Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan

The Middle East

Iran  Type of Government: Islamic theocracy  President Hassan Rouhani and a religious council (past president was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad)  The council is the real authority  US has a history of internal involvement dating back to WWII  Most significant event in US/Iran relations is in 1979 the “Overthrow of the Shah”(Islamic Revolution) and “The Iranian Hostage Crisis

Overthrow of the Shah and the Iranian Hostage Crisis

Examples of issues that continue the conflict  Iran/US relationship has had ups and downs but mostly downs…  US downing of Iran airliner in mid 1980’s  Iran’s nuclear program (US supports a limited extension of technology for electrical power generation) (there is a new proposed treaty)  US/UN long-term economic sanctions (but these may drop with the new treaty)  Iran’s past support of terrorism  Iran’s continued opposition to Israel  Recent election of Pres. Rouhani seem to show more moderate views  Iran extension of power into Iraq

Iraq

Saddam Hussein  Came to power in 1979  Involved Iraq in a war with Iran (Because the US had bad feelings towards Iran we initially give Hussein some support) Iran/Iraq War

Saddam Hussein cont.  After the Iran Iraq War ends, Hussein invades neighboring Kuwait in 1990  This is a threat to oil supplies (Kuwait and Saudi Arabia)  The US builds a coalition of nations to liberate Kuwait (Operation Desert Storm)  After being defeated, but allowed to remain in power, Hussein violates numerous UN mandates throughout the 1990’s

Operation Iraqi Freedom to the Present  The US forms a small coalition to invade Iraq and remove Hussein from power.  Justification: We said Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, had violated UN agreements, was a threat to US security (WMD’s never found)  Hussein captured and is put on trial and executed by Iraq for crimes against the Iraqi people.  US withdrawal Jan 2012

Iraq’s Current Government  Government- parliamentary system  Federal system with shared power between…  Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis

Current Issues  Approx, 300,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the 2003 US invasion.  Struggle between Shiite majority and Sunni minority (reversal of power since Hussein is gone)  Government instability  Training ground for terrorists wanting to wage war (Al Qaeda and others) US military in a “non- combat” advisory role  We withdrew combat forces in Jan 2012  ISIS forces invasion into northern Iraq

Afghanistan

 Government – parliamentary system  Prime Minister Hamid Kharzai  (Mullah Omar is the Taliban leader)

War With USSR and Aftermath  Afghans rebelled against the Soviet Union which had invaded their nation.  Muhjaheddin Warriors (holy warriors/ (we called them freedom fighters) (Osama bin Laden was one of them) fought against Soviet troops  The USSR withdraws and the nation falls into even more chaos. Many flee the country as warlords fight for control

The Taliban  Many Afghan citizens fled the country for Pakistan during the civil war.  In Pakistan young men attended madrass schools (most of these schools are fundamentalist Islamic)  They returned to Afghanistan as The Taliban (The Students)  Many initially view them as liberators

US Invasion and Results  The US launches an invasion of Afghanistan because they refuse to turn over bin Laden.  By 2009-Taliban regained power in about 60+% of the country (less now)  Critics say this was because the US concentrated more on Iraq  US plans to w/draw by 2014 ( presidential elections in April 2014)  Other problems:  Increased drug trafficking  Continued need to rely on the old warlords  Pakistan border and Taliban