Bush and the War on Terror

George W Bush Governor of Texas and oil executive Enacted a very large tax cut to the wealthiest Americans believing they would use the money saved to help the economy Opened Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for oil Allowed timber companies to operate in National Forests –claimed it would reduce forest fires

George W Bush Planned to push ahead a national missile defense system requiring the U.S. to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 Announced the Bush administration would not abide by the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 which worked to combat global warming

What led to 9/11 Al Qaeda, a terrorist group headed by Osama Bin Laden Fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 80s CIA had trained and given weapons to Osama Bin Laden to fight against the Soviets Bin Laden’s anger against America began after the Gulf War, support for Israel, and our involvement in Saudi Arabia

Other Terrorist Attacks Timothy McVeigh killed 168 when he set off a bomb at a federal office building in Oklahoma City in 1995 Libyan terrorist blew up an American Airplane over Scotland in in 1988 killing 259 Al Qaeda blew up a truck outside the World Trade center in 1993 killing 6 American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were also attacked in 1998 killing more than 200

September 11th, 2001 4 airplanes were hijacked Two crashed into the world trade centers The third hit the Pentagon On the forth plane, passengers were able to overpower the hijacks and crashed the plane in an empty field About 3,000 people were killed in all events including first responders

Other Damages Due to a steep drop off in tourism and the financial firms in the world trade centers, 80,000 people lost jobs in the New York area Airlines also faced bankruptcy when Americans were too afraid to fly Anthrax was sent to politicians and TV journalists in the mail killing 5 War on Terror was announced

Reaction The country unified in a way that it had not in a very long time Bush was very popular In answer to why we were attack Bush answered “Because we love freedom that’s why. And they hate freedom” “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”

War with Afghanistan Told the Taliban in Afghanistan to give up Osama Bin Laden when they refused we bombed them War in Afghanistan was called “Enduring Freedom” By the end of 2001 the Taliban had been overthrown and a new government that was friendly to the U.S. took power Still many problems with the Taliban in Afghanistan

The Axis of Evil In his State of the Union address, Bush said Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were all working together and developing weapons of mass destruction He called the supposed alliance between these countries an “axis of evil” We began to lose the support of the majority of the world that had sympathized with the U.S. after 9/11

Iraq Saddam Hussein was still the leader of Iraq The Bush administration believed that Hussein needed to be removed from power Believed that the Iraqi people would support this, welcome the American liberators, and work to establish a democratic government Even though there was no link between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks there was a goal of “regime change” in Iraq

Weapons of Mass Destruction The Bush administration insisted that Hussein and Iraq had: –weapons of mass destruction –mobile chemical weapons laboratory –was working towards attaining Uranium We told the world we would go to war with Iraq without UN approval

The Iraq War Congress passed a resolution giving Bush the power to use force if he deemed it necessary The U.S. decided to go to war in March of 2003 –“Operation Iraqi Freedom” The majority of the world opposed this “preemptive” strike against Iraq It sparked huge protests not just in the U.S. but also throughout the world Freedom Fries to protest the French opposition

The Iraq War We were successful in taking Bagdad within a month Hussein was captured several months later In 2006 he was put on trial and convicted of killing Iraqis during his regime He was sentenced to death and executed Bush was jubilant but Iraq soon fell to chaos

Aftermath There were riots, looting, and weapons were seized An Iraqi insurrection targeted American soldiers Sunnis and Shiites began fighting one another The U.S. attempted to create a government powerful enough to restore order By 2006 Iraq had become a terrorist haven bent on attacking America

The USA Patriot Act Acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” Gave the executive branch broad new powers for the wiretapping, surveillance, and investigation of terrorism suspects The invasion of Iraq in March 2003, similarly, followed a congressional resolution authorizing the president to use “all means necessary and appropriate,” including the use of military force, to defend the United States against Iraq