History 102SY The United States and the Middle East 1900 to the Present

George W. Bush, 9/11, and the Iraq War

September 11, 2001— al-Qa‘ida-sponsored terrorists flew planes into World Trade Center and Pentagon, killing about 3,000

After 9/11 Taliban rejected US demand that they turn over bin Laden

So Bush sent US forces to attack Taliban and al-Qa‘ida in Afghanistan

Special Forces A-Teams

Northern Alliance

Abdul Rashid Dostum

November-December 2001—Taliban were defeated

Pro-US government, under Hamid Karzai, took power in Kabul

But bin Laden escaped from Tora Bora

Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility

Alberto Gonzales John Yoo

“Extraordinary Rendition”

By early 2002 Bush administration was shifting its focus from bin Laden to Saddam Hussein

January 2002—Bush referred to Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the “Axis of Evil”

CIA rendering of Curveball’s claim —Iraqi defector Rafid Ahmad Alwan (aka “Curveball”) told German intelligence that Saddam Hussein had built mobile biological weapons labs

2002—Under torture in Egyptian prison, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi claimed that Iraq had provided al-Qa‘ida with training in chemical and biological weapons

February 2003—Secretary of State Colin Powell repeated both Curveball’s and al-Libi’s claims at United Nations

Fall 2002—Bush administration released “National Security Strategy of the United States of America,” which outlined preemptive and unilateral US approach to foreign policy

September 2002—Bush called on UN to pass resolution demanding that Iraq disarm itself of weapons of mass destruction

CIA Director George Tenet

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

February 2003—Secretary of State Colin Powell repeated both Curveball’s and al-Libi’s claims at United Nations

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

Summer 2003—Iraqi Insurgency broke out

Abu Ghraib Prison

“The Hard Site”

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