History 171ME The United States and the Middle East 1900 to the Present

The Iraq War and Beyond

October 2002—Supplied with misleading intelligence, Congress passed Iraq War Resolution CIA “White Paper” on Iraq and WMD

November 2002—UN Security Council passed Resolution 1441, calling on Iraq to disarm itself of weapons of mass destruction, warning of “serious consequences” if it failed to do so

Late 2002—UN inspectors started operating in Iraq

December 2002-January 2003—US deployed more troops to Persian Gulf; France and Germany opposed use of force without subsequent UN resolution German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer

Early 2003—UN weapons inspectors found no evidence of WMD programs but asked for more time to continue investigation Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix

March 2003—US, Britain, and “coalition of the willing” launched Iraq War without second UN resolution

April 2003—Saddam Hussein regime fell; but US forces failed to provide adequate security, permitting widespread looting and violence

Looting of Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad

Summer 2003—Iraqi Insurgency broke out

—Iraqi civil war

—US “troop surge,” combined with “Sunni Awakening,” helped to stabilize country

December 2011—US troops withdrawn from Iraq

—Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki (Shiite) discriminated against Iraqi Sunnis and failed to include them in power sharing, arousing renewed Sunni opposition

Al-Qa‘ida-affiliated Iraqi Sunnis regained power and influence

Syrian civil war Sunni jihadists in Syria

Rise of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham)

New US strategy since 2014: airstirikes against ISIS positions; change of leadership in Baghdad Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi, 2014-

In early aftermath of 9/11 there were prospects for better relations between United States and Iran Mohammad Khatami

But relations soon soured due to Iran’s nuclear program and Bush’s inclusion of Iran in “Axis of Evil”

2005—Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hard-line Islamist, elected president of Iran, causing relations to deteriorate further

Ongoing controversy over Iran’s nuclear program

Mahmoud AhmadenijadBenjamin Netanyahu

Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, 2013-