Iran – Iraq War in 1980, the Iran-Iraq war broke out because the two governments did not like each other, and wanted each others oil supplies each country suffered a million casualties the US had to send warships in the area to protect their oil tankers from being attacked by one of the two sides although Iran was an enemy of the US, we secretly gave them arms during the Reagan years, which later lead to a major investigation here in the US in 1988, the war ended with a tie

A Brief History of Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A. Terrorism: "The unlawful use of — or threatened use of — force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives." — U.S. Department of Defense   

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini The Iranian Revolution began in 1979. The U.S. backed the Shah, who was already in power. Khomeini urged Iranians to rise up against the West and to fight for an Islamic Republic.

Attacks on U.S. continue In April of 1983- attack in Beirut, Lebanon- killing 63 ( van full of explosives driven into embassy In December 1983, a truck filled with explosives was driven into the U.S. embassy in Kuwait. In September 1984, a van exploded at the U.S. embassy in Beirut. In April 1985, a bomb exploded in a restaurant frequented by U.S. soldiers in Madrid, Spain. In August 1985, a van exploded at the U.S. Air Force base in Rhein-Main, Germany.

Persian Gulf War The Persian Gulf War was a war between Iraq and a group of about thirty other nations. Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing oil by drilling under the border between the two countries. Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of 1990, under the direction of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi army took control of Kuwait in a very short amount of time.

The UN responded to the Iraqi invasion by demanding that Iraq withdraw its troops from Kuwait. The UN used the Iraqi economy to try to convince the country to withdraw. They did this by cutting off trade to the country. Iraq did not withdraw. Many citizens of Kuwait fled the country during the Iraqi occupation.

The US and other countries began sending troops to Saudi Arabia over the next few months. The UN set a date for Iraq to leave Kuwait. Iraq rejected this date and refused to back down. The Iraqis remained in Kuwait after the date. The US and other nations attacked the Iraqi forces in January of 1991. The Iraqi army was defeated in less than two months. Iraq was then directed to recognize Kuwait’s sovereignty and destroy all weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Later, the claims of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction were disproven.

World Trade Center February 26, 1993 A van filled with explosives was driven into the basement and detonated. Six (6) people were killed and over 1,000 were injured.