Gulf War II(Operation Iraqi Freedom)

Let’s say you are Bush

• 9/11 happened. You attack al Qaeda in Afghanistan. You are out of targets.

• Your biggest fear is al Qaeda gets help from a foreign Muslim government and attacks us with chemical or nuclear weapons.

• What do you do?

Possible options for Bush after Afghanistan

• Do more to secure borders, secure air travel, increase spying on Muslim countries.

• Propaganda campaigns to make the USA look better to Muslims. Also, encourage Americans to better understand Islam in general.

• Wait for the next attack.• Pre-empt an attack by attacking another

country first.

Bush decided to preempt an attack, but where?

• Red countries are those with al Qaeda presence before 9/11. Source: US State Dept. 2001

Axis of Evil

• President Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address listed 3 countries as the most likely to sponsor terrorism against the USA.

• Iraq, Iran, North Korea

North Korea

• North Korea has been defiant towards the US since the Korean War in the 1950s. They recently tested a nuclear device. They sold missiles to Iran. They have severe food shortages. No al Qaeda ties!

Dark North Korea (off topic)

• To show how communist countries save technology for their armies, not for their citizens, look at this night map.

Iran

• Major oil producer. The government is ruled by extremists even though it’s a democracy.

• Many Iranians are moderate Muslims; most are Shi’a.

Moderate Iranians (not all are extremists)

Iranian street

Iran’s state sponsored terrorism• Iran openly supports

terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

• Iran brazenly pursues nuclear capability.

• Iran openly calls for the destruction of Israel.

• Recently, Iran sent car bombs into Iraq to kill American soldiers.

• Iran is mostly Shi’a

Why do you think Iran feels threatened today by the USA? (Look to both sides

of Iran.)

News update: Summer ’08 Iran tests missiles

Iranian missile range.

Iraq.

And Finally,

Iraq

Saddam Hussein

Iraq is full of people who dislike each other. Kurds in the north, Sunni Muslims in the center and Shi'ia Muslims in the south. What the outside world calls terror, Saddam calls expediency

• In the south the Iraqi Government launches a campaign against the Shi’ias, including Shi’ia Marsh Arabs. Much of the marshland is drained. Villages are razed and their occupants deported. Up to 200,000 Marsh Arabs flee. As many as 150,000 are killed. The Shi’ia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala are attacked and over 100 Shi’ia clerics disappear. Beginning in March chemical weapons filled with sarin gas and CS (tear) gas are dropped from helicopters onto targets in and around Najaf and Karbala. A no fly zone is subsequently also imposed on Iraq's southern regions.

Iraqi Kurds in the north.Thousands of Kurds were killed by Saddam’s SCUD missile attacks

Iraqi SCUD Missile launcher

Iraq in the 1990s• The USA was in a low-

level conflict with Iraq all through the 90s.

• Iraq shot at US jets almost daily during the 90s. The Air Force would shoot back.

• The No-Fly zones were created to protect Kurds in the North and Shi’ia in the South.

Iraqi terrorism

• In 1993, agents working with the full support of Saddam Hussein tried to kill former President George H.W. Bush.

• President Clinton responded by destroying their intelligence center.

Regime Change

• Congress and the Clinton White House authorized the CIA to work towards getting rid of Saddam Hussein in 1998.

1998 Operation Desert Fox

• Hundreds of air strikes against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq took place as a result of his violations of the No Fly Zone.

9/11• After the September 11 attacks, the Bush White

House had little patience for Saddam Hussein who:– Had an obvious hatred for the United States– Unlike al Qaeda, had billions of dollars in oil revenue.– Killed his own people with chemical weapons– Tried to kill the President’s dad– Has in the past worked to build a nuclear device– Refused to cooperate with United Nations weapons

inspectors who were there to ensure he wasn’t making chemical weapons.

– Threatened our Middle Eastern friends: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait

Relevant Quotes from the President Bush

"Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the

production of biological weapons... Iraq has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum tubes used to enrich uranium for

a nuclear weapon."- President Bush on September 12, 2002 to

the UN General Assembly

• "It [Iraq] possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons... And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons."- President Bush on October 7, 2002 in Cincinnati

• "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."- President Bush on March 17, 2003 in his Address to the Nation

Iraq War Resolution

• The US Congress, in 2002, voted to authorize the use of force against Iraq.

• It stated that Iraq “developed and used weapons of mass destruction, [. . .] harbored and supported terrorists, committed outrageous human rights abuses, and defied the just demands of the United Nations and the world."

The USA and a few friends invade Iraq in March 2003

But Wait a Minute!

Did Saddam Hussein have anything to do with 9/11?

No!

• Although many in the Bush White House wanted the public to think so, Saddam Hussein (Sunni Muslim) had very little connection with al Qaeda (Shi’ia Muslim).

• Most Americans think Saddam Hussein helped al Qaeda on 9/11. That is false.

• In September 2003, President Bush admitted publicly that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the September 11 attacks.

Here is the connection. Right here!

Now, why did we attack Iraq?

• It was a pre-emptive attack. Bush attacks Iraq before they help terrorists attack us.

• Bush strongly felt because of Saddam’s past, the Iraqi leader would give WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) to terrorists to use on our cities.

• Bush did not want to wait for another 9/11 so he attacked Iraq, took over, and tried to create a model democracy in the Middle East.

Criticisms of the Iraq War

#1 Faulty Intelligence

• Bad intelligence claimed Iraq had stores of WMDs all over Iraq.

#2 Preemptive Wars are Illegal.

• The purpose of the United Nations is to have a place where countries from all over the world can get together and yell at each other instead of killing each other.

• One rule that the United Nations has is that it is illegal to go to war unless your country is in immediate danger.

• It’s like shooting somebody before

they think about robbing you.

#3 Iraq distracted us from the “War on Terror.”

• Many claim that the USA should have put more soldiers into Afghanistan instead of invading Iraq to fight Taliban and al Qaeda soldiers.

• There was no al Qaeda in Iraq before the war. Now Muslims see the United States as an aggressor in a Muslim country.

• Bush did exactly what bin Laden wanted. Now Americans look bad. America seems less safe, even without any major terrorist attacks since 2001

#4 The war is about oil?

The answer? Well, sort of.

• The United States would never have expelled Iraq from Kuwait if Kuwait or Saudi Arabia sold so much oil to the United States.

• The USA would not work so hard to stabilize the Middle East if there was no oil.

Burning oil fields during Gulf War I

However,

• Oil was not the primary reason to invade Iraq or Afghanistan.

• Oil might be helpful in rebuilding these countries, however.

#5 Iraq was not a threat to the USA

• Iraq had no means to attack the people of the United States.

• Iraqi SCUD missiles could not reach the USA.

However. . .

• Saddam Hussein was a threat to the region. He already invaded Kuwait, threatened Saudi Arabia and launched SCUD missiles at Israel during the first Gulf War.

• Hussein could, in theory, give WMD to terrorists to attack the USA.

• Saddam Hussein was certainly a threat to his own people.

Mission accomplished?

• Two months after the Iraq War started, President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier and proclaimed to the public “Mission Accomplished.”

• Well, the easy part

was finished.

4,445 US troops dead

• The US troops spent 2003-2008 fighting “insurgents” who could have been Saddam loyalists, Shi’ia jihadists, individuals who wanted revenge for their family member’s death, al Qaeda (who are in strong numbers after the invasion), or hitmen paid for by Iranians.

Why so violent after 2003?

• The CIA dropped pamphlets telling the Iraqi army to leave their units and go home.

• Soon after the US military took over Iraq, all members of the Iraqi army were fired.

• As a result, 300,000 young men with arms and military training were angry and had hungry families.

Is the Iraq War a war anymore?• The traditional definition of war with 2 armies

fighting each other to death is not the case in Iraq today. Iraq is dangerous, but 2008 is much safer.

• It is sad and tragic for each soldier that dies, but we need to acknowledge that the war in Iraq has been light on casualties compared to past wars, especially in 2008.

• More people are killed in car accidents; 16,528 were murdered in the USA in 2003.

• 418,000 died in WW2• 48,000 died in Vietnam

Iraq a success?

• To the average Iraqi citizen, life under Saddam Hussein was terrible.

• Now, a foreign army has taken control. Suicide bombers commonly killed tens of people every day. Electricity is on only a few hours per day. Fresh water has been a problem. In 2003 – 2006 Iraq was probably safer under Saddam.

Iraqi boy given water by US soldier in 2007

Success?• In 2005, Iraq had its first election since the invasion.

The people elected the Iraqi National Assembly (a legislative branch).

• Another election scheduled for 2009.

Success?

In 2008, violence is down.

• . . . “civilian deaths have dropped from a peak of nearly 4,000 a month from December 2006 to January 2007 to about 500 a month as of May [2008], and U.S. troop deaths have dropped from 126 in May 2007 to an all-time low of 19 in May 2008.” Source:CNN

But. . .

• Thirteen months after the beginning of the Iraq troop surge of 2007 the U.S. Department of Defense has claimed "the security, political and economic trends in Iraq continue to be positive; however, they remain fragile, reversible and uneven.“

• Iran continues to send roadside bombs into Iraq.

Iraqi troops are up to 500,000. Soon they will take over the fighting and our

troops will come home.

When will US troops come home?

• When Iraq can defend itself.

• When Iraq asks troops to leave.

• Maybe in 2011?• However, there will

always be some troops there.

Key Questions

• 1. Did Iraq pose an immediate and present danger to the United States?

Key Questions

• 2. Was a pre-emptive invasion against Iraq legal, justifiable?

Key Question

• 3. Is America safer as a result of the Iraq War?

• Is the Middle East safer?

Key Question

• 4. Why not bring all the troops home right now? What would be the consequences?

About me and my research• The purpose of this lesson is to answer students’ and

adults’ question Why are we at war? This is an important lesson because most people don’t understand why we are fighting 2 wars in the Middle East. My students were 3rd graders in 2001. I’m not out to bash Bush or to let him off the hook. Feel free to make changes to this PPT for your classroom (some slides might be offensive!). I am a Texan Democrat with pretty moderate views on the war.

• Sources: I read the wikipedia article AND the cited sources on that article. and