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If you think Operation Inherent Resolve is a mission name that makes no sense, you're not alone. The U.S. military operation against ISIS in Iraq and Syria was supposed to have a different name altogether. The Pentagon initially rejected OIR and only accepted it as a placeholder. Somehow it stuck, and that's what we're left with.

Strange, silly and absurd names shouldn't be the standard for military operations. Or at least so said Winston Churchill back in 1943. In a WWII memo on the subject of mission names, Churchill said, "Do not suggest the character of the operation or disparage it in any way, and do not enable some widow or some mother to say her son was killed in an operation called 'Bunnyhug' or 'Ballyhoo.'"

It seems that the military isn't exactly following Churchill's recommendation. There's rarely a public explanation about mission names, but that doesn't make them any more questionable. Here are a few of the most memorable mission names.

Tigers are pretty amazing in their own right, but what would be more American than having an All-American tiger? That's a question the brass asked themselves, apparently, in 2003, when they settled on this mission name during a November 2003 Iraq War mission. Operation All-American Tiger's objective was to search and clear farms and villages around the Euphrates River in the Northern Iraqi town of Al-Qaim. Service members detained twelve people as a result, including a few who were on a "Most Wanted" list.

While it's fun to think about what the military was considering when creating codenames for missions, this one is actually pretty easy to figure out. The nickname for the 82nd Airborne Division is "All American." The Tiger Squadron of the 3rd Armored Cav assisted the 82nd on this mission.

Specifically, it was the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment from the 82nd who worked with the Tigers. The 504th even have their own absurd nickname The Devils in Baggy Pants taken from a diary entry of a Wehrmacht officer in WWII.

Doesn't this sound like a mission from the 1980s? It feels decidedly vintage, but Operation Beastmaster actually took place in 2006. OB cleared three neighborhoods in the Baghdad suburb of Ghazaliya, which itself was subject to a codename, albeit one that was far easier understood. Service members in IED Alley East, as Ghazaliya was known, worked together with the Iraqi Army to uncover weapons caches and a deposit of roadside bomb-creating supplies and tools. Operation Beastmaster also captured one high-ranking (and still unnamed) official, and the Army counted it as a complete win.

In the summer of 2004, U.S. service members went on a counter-insurgency raid in Najaf, Iraq, a city south of Baghdad. The forced entry part of this code name is pretty self-explanatory, as service members were tasked with entering private homes to search for high-value targets who were suspected of attacking coalition forces.

This counterterrorism unit included 13,000 top secret service members who served as military security to support the 2005 inauguration of George W. Bush. Taken from a video game series, the name Power Geyser refers to a character who was able to blast the ground with his fist and create a field of explosive energy around him that sent his opponents flying. In real life, these elite troops carried top of the line weaponry and lurked in the shadows around the White House and the Capitol building while the inauguration took place.

These 2007 missions were efforts to make residential neighborhoods, areas with lots of traffic, and marketplaces safer for Iraqis to live and work during the American involvement of the Iraq war. Service members combed these areas looking for car bombs and IEDs with a decided effort to cut down on sectarian violence in the city. The codenames were pretty easy to figure out, proof that sometimes the most basic name is the best one.

Whoever was thinking up mission names during the Iraq War was definitely trying to keep the plans top secret to ensure the missions were successful. With names like All-American Tiger and Grizzly Forced Entry, someone was trying to make sure no one knew our military's plans.

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The 5 strangest military mission names from the Iraq War - We Are The Mighty

My interviewee was close to tears. A tough former United States army officer, once lauded for the lethal effectiveness of his operations against Iraqi insurgents, he was finding it difficult to get his words out. He said his sole reason for talking to me was to persuade people who would watch my film to think twice about the wisdom of military intervention. War as an institution is pure evil, he told me. Its pure evil.

I had first visited Iraq in 2016 to meet Yazidi refugees fleeing Islamic State, the terrorist group which, at that time, controlled Mosul in the north of the country. I was filming a series of documentaries about the journeys of various refugees from their country of origin to their final destination.

Exodus took four years to make and was a success, but when it was finished, I couldnt get Iraq out of my mind. Having spent a lot of time with my subjects, I felt very connected to their situation. It wasnt just the plight of the Yazidis I was concerned about, it was the state of the whole country.

As with any situation, there are causes and effects going back a long way, but it seemed to me that the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator, in 2003 was as good a place as any to start. The falling of that domino led to the destabilisation of the region, and that led to refugees arriving in Europe and that, in turn, was one of the factors in the rise of far-Right nationalism.

Id hear those same far-Right nationalists blaming the refugees themselves for their own plight. Its their fault nothing to do with us. I found it infuriating; the equivalent of burning down someones house and then blaming them for living on the street.

I see the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent occupation and civil war as the origin story for so much that is still affecting our lives. Hideously ironic, isnt it, that George W Bush and Tony Blairs pre-emptive strike to nip a supposed terrorist threat in the bud should have led directly to the creation of Isil?

I didnt want to make a regular documentary where I interviewed politicians, decision makers and the key players. I wanted to tell the story through the eyes of those whose lives were impacted and altered by those political decisions.

Miriam Walsh, our amazing archive producer, somehow dredged up around 13,000 film clips amounting to 800 hours of footage from 2003 and 2004 showing all kinds of stuff: street scenes, interviews, army activity, the aftermath of insurgent attacks, actual attacks. Much of it had never been seen before. And through the network of contacts I already had in Iraq, we were able to find some of the people featured in this archive and get some astonishing interviews.

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I hope viewers will reflect on the fact that the invasion of Iraq was utterly pointless - Telegraph.co.uk

Pick of the day: Once Upon A Time In Iraq

9pm, BBC Two

The 2003 invasion of Iraq is given a fresh perspective in a series from James Bluemel, the director of the acclaimed Exodus: Our Journey, which put camera phones in the hands of refugees fleeing to Europe. His compelling new documentary is a mosaic of individual witnesses to the US-British conquest and its Isis-infested aftermath, but instead of the usual gamut of politicians and generals, these are normal Iraqis ranging from comedians, formerly West-obsessed teens, a farmers wife from Saddam Husseins home town, Tikrit, and a Saddam loyalist. We also hear from Americans, including a chilling ex-Marine who seems to have modelled himself on Rambo.

8.30pm, BBC Two

Who will be the new Ian Wang or Brandon Blackwell as the student quiz returns for its 27th series since its revival in 1995, with the opening match of the first round seeing the University of Glasgow take on the University of Exeter? Jeremy Paxman has their starters for 10.

9pm, BBC One

Laura Carmichaels performance as the troubled Agnes is the biggest pull in this entertaining if slightly predictable Australian stolen-baby drama her plan moving into overdrive as Meghan prepares to give birth and the hapless Haydenis granted compassionate leave from the Navy.

9pm, ITV

Two contrasting stories this week, as the unfailingly moving series continues with its catch-up episodes. In the case of reunited half-siblings Geoffrey Tonks and Barbara Jacobs, the mutual discovery appears to have been a success, and staring for the first time at a photograph of him with the mother who felt compelled to give him up for adoption, Tonks says with moving simplicity: Sitting on your mothers lap it doesnt get better than this. More complicated is the case of Robert Lindsay from Ayrshire, attempting to build a relationship with his Croatian father.

9pm, Channel 4

Not the most original idea for a documentary series (see also BBC Ones Ambulance), but actually there is a highly topical angle here. It follows West Midlands Ambulance Service at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in April, from the perspective of the crews, control room staff and managers as they struggle to get more ambulances onto the front line managers having to deploy student paramedics, to deal with patients with breathing difficulties, in care homes, and with isolation-related mental health issues.

9pm, BBC Four

A look at how the composers return to the town of Heiligenstadt led to one of the most extraordinary outpourings of creativity in the history of music, from the earth-shattering Eroica through to Symphony No 7.

10.45pm, BBC One

The penultimate episode of Michaela Coels superb drama has surprises for all three of the friends as Arabella tries to contact another novelist at her publishing house, Kwame discovers the non-sexual joys of a relationship, and Terrygoes on a most surprising date.

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On TV tonight, Once Upon A Time In Iraq offers fresh perspectives on the 2003 invasion - iNews

The Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein yesterday called on his German counterpart Heiko Maas to support Baghdads removal from the European list of high-risk countries for money laundering and terrorism financing.

In a statement, the Iraqi Foreign ministry said Hussein received a telephone call from his German counterpart, during which they discussed bilateral and regional affairs.

According to the statement, the German minister said that his country will work hard to protect Iraqs sovereignty and will continue its work within the international coalition fighting Daesh.

The Iraqi minister has also called on Germany to use its political and economic influence with regional countries to prevent interference in Iraqs internal affairs, pointing out that Baghdads new foreign policy depends on creating balanced relations with all neighbouring countries based on achieving common interests, solving problems by peaceful means, and distancing Iraq and its people from international and regional tensions.

READ: Germanys ban on Hezbollah bows to Zionist pressure but is of little real importance

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Iraq calls on Germany to help remove it from EU terror financing list - Middle East Monitor

TEHRAN An informed source at Irans Foreign Ministry has said that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif plans to visit Iraq on July 19.

Zarif will meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, President Barham Salih and Mohamed al-Halbousi, the speaker of the National Assembly, IRIB reported.

Zarif and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Mohammed Hussein had a phone conversation in June.

Zarif highlighted the significance of the issues being pursued in bilateral relations and the necessity of implementing the agreements reached between the two sides during the Iranian presidents visit to Baghdad.

President Hassan Rouhani said in May that Irans principled policy is expanding relations and cooperation with Iraq in various areas.

In a phone conversation with Iraqi President Barham Salih, Rouhani attached great importance to expansion of economic relations, saying, Expansion of relations in various areas among the friendly governments and nations can help us pass the problems.

Elsewhere, he said that Iran attaches great importance to stability in Iraq.

The Islamic Republic of Iran will stand beside the Iraqi government and people and seeks to maintain Iraqs sovereignty and prevent foreign intervention, the president pointed out.

Salih, for his part, said cooperation of friendly countries, such as Iran, is required to establish stability in Iraq.

NA/PA

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Zarif to visit Iraq on July 19 - Tehran Times