Top 10 Military Operation in the history

War has been a major part of history. Independence has been won and lost through battle; revolutions subdued; different groups and denominations crushed. However, during these large-scale battles, several small operations are performed to help pile up victories for each respective side. Operations are held by police forces outside of warfare, as well (DEA, FBI, etc.). Each operation has a name to go along with it. Some of these names are quite interesting. This is a top ten list of the greatest military operation names of all time. Here we go.
10.Operation Magic Carpet

In June 1945, the United States of America launched Operation Magic Carpet to return over eight million Americans back to their homeland, and out of Pacific and European theaters that saw war. The name of the operation is rather simplistic, but it speaks volumes about the glory of leaving a devastated region of the world for your homeland, and how peaceful the idea can be. The men were being transported on a “magic carpet” back to their safe-haven of America, and this is truly an interesting operation name. A European variation of Operation Magic Carpet was launched in 1946 to rescue European soldiers in foreign lands.
9.Operation Desert Storm

Taking place in 1991, Operation Desert Storm was the operative name for the Persian Gulf War. While the name may not be the most interesting of them all, it is quite intriguing. The title shows what the United States planned on doing in Iraq: unleashing a desert storm. Bombs, ammunition, and artillery would be deployed, and the sand in the deserts would create a massive storm as a result. That’s at least what I surmise from it. While I am fascinated with this operation name, there are a few others that I find to have a much better title.
8.Operation Bayonet Lightning

Lasting for only sixteen hours in December 2003, this operation was performed to seize any weapons or materials in certain villages in Iraq that could pose a threat to coalition forces during the War on Terrorism. This is one of those military operations that has quite an interesting title. I honestly could not imagine what this has to do with the actual actions the soldiers had to perform; the only idea I could conjure is if they were seizing these harmful weapons so quickly, it was like lightning. In warfare, operations have to be performed somewhat effectively. Putting “lightning” in the title may lead to some inspiration for the soldiers involved. Overall, this is one of the better operation names, and also one of the most recent. Kudos for a great choice of words.
7.Operation Valiant Guardian

This may seem a little ridiculous, but this is yet again, another operation pulled from a conflict involving the United States, coalition forces, and Iraq. This operation was launched to uncover insurgents and weaponry to ensure the safety of soldiers fighting in Iraq. The idea of the people involved in this operation being known as “valiant guardians” gives insight into the purpose of the plan: to simply protect our troops. However, by using the term “valiant,” this also shows the true power of the forces that the Iraqi forces are fighting against; the battle that they are embroiled in will not be an easy one to win when your opponents believe they have a grand level of valiance. I digress. All in all, this operation name definitely ranks as one of the best in history.
6.Operation Urgent Fury

In 1983, the United States, supported by other Caribbean island nations, invaded the island of Grenada because of a military coup that had occurred in the country. This invasion was codenamed Operation Urgent Fury. Plain and simple, fast and furious aggression was needed to subdue the revolution in Grenada, and that is exactly what the United States did. It is tough to explain why this operation name caught my eye, but then again, it is a very interesting title. The “fury” portion of this name is what really intrigued me. Urgency is a given in any invasion, but fury is a totally different monster in itself. Fury is dangerous on all levels. When someone is furious, you know their anger/rage is at a near-maximum level. Anyway, Operation Urgent Fury definitely ranks as one of the best operation names of alltime. Don’t like it? Well, it’s not anything to get furious about.
5.Operation Eagle Claw

Leave it to Jimmy Carter to order an operation that would fail miserably. Operation Eagle Claw was performed to try and rescue the Americans that were being held amidst the Iran Hostage Crisis. Eight helicopters were sent out, and none of them returned. One crashed into the helicopter carrying fuel and supplies for the other six, and once that was downed, the remaining ones were left helpless in the air. Sure, Operation Eagle Claw was a failure. However, its title is one of the greatest of all time. The Americans, whose symbol is the eagle, were going to use their “claw” (helicopters) to rescue the innocent hostages. A very American name for an operation, yes, but that does not take away from its amazing quality. The only aspect that could have changed its position on the list? Perhaps, if it was actually a success… but it all worked out for the best anyway, so I think it is fine at number five.
4.Operation Crescent Wind

What better way to follow-up a miserable failure, then with a success. In October and November of 2001, almost immediately after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, British and American air forces led strikes in Afghanistan attempting to weaken the Taliban. This led the way for further ground campaigns that continually weakened the government and Taliban as well. The name of this operation? Operation Crescent Wind. The title of this operation is pretty incredible. The wind is created by the bombing from the skies; and the crescent not only applies to the crescent moon, a symbol of Islam, but also the fact that the area that Afghanistan is situated in was once referred to as the Fertile Crescent. A heap of historical references in one simple operation name. Stunning, is it not? Anyway, I am definitely a major fan of this operation title. A great way to kick-off a war that still continues to this day.
3.Operation Spartan Scorpion

The “War on Terrorism” must be a topic that you are sick of by this point on the list, but there have been some pretty interesting titles from this time period. Operation Spartan Scorpion was launched in June 2003 to help clear the Iraqi countryside of remaining non-compliant forces and paramilitary groups that wanted to harm coalition forces. This title is a dynamic duo of harrowing power. A Spartan, in itself, is a terrifying creature. These ancient Greek soldiers were well-known for their propensity for fighting to the death, and a scorpion is an animal that can kill various other creatures in numerous ways. Essentially, this title was assigned to the operation to show that the forces fighting would be merciless in conducting their warfare. Two prolific death-bringers put into one operation name is sure to strike fear into the opponent. If I was fighting against an operation titled “Spartan Scorpion,” I would feel one thing coursing through my veins: terror.
2.Operation Overlord

Nearly ever history buff has heard of this one. June 6, 1944: the largest amphibious invasion of all time. 160,000 troops crossing the English Channel to try and take back German-occupied western Europe for the Allies. Most people know this event as D-Day, or the Battle of Normandy. The official title for this invasion was Operation Overlord. An overlord, by definition, is someone who has authority over another person or group. This operation was most likely given this title to show the Germans who was the more powerful side during World War II. The French, who were a part of the Allies, were the rightful overlords of the land of Normandy and its surrounding areas, and were going to fight to take it back. This was truly a turning point in the war, and from here-on-out, the Allies really did appear to be overlords in almost every battle. Less than one year later, in April 1945, the Germans surrendered to the overlords, and this portion of the war had ended. “Overlord” is truly representative of how power and momentum was swung back in the Allies’ favor, and the war took on a different look from there-on-out.
1.Operation Rolling Thunder

Lasting from March 1965 until November 1968, Operation Rolling Thunder was a lengthy, aerial bombardment performed by the United States on North Vietnam. Sure, it was much like “Operation Eagle Claw,” in the aspect that it was a colossal failure, but unlike the aforementioned plan, its title was much more indicative of its murderous intentions. Essentially, Operation Rolling Thunder was initiated to emaciate the Northern Vietnamese land, and to try and force the Viet Cong out of its holes and hills that helped them elude being caught. The idea of rolling thunder is terrifying, especially when the “thunder” portion of the term is a seemingly-endless bombardment that lasted for years. The operation was named as such because the bombs would just keep “rolling” and never stop. This gave a quality to the operation that made it seem as if it was perpetual. Again, while the bombardment was a failure, and did not accomplish its goals, the North Vietnamese land was completely destroyed as a result. Over three years of constant bombing is quite a bit for a small territory to handle, and it must have truly seemed endless during the time. Congratulations to Operation Rolling Thunder: while it was one of the biggest failures in the overall mistake that was the Vietnam War, it also has the greatest name for any operation in all of history.

The women who searched for bin Laden

In Kathryn Bigelow’s movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” Jessica Chastain played Maya, a young CIA operative whose stubborn pursuit of Osama bin Laden played a major role in the al-Qaida leader’s death.

The film garnered both awards (including a Golden Globe for Chastain) and controversy—largely because of graphic scenes depicting the CIA’s use of torture on suspected terrorists. But an undisputed—and to some, surprising—revelation in the film was its disclosure of the key role a female CIA agent played in the search for bin Laden.

Now a new documentary goes further—making clear it wasn’t just one female CIA operative relentlessly searching for bin Laden, as Bigelow’s dramatization suggests, but rather a whole team of women who began sounding the alarm about the al-Qaida leader almost a decade before the 9/11 attacks made bin Laden a household name.

“Manhunt,” which premieres Wednesday on HBO, tries to tell what director Greg Barker describes as “the real story” behind the 20-year hunt for bin Laden. It includes interviews with several members of the so-called Sisterhood, as the team of female analysts assigned to track bin Laden came to be known within the CIA.

Many of those interviewed, including retired agents Nada Bakos, Cindy Storer and Barbara Sude, speak on camera for the first time about their role in the bin Laden pursuit. And all, in some ways, appear to have inspired the female heroine of “Zero Dark Thirty,” from their headstrong efforts to convince colleagues that bin Laden was a serious threat to their fight to be taken seriously by male colleagues amid job pressures that came to dominate their lives.

Storer began tracking bin Laden in the early 1990s—“when al-Qaida was denying its existence even to its friends,” she says in the film. With tears in her eyes, she recalls how she was criticized in a performance review for “spending too much time working on bin Laden.”

“They said we were obsessed crusaders, overly emotional,” Storer recalls. The difference between her and her male colleagues, she says, is “Men throw chairs, women cry.” Still, she admits, “We were borderline obsessed, but I thought it was for a good reason.”

She recalls how she and her colleagues passed around large containers of Tums as they watched increasingly disturbing videos that suspected members of bin Laden’s network posted online—cataloging details in what was becoming a large dossier on al-Qaida.

“It wasn’t the sexiest job,” Bakos said in an interview with Yahoo! News. But she said it was a position that showed how important women are to the CIA. As analysts, she said, “women have patience and perseverance.” She added: “They weren’t looking for the sexy payoff. This wasn't a job people were being promoted to. They were really looking at it as in the defense of our country.”

Only after bin Laden began to be more explicit in his threat to attack the United States was their intelligence taken seriously. But despite clues analysts had that “something big” was coming, they weren’t able to prevent the 9/11 attacks. And the film details the guilt that Storer and her colleagues felt in the aftermath, as they trudged forward in their search.

Bakos, a veteran CIA analyst sent to Iraq at the height of the war to track down al-Qaida leaders there, seems to be a major inspiration for the Maya character in “Zero Dark Thirty”—though she said in an interview she never talked to Bigelow or anyone else associated with the film.

As part of her duties, Bakos was required to go on raids in search of her target, Abu Musab Zarqawi, then the leader of al-Qaida. It was a role that made her uncomfortable, as she recounts in the film, leading viewers to believe she, like Maya, struggled with seeing the sometimes brutal results of intelligence-gathering in the field.

But the film does not take a moral position on the CIA's interrogation efforts—and Bakos says that’s one reason she decided to speak out about her history as part of the bin Laden hunt. The film, she said, keeps it “politically agnostic and lets the audience decide for themselves” about the CIA’s tactics.

Bakos praised “Zero Dark Thirty” for portraying the “moments of intensity” that came during the CIA’s search for bin Laden and described the film’s depiction of “bureaucratic frustrations” as accurate. But she said Bigelow’s film did not fully communicate the “nuances of intelligence” that she and other analysts on the al-Qaida trail dealt with—and continue to deal with today. And she said it failed to focus on how much of the search was conducted by a "whole team of people" working together under the intense pressure of preventing another terrorist attack.

Asked what she hopes viewers will take away from “Manhunt,” Bakos said she hopes people will gain a better understanding about national security and how the CIA works.

“Intelligence is only as good as the information gathered," Bakos said. "There’s no crystal ball. And there’s no 100 percent. ... You cannot, 100 percent of the time, prevent or predict everything that will happen.”