United States Involvement in the Middle East

Iraq-Iran War First Persian Gulf War Iraq invaded Iran in 1980 following a long history of border disputes and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by the Iranian Revolution. For the next six years the war came at a great cost in lives and economic damage - a half a million Iraqi and Iranian soldiers as well as civilians are believed to have died in the war with many more injured and wounded.

Persian Gulf War-Operation Desert Storm Iraq invaded Kuwait Claimed Kuwait was stealing oil money owed to other countries for previous Iran-Iraq War. Saddam Hussein thought no one would stop him

Claimed Kuwait was stealing oil Iraq claimed the land Draw a 3rd copy of this graphic organizer on the right side of your notebook. Hussein thought no one would stop him Persian Gulf War owed money to other countries for previous Iran-Iraq War.

(Operation Desert Storm) 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 United nations responded to the Iraqi invasion by demanding that Iraq withdraw its troops from Kuwait. The United nations asked other countries to cut off trade to Iraq (Embargo) in an attempt to force them to withdraw, that attempt failed. The United States and thirty other countries formed a coalition and began sending military troops into Saudi Arabia over the next few months.

The united Nations set a date for Iraq to leave Kuwait, Iraq rejected the date and refused to leave. The U.S. and their allies began attacking Iraq through the use of air power then by a ground assault. After a devastating battle resulting in many Iraqi deaths, the Iraqi’s were driven out of Kuwait.

Although the war was a decisive military victory for the coalition, Kuwait and Iraq suffered enormous property damage, and Saddam Hussein was not removed from power. In fact, Hussein was free to turn his attention to suppressing internal Shiite and Kurd revolts, which the U.S.-led coalition did not support, in part because of concerns over the possible breakup of Iraq if the revolts were successful. Coalition peace terms were agreed to by Iraq, but every effort was made by the Iraqis to frustrate implementation of the terms, particularly UN weapons inspections.

Afghanistan On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacked two targets in the U.S. Al-Qaeda is a group of Islamic terrorists that were largely based in Afghanistan. They hijacked four airplanes and intentionally crashed two of them into the World Trade Center in new York. The third plane was crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia and the fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania in route to its target, the White House in Washington, D.C. The terrorist attacks on that day killed nearly 3,000 people.

Osama bin Laden was blamed for the attacks, U. S Osama bin Laden was blamed for the attacks, U.S. President George Bush called on other countries to help wage a war on terrorism to crush al-Qaeda. In October 2001, U.S., British, and Canadian forces invaded Afghanistan in search of bin Laden and to destroy al-Qaeda and their allies the Taliban (Operation Enduring Freedom). Although bin Laden was never found the grip of the Taliban and al-Qaeda on Afghanistan was broken. The U.S. let forces still struggle to control portions of the country.

The Iraq War 2003 (Operation Iraqi Freedom) Saddam Hussein was still president of Iraq at the time of the Afghanistan invasion. Officials in the U.S government feared connections between Hussein and al-Qaeda and the allegations that Iraq was building Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD’s) in the form of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical weapons. The United Nations sent inspectors to Iraq to check for WMD’s however Iraq failed to allow them to complete their inspections. In response the U.S. Congress passed an Iraq War Resolution that authorized the president to go forward with a war in Iraq.

In March 2003, the U.S. began bombing targets in the capital of Baghdad. British, Australian, Polish, and American soldiers invaded Iraq and defeated the Iraqi army. Saddam Hussein was captured, put on trial for crimes against humanity by the Iraqi’s, and later executed

Weapons of Mass Destruction were never found in Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction were never found in Iraq. It is difficult to determine how many Iraqis have died since the invasion, but as of 2007, more than 500,000 Iraqis may have died according to one study. Many deaths are due to sectarian violence. Over 4,000 American soldiers have been killed and over 20,000 have been wounded in Iraq thus far.

Why is the U.S. interested in the M.E.? Oil Stop Terrorists Spread democracy

Al-Qaeda The group is wanted by the United States for its September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as a host of lesser attacks. To escape the post-9/11 U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda’s central leadership is believed to have fled eastward into Pakistan, securing a safe haven in loosely governed areas there.

What is Al-Qaeda? Al-Qaeda seeks to rid Muslim countries of what it sees as the influence of the West and replace their governments with fundamentalist Islamic regimes. After al-Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, attacks on America, the United States launched a war in Afghanistan to destroy Al-Qaeda’s bases there and overthrow the Taliban, the country’s Muslim fundamentalist rulers who harbored bin Laden and his followers. “Al-Qaeda” is Arabic for “The Base.”

What are al-Qaeda’s origins? Al-Qaeda grew out of the opposition to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the 1980s, Bin Laden and the Palestinian religious scholar Abdullah Azzam, recruited, trained, and financed thousands of foreign mujahadeen, or holy warriors, from more than fifty countries. Bin Laden wanted these fighters to continue the "holy war" beyond Afghanistan. He formed al-Qaeda around 1988.

U. S. officials say several top al-Qaeda leaders are in their custody U.S. officials say several top al-Qaeda leaders are in their custody. These include a senior lieutenant, Abu Zubaydah, who was captured in Pakistan in March 2002, and Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a senior commander in Afghanistan. In March 2003, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and al-Qaeda's treasurer, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, were also captured in Pakistan. They, along with four others detained at Guantanamo Bay, were charged with murder, terrorism, and violating rules of war in February 2008.

Where does al-Qaeda operate? There is no single headquarters. From 1991 to 1996, al-Qaeda worked out of Pakistan along the Afghan border, or inside Pakistani cities. Al- Qaeda has autonomous underground cells in some 100 countries, including the United States. Law enforcement has broken up al-Qaeda cells in the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Albania, Uganda, and elsewhere. To escape the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda’s leadership once again sought refuge in Pakistan’s tribal areas after September 11, 2001. Bin Laden, along with some other members of the organization, is thought to be hiding in Pakistan along the Afghan border.

Where does al-Qaeda operate?

How big is al-Qaeda? It’s impossible to say precisely, because al-Qaeda is decentralized. Estimates range from several hundred to several thousand members.