of innocent, maritime passage must be preserved for all nations. On May 30, Jordan and Egypt signed a defense pact, the following day, at Jordans invitation, the Iraqi army began deploying troops and armoured units in Jordan. They were later reinforced by an Egyptian contingent, on June 1, Israel formed a National Unity Government by widening its cabinet, and on June 4 the decision was made to go to war. The next morning, Israel launched Operation Focus, a surprise air strike that was the opening of the Six-Day War. Before the war, Israeli pilots and ground crews had trained extensively in rapid refitting of aircraft returning from sorties and this has contributed to the Arab belief that the IAF was helped by foreign air forces
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