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

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

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

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

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

7. Special Forces A-Teams

8. Northern Alliance

9. Abdul Rashid Dostum

10. November-December 2001—Taliban were defeated

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

13. But bin Laden escaped from Tora Bora

14. Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility

15. Alberto Gonzales John Yoo

16. “Extraordinary Rendition”

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

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

20. CIA rendering of Curveball’s claim 2000-2001—Iraqi defector Rafid Ahmad Alwan (aka “Curveball”) told German intelligence that Saddam Hussein had built mobile biological weapons labs

21. 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

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

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

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

25. CIA Director George Tenet

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

27. 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

28. Late 2002—UN inspectors started operating in Iraq

29. 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

30. 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

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

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

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

35. Summer 2003—Iraqi Insurgency broke out

36. Abu Ghraib Prison

37. “The Hard Site”

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

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

45. 2005—Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hard-line Islamist, elected president of Iran, causing relations to deteriorate further