Middle East Wars

1
Middle East Wars

• SS7H2 The student will analyze continuity and
  change in Southwest Asia (Middle East) leading to
  the 21st century..
• c. Describe how land and religion are reasons for
  continuing conflicts in Southwest Asia (Middle
  East).
• d. Explain U.S. presence and interest in
  Southwest Asia include the Persian Gulf conflict
  and invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

2
9/11

• Al Qaeda

• On the morning of September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda (a
  group of Islamic extremists) hijacked four planes
  and crashed two of them into the World Trade
  Center, crashed one into the Pentagon, and the
  fourth one crashed in a rural area.

3

• Osama Bin Laden

• Al Qaeda was headed by a man named Osama Bin
  Laden.
• Bin Laden was a man born in Saudi that made his
  way into Afghanistan.

4
The Taliban

• Afghanistan had no real government and a group of
  people called the Taliban had controlled much of
  the country.
• President Bush had demanded that the Taliban hand
  over Osama Bin Laden for ordering the attacks on
  America.
• The Taliban refused

5
Womens dress under Taliban rule
6
War with Afghanistan

• October 2001 the United States invaded
  Afghanistan in search of Osama bin Laden.
• By November the capital of Kabul had fallen.
• Many of the Taliban forces were forced to retreat
  into the countryside.

7
Results

• The U.S. to this day still has troops in
  Afghanistan to hold back the Taliban.
• May 2011 Bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan
  and was killed by U.S. forces.

8
Iraq War

• When the Persian Gulf war ended Iraq was told it
  could not produce weapons of mass destruction.
• After the war with Afghanistan the U.S. believed
  it had information that Saddam Hussein was
  producing WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction)
• They also believed that Saddam may have had
  connections with Al Qaeda.

9

• The United States had the United Nations probe
  Iraq for WMDs.
• Iraq would not produce any weapons by their March
  17, 2003 deadline.
• Congress then passed a resolution allowing the
  United States to lead an attack on Iraq.
• The United States invaded Iraq and Saddam Hussein
  was captured.

10
Results

• Saddam Hussein was put on trial for killing
  thousands of his own people and using chemical
  weapons on the Kurds and Iranians
• As of today no weapons of mass destruction have
  been found and the US government is still in Iraq
  but no longer in combat. Saddam Hussein was found
  guilty and sentenced to death in 2006.
• The U.S. officially ended combat in Iraq in 2010.

11

• "Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi
  people now have lead responsibility for the
  security of their country," the president said in
  a newly remodeled Oval Office. "Only Iraqis can
  resolve their differences and police their
  streets. Only Iraqis can build a democracy within
  their borders. What America can do, and will do,
  is provide support for the Iraqi people as both a
  friend and a partner."

• 1- What do you think President Obama is inferring
  about the future of Iraq?